Greetings, writers—
Do you ever worry that the novel/memoir/story/poem cycle you’re working on might really stink?
If not, congratulations, because you’re one of the lucky few. Stephen King threw out Carrie (his wife rescued it from the trash), and Ta-Nehisi Coates argues that writing is all about failure. “It’s as though you have a certain music in your head, and trying to get that music out on the page is absolute hell,” he says.
Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers, has the following words for those who’ve ever considered throwing the whole thing away:
“The following are not reasons to give up on it: You’re mad at it, it needs tearing apart and putting back together, you get scared of failure, you get scared of success, you can’t stand your own voice, the whole thing is ridiculous, someone didn’t like the part they read, you’re supposed to have a real job, you can’t remember what you’re doing, this thing is a mess. Here is the only reason to give up on it: For a sustained period of time (several months) you have absolutely no feeling toward it whatsoever. Even then, don’t delete the file. You never know.”
I’ve got a hundred story drafts and half-finished novels gathering dust. They probably do stink. But I’m not deleting the files! You never know.
And now, onto the prompts, which come from an excerpt of the poem “On Pruning,” by Allison Funk, published in the Paris Review, Issue no. 152.
Cut it way back.
Do not be afraid to pinch the first,
the only blossom. The berry cannot thrive
in freedom. Have no mercy,
gardener. Train the tree to a leader
crowned by the uppermost bud.
Make ten o’clock your angle
for the outstretched limbs
of the apple. Prune
when the knife is sharp,
taking care that the scar be neat.
To share the surgeon’s belief in healing,
you must trust what has been taken from you
is a blessing …
Editing prompt: Make a copy of the story or chapter or poem that you’re working on. In this new copy, cut it way back…Have no mercy, gardener. What happens when you remove every single extraneous word?
Write a scene in which your character realizes that what has been taken from them is a blessing.
Write a scene that takes place in a garden. Include one, two, or a few of the following: a bee sting, a trespasser, something dropped into the dirt, a premonition of death, a child’s kite.