Outlining — It’s in the Name!

Right there in the name: outliner. Obvious usage, right? OmniOutliner has plenty of horsepower for this task. During my college and grad school days, I used OmniOutliner for that very task almost exclusively.

When it comes to note-taking, there is only one (hyphenated) word to describe me:

anal-retentive.

Before I was fortunate enough to have a laptop, I scrawled notes in a notebook, like most other people, and was always disappointed with how disjointed and disorganized they were. Though professors may not always speak in a perfect outline format, I felt that my notes should more or less be an outline of that day’s lecture. Structure was totally foreign to these notebooks. Drove me nuts. It doesn’t help that I am also very meticulous about notebook care. Example: the pages of an sbh* notebook should be either written in pen or pencil, but never both. I couldn’t stand flipping through a notebook and seeing pen on some pages and pencil on others. Argh! OCD? Perhaps.

Summary of the above: Notebooks don’t work for me.

In January of 2004, heading into my final semester at the University of Texas before heading off to Boston for Harvard, I purchased a 12″ iBook G4 (which the wife still uses!), and my world changed. I now took the laptop to every class, and OmniOutliner became my constant companion.

In-Class Notes

OmniOutliner excels for in-class notes. I can type a lot faster than I can write, so I could take down more and more information than I ever could before. In addition to this, OmniOutliner provided a structure to my notes that wasn’t before possible. Here’s how it broke down:

• Top Level: Lecture Date/Topic
  • Second Level: Major Divisions
    • Third Level and Beyond: All the nitty gritty, hierarchically, painstakingly arranged.

In addition, I could add columns. So, I always had a column on the right-hand side for references. For example, if a professor made reference to a particular work, I’d jot that work and a section or page number if provided. This way, my notes were also cross-referenced to other works.

Further, each line had its own “notes” field associated with. I used this area to make my own comments about what I was hearing. Perhaps I didn’t quite buy what the professor was saying, I’d take note of that here. Or, maybe I had a question about this particular item that I wanted to ask the professor. I could take it down right here so that I wouldn’t forget it when the opportunity came for questions.

Looking back, my notes for various classes during my time at Harvard are often 70 pages or more. This is a lot of information, but really it’s only 4-6 pages of outline per lecture. When finals rolled around, these were invaluable resources. You never know, meticulous, well-structured notes might make you popular amongst the crowd when group studying for finals!

One final item to mention: the ability to embed files. Extremely handy. If you were to look at the beginning of all of my class notes, you would find the course syllabus in PDF or .doc embedded. This makes these files easy to reference anytime. In addition to this, you can also record sounds and have those embedded into the outline. I used to record whole lectures, but found I wasn’t using the audio, so I stopped.

All-in-all, OmniOutliner revolutionized how I organized information from class lectures and sessions, and, consequently, made me a much better student.

Paper Outlines

In addition to class notes, outlines are also handy for the writing processor. Before I write anything of more than a paragraph or two, I start with the most basic of outlines. This blog post, for example, began with me laying out each section. It’s how I work.

OmniOutliner is fantastic for creating outlines for papers. Outlining keeps me organized, and OmniOutliner allows me to keep all kinds of information handy with my notes. I can link web pages or documents to it, take notes on my outline, etc., all from the same window.

When it came time to translate my outline into a word processor, this was easily done. I prefer to use Mellel for my paper writing needs. I could simply create my big headings in Mellel and work from there. OmniOutliner was always open and readily available.

Information Repository

Beyond the nuts-and-bolts writing and note-taking processes, OmniOutliner can serve as an information repository.

Not only can you create outlines and notes, not only can you supplement those notes with hyperlinks and documents, but you can also add audio to them.

If you wanted to, you could turn OmniOutliner into your own little information repository. Sure, there are better programs for this. DevonThink for the academic, and Yojimbo for the creative-types. But, OmniOutliner can serve these functions if you’re looking for an all-in-one solution.

How I Am Using It Now

Now that I am out in the real world, and no longer bound to the classroom, I am using OmniOutliner in a much different way. My need for in-depth notes and outlines for class is long gone, but it has been replaced by other, similar needs.

