Wings

Hi folks, I'm revising a manuscript that I put up on the shelf a few years ago and that I've brought out and dusted off. What am I learning on this journey? I tend to be melodramatic, and I have to always tone down the drama. But beyond that, I have to make wings. To do this, I have to consider a vast expansion to reveal the heart of my novel.

You have to tear down some outer walls to do this sort of work effectively. I have to say it's painful to toss out pages of perfectly decent prose. But I do it anyway and replace it with rough first draft. This is phase one of wings.

Then I read the passage over and over. Cutting away the leftover bits from the old section and reshaping the new so that the core attaches to the fancy wings. It's careful work but satisfying, especially when the whole thing takes flight.

Maybe you have a story that has not quite caught flight. Perhaps you need to add some wings. There is something amazing about giving flight to things. Don't be afraid to do the work of adding wings.

My doodle for today is a re-post. This "Seagull" just seemed to fit the whole idea of wings.



Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings. Victor Hugo