Scrubbing the Basement

"Rewriting is like scrubbing the basement floor with a toothbrush."
- Pete Murphy

I happened across this quotation at an unfortunate time in my life. I had challenged myself to write an entire novel in quotation marks (by having a character tell the whole story, just like Joseph Conrad had Marlow do in "Lord Jim") but, as soon as I completed the first draft of the book, I awoke to the truth that readers no longer care for the mental price it costs them to read such a work. I was told today's readers prefer entertainment --I call it mindrest word watching. As a consequence, I rewrote the entire book, and that is when I read Pete Murphy's quotation. I remember frowning, stopping what I was doing at the time, nodding my head in agreement, spreading my arms in submission, and speaking out loud at my desk, "Damn right! Murphy! Where were you thirty days ago?"

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/liquidstereo/2546734860/


© 2009, Steven R. Lundin, all rights reserved