Longform

Episode 469: George Saunders

7 snips
Dec 15, 2021
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ADVICE

Use The Needle Of Interest

  • Read each draft slowly and honestly monitor your interest like a needle swinging positive or negative.
  • When interest dips, cut, rewrite, or move the offending section and iterate repeatedly until the needle stays positive.
INSIGHT

Revision Makes The Work Smarter

  • Iteration makes the finished story smarter than its author by accumulating wiser decisions over many passes.
  • Repeated honest passes tend to remove the writer's easy charms and reveal a truer voice.
ADVICE

Remove Slick Passages That Break Tone

  • When a polished paragraph makes the reader's interest drop, set it aside; it may belong to another story.
  • Give flashy passages to where they fit and let the story breathe into its own shape.
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