Addison
Auror
I created an analogy for a rule for revision.
When you begin and finish your first draft you've taken a pedestal and dropped a big lump of clay on it. (Or metal, marble, wood, whatever your preference) At first it's just a lump, some bulges here and there but you know everything about it. You know which lump is the head, the shield, the horns whatever. As you revise you pull off the lump to give detail. You make the scales, armor, cell phone. Each time you revise you bring out more detail, the brand of the cell phone, the gleam of the scales. When you're done you can gracefully step to the side, flourish your hands with a triumphant "Ta-dah!", and reveal your art. But if you go too much, chipping, peeling and burning away what you think are lumps, there won't be anything to show. You can't "ta-da" a tooth pick.
When you begin and finish your first draft you've taken a pedestal and dropped a big lump of clay on it. (Or metal, marble, wood, whatever your preference) At first it's just a lump, some bulges here and there but you know everything about it. You know which lump is the head, the shield, the horns whatever. As you revise you pull off the lump to give detail. You make the scales, armor, cell phone. Each time you revise you bring out more detail, the brand of the cell phone, the gleam of the scales. When you're done you can gracefully step to the side, flourish your hands with a triumphant "Ta-dah!", and reveal your art. But if you go too much, chipping, peeling and burning away what you think are lumps, there won't be anything to show. You can't "ta-da" a tooth pick.
