I'm a Mac user, so David Weiss's blog has become a new favorite place to visit. But his post this past Saturday was thought-provoking for reasons well beyond those that can allow one to make better use of a computer.
He talks about how easy it is for developers, under pressure, to apply a temporary fix, something to get one through the moment's crisis and move on. I know this can happen to fiction writers, too -- to all of us, really.
How many times in life does employing the expedient weaken the scaffolding we want to use to cross to our true goals?
Read Weiss's post here:
David Weiss: What's Temporary is Permanent
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
My husband is a computer programmer (well, a "software analyst and business consultant") by day, firefighter by night. But for 7 years now, I have listened to stories about cheap companies that take the quick road to slap short-term fixes down instead of dealing with systemic programming problems. Thanks to his work experience and my journalism/desktop publishing background, it wasn't hard to persuade Kevin to join the mac world.
Of course, the other side of this in the publishing world is that there is always room for improvement, and one could edit their work to death, but it is a good point that we shouldn't be rushed. I'm facing that right now, with a deadline for edits and a longlist of desired changes, a shortlist of required changes. I really want to get the longlist done, instead of just being content with the shortlist.
You raise a good point. Revision is one of the wonderful tools of the writer. I'd be too inhibited to write if I had to get it perfect in one try. Nobody minds a rough draft -- the problem is when a rough draft becomes a final draft simply because the writer didn't care enough to make it better.
Post a Comment