Sit On It

Our perception of things changes over time. After an unspecified period we become more objective and the work we have created becomes less a part of ourselves. It is then that we can see the imperfections. Mind you, they won't always be there, but real or imagined, they will show themselves. This is, however, the way I write.

Whenever possible, I advise letting a finished piece sit for a period of time before we rush it off to the publisher or post it online. (Like I’ll listen to that one!) We can always revisit the work a couple of hours or a couple of days later and see if it still has the same feel. This, too, will allow us to spot errors more easily.

When we are working on a poem, for instance. Often we are too close to the material to really see it. We know what we wrote even if we didn’t type it exactly as we thought. Looking at it again after time has passed can show us the error of our ways.