For the most part, I use OmniOutliner for my writing projects. I use Scrivener (see my thoughts on Scrivener) for most of my writing. While Scrivener helps me organize all of my projects into smaller units, OmniOutliner helps me organize all of my big ideas into categories.

I always have a OmniOutliner document open. This document is called “brainstorm.oo3.” This is where the magic happens. Within this OmniOutliner document I’ve got ideas for plots, characters, etc. When I finish a piece and want to start something new, the first thing I do is look at this document. When I’m reading or writing and get an idea about something else, into brainstorm.oo3 it goes!

OmniOutliner is a powerful, yet simple piece of software. If you’re a Mac, I suggest you give it a go.

Notes

¹ I believe OmniOutliner is bundled with all new macs (not the “Pro” version, though). So, if you’ve got a Mac — get your OmniOutliner on!

However, all good things come to an end. The holidays began, and I was derailed.

The creative process here really starts and stops with a little writing group that was created back in August. Every Thursday Night (hence the title of this post), I get together with my wife, and our friend, James, to discuss various projects. Originally, we said: “Hey, let’s just get together and work on some creative projects.” I really thought that this would mean short stories for me. I was wrong. James and Natalie have a real passion for visual storytelling, and indeed it has infected me. We started writing short films. The fun at the Austin Film Festival reinforced this desire in us, and I don’t think we’ll look in any other direction anytime soon.

Where are we?

At any given time, we’ve got three or four projects up in the air. Our most promising one right now is a project tentatively titled “The Alcoholic” (great title, right?). The idea and most of the script are the handiwork of Natalie. We feel like the script is kind of done, but I’m sure it needs some tweaking. Beyond this, I’ve got a coming of age “story in pictures” that I’m working on, and James has two very interesting ideas that he is working on that both stem from a notion of finding oneself.

Now what?

So, we’ve got this script in hand. Now what? This is actually the part that I get most excited about. When I write a story, I’m usually too critical of it to allow a bunch of other people to read it. The idea of sending any of these into a publisher is just silly. Why would someone want to read this drivel?

With a script, however, my urges are totally different. I want to get together gear and actors and go to a location and get it done. That sounds fun to me. I’ve spent hours researching what sort of gear we’ll need to shoot Natalie’s script. I’m excited to do it.

I’ll hit this blog with another post in February letting you know where we are on that…

I’ve got to be honest. I really liked W.. As a guy who is firmly entrenched in the middle, leaning left on some issues, right on others, I felt like the portrayal of George W. Bush was remarkably fair — especially given what I was expecting from Oliver Stone and company. In fact, of all the characters in the film, I feel like Bush comes off the best.

The movie is well-written and well-structured (even though it just back and forth in time), and mostly well-acted (more on that in a moment).

In fact, Josh Brolin’s performance as “Junior” is so good that you don’t mind that he doesn’t really look like him. Brolin’s impression of Bush is spot-on, but it is not a caricature and does not get in the way. Instead, Brolin’s performance comes off as very honest. Cromwell’s as George H.W. Bush also rings true, though Cromwell did not even begin to do an impression of “Poppy.” This was probably a good decision as those who chose to impersonate their real-life counterparts tended to do poorly.

Chief among the poor performances was Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice. Her impression of Rice was over-the-top to the point where it was just uncomfortable. She even looked uncomfortable doing it. I’m not sure what Stone and company were thinking when they allowed her to continue to do this (or, perhaps, egged her on to do it).

While the film feels somewhat balanced to me, there are some items that I just don’t get. The movie wants to vilify many of those involved in the decision to invade Iraq: Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, etc. This I expected. Yet, the film makes Colin Powell out to be a saint. The contrast between Powell and Rice is particularly striking. Newton’s portrayal of Rice is as a weak sycophant, while Jeffrey Wright‘s portrayal of Powell presents him as the only level-headed member of Bush’s cabinet, yet he is forced to tow the line in the end.

