Step Back, Let Go

“Write with the door closed,

Edit with the door open.”

n  Steven King

The ideal reader for Fog On Fire, the story of my bicycle trip from southern California to Seattle, was my brother Mason. He and I met as roommates over the summer at Varsity House with my cat, Marilyn.

After months, drafts, and thousands of my words were spilt – Mason partnered with me to flesh out the book. This has been an intimate process. Academy Award nominated screenwriter, Scott Frank, had said that watching his finished film was weird, but it was the conversations over drafts that stuck with him as worthwhile. So goes for literature at this state.

The process is dynamic for growth in telling stories and communicating with an audience. What I’ve learned is that I’m not as good as I would want you to praise me for – plenty has been removed. The project started out obese and is getting trimmed down. With his insistence, I see what muscle is there that can be built up to a project of stature worth presenting. In the end, I’ll be thankful for the quiet nights we could spend to work out the story.