After a lifetime of trying to write I have completely defeated my fear of crossed out lines. They are beautiful and instructive. It may seem like these black inked lines are mocking me, telling me that I haven't written anything worth keeping. In reality though, they are challenging me to do better because they know I can. (Excuse the metaphors, I wanted to do something cheesy...as usual.)
It takes strength to cross out lines you've already written. Sometimes it's so agonizing to write a paragraph you can't believe that you're going to have to start all over again. But it always makes the writing better when you start over. Because forcing words to work isn't the right way to write. You have to feel comfortable with what's on the page, not want to grimace whenever you read it.
Like everything in life, crossing out is something that needs to be done in moderation. If everything is crossed out then there isn't anything left to work with. Right now I'm struggling not to cross everything out. I'm frustrated but I know that I have to leave something for me to edit. So even though I want to cross out everything and start all over again, I know that there are some phrases that I can work with, make better, and eventually feel good about.
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