In his brief introduction to the film, Cromwell said that the movie was timely, arriving “neither 10 years too early nor four years too late.” While I find the timing of it a bit suspect (so shortly before an election — note that many major political players are shown in this movie: John McCain, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Joseph Biden, but no Obama), I feel like Cromwell might be right. Why not examine Bush’s presidency while it’s still fresh in our minds?

In the end, I’ve got to recommend W. for two reasons:

• Josh Brolin’s performance
• The interesting, almost centrist, portrait that it paints. Not sure how the Righties and the Lefties will feel about this. I am definitely interested in hearing their opinions though.

WRITING PARTY

The friend is John Ramsey. You may have seen him in some of the Ramsey Bros stuff that I post from time to time. John is an attorney by day and a comedian by night. I think he’s funny, and you probably do too. I can’t, however, say much about his lawyering skills (I try to stay out of legal trouble as much as I can).

Anyway, John had a bunch of new material that he wanted to write. I suppose he just had kernels of jokes, seedlings that required developing, nurturing, germination, etc. Both of our wives were out of town at the same time, so John invited me up to Austin for a writer’s weekend.

Allow me to first say that this was in the midst of a huge literary drought for me. Not only had I found it impossible to move forward on my many writing projects, but I had also found it difficult to read much. In reality, it had become too easy to switch on the TV and watch a movie or whatever (witness my recent posts on The X-Files). John’s invitation couldn’t have come at a better time.

Essentially, our plan was this: shut up and write.

When John and I get together, we can talk about anything and all night long. Not that we didn’t have a marathon conversation Saturday night, but, for the most part, we curbed these urges and stuck to the script.

John lay on the couch in his living room with his laptop and notebook nearby, thinking and writing. A lot of thought goes into comedy. Who knew? I suppose he was trying to find the funniest ways to express whatever he was writing. I was standing in the kitchen, with my laptop on the counter (I have read somewhere that Hemingway preferred to stand for fear that his ass would get fat…), clacking away at the keyboard.

At first, it felt totally staged. I was really forcing the issue. I wrote ten pages of drivel about some poor idiotic soul who was working his tail off, performing various tasks, and documenting them, all in hopes of turning that documentation over to his local church officials so that they could make him a saint. It sucks. It stinks. Let’s not dwell it. Nevertheless, a breakthrough was in the making — I had written something substantial for the first time in weeks.

I moved on to the next story…

…and the next…

Before I knew it, I had churned out many thousand words on various topics. I even gained the courage to begin developing an idea that I’d had in my little brainstorm repository for quite some time. I’m still working that story (the memoirs of a man afflicted with dementia/Alzheimer’s).

By faking it through those ten pages of disgusting prose, I had manufactured a snowball. By muscling through for the rest of the weekend, I had started rolling it down hill. The snowball grows as it moves, gaining in size and speed.

My only fear: hitting the bottom of the hill.

That will come sometime. I know it for sure. I just hope it’s later rather than sooner.

Need a snowball? Lock yourself inside, perhaps with a friend to hold you accountable, and just fake it until you feel it.

Thank you, New Oxford American Dictionary that came bundled with my Mac. Scrivener isn’t just some noun historical, it’s also a smashing piece of writing software from the folks at Literature and Latte (for good measure, here’s a link to the Literature and Latte Blog, if you like to read the latest).

First, some personal back story.

Several years ago, when I was a college lad, I waffled back and forth over word processors. I began with Word, using it for everything. I was so naive in those days! “Is there anything out there other than Word?” I thought. Turns out there was.

As I got more and more into my study of Classics, I discovered some deficiencies in the Mac version of Word. Specifically, Word on the Mac has terrific trouble with some unicode stuff that was important to me (e.g., unicode Hebrew is an impossibility). After writing my undergrad honors thesis completely in Word, struggling through its poor implementation of unicode (my thesis was full of Greek, and a little Hebrew), I ventured out into the world of alternative word processing.

Eventually, I settled on Mellel. Designed by folks who really understood the needs of those who worked in multiple languages, Mellel was an awesome companion throughout my graduate work. Designed for people who love unicode and work in multiple languages, Mellel allowed me to choose specific settings for how I wanted the text to look when I switched over into Greek or Hebrew.

