Friday, February 4, 2011

Cool Dogs Plus Supernatural

If dogs were really this cool; I'd probably get one. :))

I've been watching Supernatural a lot lately.  Much of what they show is based on actual things that people believe to be true in our very real and tangible world (Disclaimer:  I don't believe the stuff as I'm atheist but I know plenty that do).

In the episode I saw last night, a leprechaun played by the same actor that played the doctor in Star Trek Voyager told Dean that he could get Sam's soul back from the cage in Hell.  Of course, Dean doesn't make deals with monsters.  To distract the leprechaun while he performed the "reverse incantation" that would banish the leprechaun and his troop of fairies, he spilled a jar of salt.  As the legend goes...no matter how powerful the fairy, if you spill salt or sugar in front of them, they must immediately stop what they are doing and count every grain.  It was funny watching him pull aside each grain on the floor..."one, two, three..." he started to say, grumbling all the while as Dean sent him back to wherever it is he came from.

So...do you think fairies would make good writers?  I read all the time on author blogs at how rewriting and editing are a neverending process.  Personally, I think that there is an end and I've reached it several times but I know others are way more obsessed than I regarding absolute perfection.  I'd probably not be a good fairy...I'd only estimate the spilt salt and not count every grain. Oooh...and the metaphor can go even further than that.  Agents and editors are the ones that spill the salt in front of you, forcing you to count the whole thing again.

Are you obsessed with perfection when it comes to your writing?  And, if you answer yes to the question, does it cause you stress?

4 comments:

  1. Yes and yes. I'm not sure what perfection would be, though. I'm particularly concerned with 'flow,' which is tough because it's subjective. Sometimes I reread a part and become convinced the sentences are too choppy, or too stringy, or too something, and I'll mess around with them for hours. I'm not actually changing the content, just the sentence structures, and that is the most frustrating aspect of editing for me. What makes it worse is that sometimes I think I've finally gotten it, but the very next day I'm sure it was better the way it was before. Ah well. I may need to ease up, because, clearly, this is not my job, and I'm already spending too much time on it as it is :P

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  2. Yes to both questions as well. I spend way too much time revising things over and over. And thinking about revising them. I pretty much drive myself crazy with it. Maybe if I had an awesome dog like the one in the video I would have more time to work on writing so I wouldn't have to be stressed out about it. :)

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  3. You guys are awesome. Thanks for commenting. It makes me feel better about my own insecurities because I have a tendency to pick at things.

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  4. Ahh, I NEVER seem to finish the editing process! This post made me feel so much better. My poetry professor once said that writing is never completely edited, just abandoned. I think you have to reach the point where you feel your work is great enough to go :)
    Thanks for the sweet comment on my blog. It really made my day! Good luck with your writing!

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