Beyond Divine Dissatisfaction

“The process of revision is, then, at one with the deepest processes of nature, and so a nature writer, laboring late at night over a particularly stubborn closing paragraph should take come consolation in the fact that he or she is partaking in an activity as ancient as life on the planet.  It is the force, revision, that drives evolution, that makes possible the hand that writes the words.” - John A. Murray

Ellen Burstyn remarked that when an artist completes a work, such as a cup, a sense of 'divine dissatisfaction' results.  How nice that cup looks. How it turns and sparkles.  

Something else happens here. Oh, how we want to undo that cup. Creative people never feel satisfied. We must relent to the current stage of writing projects.

Before your final "peek and tweek" on a piece, spend time away from your work. Take a long walk in a natural setting. Appreciate your “divine dissatisfaction.”  

Then approach your work from another perspective. Should you start with the middle and end with the beginning?

Check the Basics:

Check for content, organization and grammar. Read your text backwards, sentence by sentence. Read out loud to yourself or others. Listen to someone else read your text.  

Add new information or vocabulary, cut unnecessary detail, and replace weak or awkward words with more precise language. 

Ask these questions:

l.   Does my first paragraph grab the reader?

2.  Is my point of view or argument convincing?

3.  Are my transitions smooth?

4.  Have I developed all points fully?

5.  Have I explained any quotations either in context or through citation?

6.  Are verb tenses mixed?

7.  Does the ending satisfy?

Get beyond divine dissatisfaction. Take a piece you've put aside. Run it through the questions and bring it back to life.