As nice as Mellel was, I really wanted something more when it came to creating fiction. For me, the act of writing often involves the creation of new worlds. Characters have complex relationships with their setting, both where they exist and when they exist, and, of course, other characters. In the case of a current crop of short stories that I’m working on, the characters even have relationships with characters who have long since died. With so many balls in the air, I need something that helps me to organize my thoughts a little better. I needed something more than just a word processor — I needed a thought processor.

Enter Scrivener.

Scrivener has about a million features. In my 3 or 4 months of intense usage, I have barely scratched the service. So, this is by no means a review of all of those features, I’m just writing as an impassioned fellow in the middle of a love affair.

Scrivener provides all of the note-keeping and outlining features that I need, and integrates them into a single window. Conceptually, Scrivener splits my writing into “Draft” and “Research.” In the Draft section I outline (complete with note cards on cork board!) and write my work. Research is where I keep all sorts of notes, PDFs, etc. Let’s look at an example.

For a long time, I have been working on stories set in a fictional Texas town. These stories span many generations (literally from Native American villagers to 21st century townsfolk). Consequently, I’ve got a lot of facts to keep straight:

• Family relationships and family trees.
• What the town looked like during various eras.
• The changing economic climate of the town.
• Etc.

To keep all of this stuff straight, I have a series of notes in the Research section divided into three major folders: Characters, Town Notes, Musings.

Each character that is introduced in a story has his/her own profile where I keep important information: birth date, family relationships, interesting details, etc. No matter what story I’m working on, I have immediate access to that characters information. Very handy.

Town Notes gathers all of the information about the town. I have drawn up a street map for various periods — those JPEGs go in this Town Notes folder. Each year that I’ve written about so far has a file with information about what happened that year: deaths, births, economic disasters or triumphs, and so on.

Musings is a repository for ideas I have about future stories. For example, at one point, I thought it would be cool to write a story about the current townspeople’s Native American predecessors. So, I sketched out a quick outline of that story and threw it into the Musings folder. I also keep ideas about major themes (some themes I like to drag throughout a bunch of stories), and what I call the “mythology” (yeah, I’m an X-Files fan…deal with it!) — an overarching storyline that ties things together.

So, all of these sections are floating around within one window. Sounds difficult to navigate, huh? Not really. While it has definitely taken some getting used to, Scrivener’s split pane functionality allows me to be working on a draft in the top portion of the window, while browsing through notes in the bottom portion. Quite nice.

Other features that really float my boat:

• Full screen mode.
• A sidebar where I can scrawl quick notes about whatever file I’m working on.
• Keyword/Metadata coolness with Spotlight goodness.
• The ability to use Scrivener files with Subversion or CVS.
• Templating feature that allows me to quickly get up and running whether I’m writing a short story, novel, screenplay, treatise, or whatever.
• A variety of output and export options.

Scrivener really is a full-featured writing suite that makes a great deal of sense, especially for those who tend to take a lot of notes about what they’re writing. At only $39.95, it gets the job done admirably. Download the trial!

On the one hand, I took my trusty moleskine with me, and I’m tempted to just transcribe that, with necessary editions (and additions, for that matter). However, it might seem strange or boring.

On another hand, I could just write up a little narrative of my trip, complete with photographic evidence of many of the little facets of that story. This appeals to me — it works my narrative bones.

On yet another hand, I could just post photos with captions and attempt to tell the story photographically.

What to do?

I think I’ll definitely cut out the third option. Hanging with Jeremy and Natalie for the weekend definitely proved to me that I am an inferior photographer. I was amazed by some of their shots (which are, as I understand it, in the post-process phase now). We were shooting the same stuff, but the eye behind the lens makes all the difference. Technical chops (I understand the science behind photography fairly well) is no substitute for talent, practice, and vision.

So, we’re back to just having two hands — which is more comfortable anyway. To post the moleskine or not?

Unsure at this point. I will say that I invested in a new soft cover moleskine (different from the buff colored ‘skine that I had blogged about earlier). I love it. It’s a little bigger and more durable than the small, brown ones. But, it’s not as official or nice feeling as the traditional moles.

