Saunders writes with more intelligence and awareness what I also go through as a process. It begins with a swift capturing of basic thoughts and elements I see and hear in a scene. After I’ve done that – writing like crazy, as I call it – I jump back into the process he describes to make it less lame, sharper and more vivid.
At The Guardian, George Saunders reflects on his writing process. The magical, romantic notion where fully formed art leaps from the author’s brain on to the page? It dishonors the writer, the reader, and the work. In reality, it takes “hundreds of drafts” and “thousands of incremental adjustments” to form a story into a “hopeful thing.”
If you love George Saunders, check out the Anton Chekhov-George Saunders Humanity Kit and see what it’s like to take a literature course with Mr. Saunders, for yourself.
We often discuss art this way: the artist had something he “wanted to express”, and then he just, you know … expressed it. We buy into some version of the intentional fallacy: the notion that art is about having a clear-cut intention and then confidently executing same.
The actual process, in my experience, is much more mysterious and more of a pain in the…
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Michael Seidel, writer 
It seems so more and more as I attempt.
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Me, as well. It seems like I learn more about myself, my muse and my writing by the day and by the effort. Thanks for reading and commenting. Cheers
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Yes! That’s it. I’m glad you shared this and glad I read it. It’s really not about an outline or a plot. It’s about the iterations and “pressure of trying not to suck.”
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I thought of you when I read it, as we’d had similar recent experiences. Glad you enjoyed it as I did. Cheers!
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