Gaining distance

At some point in your writing process you need to gain some distance from it. Your role needs to change from primarily being a writer to primarily being a reader.

As a writer you can never be just a reader again. A part of your mind will always evaluate what you read. You will think of ways you could do it differently or better. You will like a descriptive phrase and think of ways to use it in your next scene. You will recognize a plot twist and wonder if yours is just as obvious.

If you are writing non-fiction you will see a gap in the argument or a spot that needs a diagram. Or you will see a cool way to explain a difficult concept.

As a writer reading you will constantly be learning and evaluating the writing you learn from. But to gain distance from your own writing, to know if it is any good - can you do that?

We resort to different ways of gaining this distance. You let the first draft rest for a month. You print it out in a different font, even bind it like a book. You give it to a beta reader. You take it to your writer's group. All ways to get an idea of what your writing looks like through other eyes.

But you can never know. You have to take it on faith that what you write comes across as you intend it to. But you can strengthen your faith by reading as much as you can. Your own work and work by other writers - finished books and half assed attempts.

How do you gain the appropriate distance?

Gerhi Janse van Vuuren

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== Gerhi Janse van Vuuren is a writer. Read more of his articles at 2 Write a Book.com or visit his personal site at Gerhi.com ==

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