In order to get back on track, I’ve started doing two things. Here they are:

THE Notebook

I have a fine collection of half-used moleskins. Moleskins are awesome. They are the Bentleys of the notebook world, no doubt. That’s just the problem — I have no trouble taking my Nissan out for a spin, but the Bentley stays in the garage. When I’m looking at a moleskin, I feel like whatever I write in it must be perfect. No scribbled out words, no dumb thoughts, only smart and witty things worthy of Wilde and Byron and the like.

Bottom-line: Moleskins are for 19th century literary pretenders.

For Christmas this year, my wife bought me these other notebooks put out by the moleskin folks. They are small (probably 1/5 the number of pages), with these cheap, brown, paper covers. They are atrocious. They come in packs of three for half the price of a regular little moleskin.

They’re perfect.

From my snobby point-of-view, these things are trash. Therefore, I’m not at all afraid to write whatever I please in them. I’ve started to really use one of these over the last week. I keep it next to me at my desk by day. Here are some of the items that have filled its pages:

• Words I needed to look up from a Michael Chabon book I was reading (seriously, the man has a silly vocabulary).
• Writers I should check out.
• Words I hate.
• Character sketches.
• Things I’m good at (nothing like a little self-esteem boosting!).
• Notes from a meeting with some folks for whom I’m going to be editing a video.
• Notes for the Bible Study that I co-lead.
• General observations.
• Bits of conversations I’ve overheard (or taken part in).

Basically, anything under the sun makes it into this notebook.

Why is this useful?

Notebooks are dumb and pointless — unless you are going to periodically review them. Let me lay out for you how this new notebook kick got started in earnest.

Last week, I was in preparation for this Bible Study (mentioned above). I wanted to jot down a quick outline for what I was hoping to accomplish. I could find nothing but huge 8.5×11 sheets of notebook paper. In my search for a small notebook, I came upon a stack of old (and new) moleskins. Urged on by curiosity, I began to thumb threw them.

Here are some items I found:

• Notes for stories written in 2002.
• Accounts of a professor I had whose career was coming to an end due to Parkinson’s disease (truly sad stuff).
• Drawings of floorplans of ancient structures from sites visited in Greece and Turkey in 2005.
• General observations — behavior, conversation, etc.

In short: A little time machine to the past with some really good stuff in it.

The notes for the old stories were particularly interesting. I was able to relive some of those debates I was having way back when about character and plot. My stories have always been character driven. I’m not a plot guy. This notebook confirms it!

What notebooks are not…

You are not Leonard da Vinci. It is extremely unlikely that anyone will care to read your notebook drivel some 500 years from now. So, don’t fret what you put in there: it’s not for posterity — it’s for YOU!

That’s right. Your notebook is for you.

Around the Hebert house we have a strict rule established long ago: The notebook is personal and not to be touched.

This well-established rule goes for Nat’s notes too. We don’t go pokin’ around in there unless asked to. That’s just the way it is.

Start yourself a writer’s notebook. Do it. Here’s a recent post from Daily Writing Tips on the topic. Get after it!

I have some misgivings about writing a novel. One of them is just silly. I worry that without building my short story muscles, I will lack the strength to endure the grueling novel writing process. However, when I really think about it, aren’t novels and short stories fundamentally different? At risk of overusing an analogy, I would compare the two to sprints and marathons. Sure, being particularly strong in one may help you in the other — but that is no guarantee. The types of stories I want to tell involve more than a what I can cram into a 20-page short story. So, why keep these ideas stuffed in my head or crammed in my “brainstorm” OmniOutliner document? Why not just muddle through and get to work on them?

After spending a few days cogitating, mulling over one of these ideas, writing down thoughts, developing a nifty OmniOutliner template (complete with cunning use of AppleScript!), I did just that today — got down to business. Essentially, my attitude is this: “The best time to work on my first novel is right now.” So, I work on it. I do all I can to eschew idiotic questions with which I constantly wrestle:

• Is it good enough?
• Who wants to read this?
• Will publishers laugh at my very existence?

