As I was browsing through the interactive #PF150 timeline the other day, I stopped at the year 1890.
In July of that year, Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture Of Dorian Gray” was published.
If you haven’t read the novel, I urge you to do so. It’s an enthralling read, which raises quite a resonant moral dilemma: would you sell your soul for eternal youth and beauty?
The timeline event not only reminded me of the novel I read in my twenties, but I enjoyed seeing the accompanying image – a page from Wilde’s original manuscript.
Write With Freedom
I love the fact that the written page is not perfect. There are words scored out, and inserts the writer decided were better suited in certain contexts. Wilde, of course, would have “tidied” up the manuscript before it went over to the publisher.
My advice to writers is don’t be inhibited by clean, perfect prose during the draft stages of writing. Simply write with freedom. You can “fine tune” during the rewrites.
Just be wary of relying on computer grammar and spell checkers to do your work for you. Sloppy writing behaviour can soon become a hard habit to break.
If rewriting is the classroom, then the first draft is the playground. Enjoy the writing freedom that comes with it.
Alan Spink I am a member of the “Friend” Fiction Team. I enjoy working closely with writers and being part of the creative process, which sees storytelling ideas come to fruition. A keen reader, I also write fiction and enjoy watching football and movies in my spare time. My one tip to new writers is “write from your imagination”.
