“Writing is not like painting where you add. It is not what you put on the canvas that the reader sees. Writing is more like a sculpture where you remove, you eliminate in order to make the work visible. Even those pages you remove somehow remain.” Elie Wiesel
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” Michelangelo
We are a society of builders and often we focus on adding. When writing, I can focus on my word count and my daily production and lose the focus of the work. It’s nice to have a high word count and to see the page numbers grow, but it’s often in the rewriting and editing that the real work is done. In stripping away what is not real and authentic we find the essence of our work.
Can we focus on subtraction instead of addition?
In my spiritual life I can focus on building, adding. I have a bookcase filled with books about faith and prayer. Is another book going to help me grow my faith? Do I need one more retreat? Another service opportunity? More study? Or is there something about subtraction? Stripping away what is not real and authentic we find the essence of our faith.
What can I subtract today?
God is not found in the soul by adding anything but by subtracting.
Meister Eckhart
I was thinking of the quote from Michelangelo just yesterday and how it relates to faith……..you know what they say about great minds. Loved waking up to this post!
You know this is right, but for me it has to go further.
For me the insides must also be removed: I’ve seen the angel and must set it free and then must hollow it out so it can then contain light. It has to be lit from within.
Same for life.
I’m only the container.
I have to contain light..
Great post. You’re right that writers often think about that word count, but it its in striping away the unnecessary that we get to the heart of things.
Nice.
I loved this. I’ve thought much about the very same thing and have begun to “downsize” accordingly. Instead of going “wider”, I’ve started to go “deeper.”
Amen and amen!!!
WOW, this was GOOD, Sisters!! God bless you–love, Caddo
Fantastic message!
Yes, great writing consists of bare bones of truth, with all the concealing over-layers skimmed away!
I stopped by to notify you that I nominated you for two blog awards…
http://acostaeveli.blogspot.com/
So thankful for you and the nomination! It means a lot to have the encouragement.
I face a continual battle to write less. If I write too much it’s impossible to see what I’m trying to get at.
One way I’m practicing this is to each week write a 100-word story or story starter based on a photo prompt for Friday Fictioneers. Madison Woods hosts this and there are generally over 60 people going through the subtracting process. It’s excellent practice. Anyone interested in seeing what it’s like can go here: http://madison-woods.com/blog/. Or if you’d like to read any of this week’s stories, go here: http://madison-woods.com/index-of-stories/091412-2/. Warning: lots of sci-fi/horror stories.