Forget all that. Just write. I can’t say I’m pleased with my production — but I am pleased to say that I got in at least a few good things. Does it need work? Absolutely. Even the best writing can use a nice day at the spa (some writing, however, needs extensive surgery and prolonged hospital visits…).

I was browsing a book earlier this week called Ernest Hemingway On Writing. Good title. Hemingway never really wrote specifically on this topic, but through his letters and A Moveable Feast, we can learn a bit about his thoughts on writing and his process. Editor Larry W. Phillips has cleverly arranged these snippets (a sentence from here, a paragraph from there) into various themes. In one of these sections, I found a quick note from Hemingway about when it is best to write. Essentially, he says that the best time to stop writing is when you know what is going to happen next. That way, when you pick it up the next day, you’ll have a place to start.

I find a lot of wisdom in that. So much of writing is momentum. I’ve got to keep that momentum rolling or else the project feels like it stalls — at which point those ugly questions really come to the fore.

Earlier today, I was talking on the phone with a comedian friend of mine. He was saying that distraction (losing momentum) during writing causes a really nasty chain of events that looks like this:

This isn’t funny → There’s no way to make this funny → I’m not funny → I’m a bad person.

Funny — but true! I get down on myself.

So, here’s to taking Hemingway’s advice and conserving some momentum. I’ve written over 1500 words on this thing today, and no exactly what happens next — I’ll pick up there tomorrow (or later tonight if I care to…).

I’ve been working on a story that has been called “Execution.” The protagonist, a teenager named Heath, witnesses a public lynching — which haunts him of course, all the more because the victim is closely related to his longtime crush. As I’ve read through the manuscript, making various notations, I’ve come to realize a few things.

First, I am not a fan of overly long short stories. I think 20 pages of decent-sized type is a good length. When you get into short stories that are 50, 60, 70 pages long, you cease to have the ability to sit down and just read them.

Looking at “Execution,” there is definitely the opportunity here for some expansion. I think the story would be served by exploring character and setting in greater detail. For the most part, I rush through the action because that’s what is more in my head than anything else. The conflict. What’s happening? What’s going on? I like to get that stuff out. Now it’s time to flesh out this world a little more. Unfortunately, the story is already 30+ pages before the necessary expansion that will come with this fleshing out. What to do? Keep the story in “short” format, or expand the story into novel format?

When thinking about writing a novel, a few important factors must be taken into account. Here is my reckoning:

1. Do I have enough material for a novel?
– The short answer here is “no.” The longer answer is “maybe.” I really like some of the characters, and I really like some elements of the story. However, I’d have to think long and hard about where to go with it. I don’t simply want to add fluff to make it novel length.

2. Do I have the patience?
– One of the great things about short stories is that they are nearly instantly rewarding. You can complete a draft in a matter of a few days and have a nice warm feeling in your tummy. Novels, unless you’re doing something like NaNoWriMo do not work in quite the same fashion. Am I prepared for the marathon? Or am I still a sprinter?

3. To what degree do I plan?
– With short stories, it’s easy to start with a basic idea and just go. You’re off and running in no time and the story is taking you wherever it wants to go. I don’t doubt that the same could be true of novels, but I suspect that some greater level of planning would be of real benefit.

So, I find myself at an impasse. After completing the first draft of “Execution,” I was looking forward to rereading it (after my requisite 4-week cooldown) and separating the wheat from the chaff. Instead, I find I want to add to it, rather than take away.

I wonder if this is a common feeling.

If you haven’t read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon, you should. There are some minor spoilers in here — but you shouldn’t fret over them because I know you will go read the book prior to reading this post.

Occasionally, you read something that is so well-written, so tightly wrapped, that you marvel a little at it. I usually go through some sort of self-deprecating phase where I say: “Shucks…I’m never gonna write like that…what’s the use?” Grab a-hold of yourself, amigo. Buck up and chill out.

I recently reviewed The Final Solution by Michael Chabon. It had been some time since I had read anything by Chabon, who is one of my favorites (I know, he’s one of everybody’s favorites, right?). So, I decided to open up his biggest success, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, for a second time. I’ve only had enough time to get through the first part, but I am reminded once again of what a great writer Chabon is, just by these first 60 pages or so.

In his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King discusses the importance of brevity. In so doing, he talks specifically about finding the right level of detail. Too much detail and you lose your audience — they get bored. Too little detail, and the reader has no idea what you’re talking about. Finding that right level of detail is key.

It is precisely this that Michael Chabon is a master of. I admit, as I was rereading Kavalier & Clay, some 7 years after I first picked up, I asked myself: “Why is Chabon giving me so much? Is he just being clever?” With this attentiveness to detail that I have gained over the last 7 years, I began to wonder exactly what Chabon was up to. I became suspicious of a writer in whose hands I had always felt supreme comfort!

My fears were allayed, however, when I reached the end of the first section where Chabon throws a lovely little tag on a mostly bitter, but sometimes sweet story. He buttons it up into one taut piece of fiction, that pays great dividends.

The opening section of Kavalier & Clay is about a young man named Josef Kavalier who is chosen as his family’s hope of escape from German occupied Prague. Josef has been trained in the arts of “autoliberation” by an aging escape artist called Kornblum. But he is not supposed to need these skills to escape Prague. Instead, his family has procured all of the appropriate visas — spending their considerable fortune to give Josef a shot at making it to America. When the plan goes awry, Josef finds himself secretly moving about Prague for three days, hoping to avoid detection by his family, on a clandestine mission with his former teacher, Kornblum.

Throughout all of this, Chabon weaves in the story of Josef’s time as Kornblum’s pupil. He also spends a great deal of time developing Josef’s relationship with his little brother, Thomas. It is during this relationship building that I began to wonder: “What is Chabon playing at? Why is he giving us so much?” Through these pages, Thomas becomes a well-developed character — a little brother who loses a great deal when his attempts to help Josef’s fledgling career go terribly awry.

One memorable exchange occurs over an illustration, a sedate skydiving, tea-drinking Houdini, that Thomas has drawn for the libretto of an opera he is writing. Josef dismisses this drawing as ridiculous. Many pages later, after a month of travel across the entire continent of Asia and the Pacific Ocean, Josef finds that it is this drawing that Thomas has stuffed in Josef’s clothes as he was saying farewell many weeks earlier.

Obviously, the picture of Houdini and what he represents serves the story as a whole — Jewish apprentice escape artist slips through the grasp of the Third Reich. Moreover, the picture ties the entire section together. A small detail, a minute moment in this history, serves a great purpose later on. It’s touching; it’s memorable; it’s good writing.

As I’m looking at the writing projects on my plate, I’m wondering what are the tiny details that could be used to great effect as buttons or tags that make the story feel as if it’s come full circle? For the moment, I’m not really seeing any. Why not? Because I haven’t created them. I’d love to think that I’m skilled enough to weave this yarn into a tapestry on my first attempt — but I’m just not there (yet?). Most of us aren’t. Instead, we need to rely on something that sometimes feels dirty, dastardly, and unwelcome:

REWRITING

Yeah, I know you’ve heard before: “The art of writing is rewriting.” We all have. It’s true though. I’m not going to create the masterpiece on my first attempt. In fact, I aim not to.

Rather than worrying about things like this as I write, though sometimes they happen, I save them for round two. As I’m writing a first draft, I want to get the framework and skeleton on to the page. I want the big picture, the broad brush strokes, whatever your favorite metaphor is. It’s on the second go ’round that flesh starts to stick to the bones, and tidiness creeps in.

The more revisions, the more layers we can add, the closer the story will conform to your vision — what you have in your head and heart. Unfortunately, it seems that this vision is an asymptote. Eventually, your returns on this investment will probably begin to diminish, and your ability to affect the piece will flat line. That’s OK — that’s how you know it’s done! When you just can’t conceive of what else to do to it, that’s when you stop, or seek outside opinions and help.

All of this is to say that if you find yourself marveling at other writers, don’t indulge that inner-critic that tells you you aren’t good enough. Screw that guy (or gal)! Just keep at it. Write, rewrite, rewrite again. You’ll get it right. It just takes more effort than we might be willing to admit.