Should I wear the FROG side when I'm writing a rough draft?
And the TOAD side when I'm revising?
Because I want
the Frog and Toad parts of me
to be friends.
Do you think of the composing/editing sides of yourself as different personalities?
Do you have tricks for calling out one side or the other?
And hey! Did you know that if you flip those letters around, you can get FOOD and TROD, too? Who are they?
My Frog and Toad bracelet (and the photos) came from Etsy, and from the imaginative mind of Bookshelves of Doom.
Because I want
the Frog and Toad parts of me
to be friends.
Do you think of the composing/editing sides of yourself as different personalities?
Do you have tricks for calling out one side or the other?
And hey! Did you know that if you flip those letters around, you can get FOOD and TROD, too? Who are they?
My Frog and Toad bracelet (and the photos) came from Etsy, and from the imaginative mind of Bookshelves of Doom.
Love your bracelet, Sara! My two writing personalities are vastly different. My rough draft one just keeps chanting "shut up" to my brain and "write. more. faster." to my heart.
ReplyDeleteMy revising one is very thoughtful and analytical.
*Drooling over the bracelet*
ReplyDeleteOf course you know I love the FOOD and TROD combination. But they're not unlike FROG and TOAD, since to me, frog represents initial spark, leaping, flying off into creative avenues, and toad represents a more deliberate plodding (or trodding), through a piece of writing once a draft is done. Like Laura said, one side seems more analytical, the other fueled by emotion. Either way, you gotta wear green.
I haven't gotten one of these yet, but then I'm still torn between BEEZUS and RAMONA, not to mention FOOD and TROD!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I can separate the composing/editing sides of my personality; as I write, I edit. You've seen the website Fuzzmail, right? Where it records you writing an email as you write two words and then correct them? That's how I compose -- five paragraphs forward, two paragraphs back. Either I have a split personality all the time, or... something. I'm pretty sure whatever it is, it definitely is in favor of FOOD and TROD...
I love the bracelet.
ReplyDeleteI'm more like TadMack, editing away while I write, although my first draft self can be kind of neurotic. I enjoy the work while I'm doing it, but when I'm away, I fret about whether or not I can do what I want to do, if I can finish, if the project's worthwhile, etc. That neurotic part goes away when I have a full draft and I'm revising/editing. I really love revising and editing. I'm not sure what the character analogy would be.
Tadmack, I tried Fuzzmail, and it was fascinating to watch my own mind grind away. :)
ReplyDeleteI tend to write, edit a bit, write some more, edit a bit more, etc., instead of rough drafting everything at one go. (For novels, anyway.) So I'll just have to keep flipping my bracelet back and forth, now won't I?
And Laura, I do find it hard to keep Toad's voice down when Frog is writing. Later, later, I tell him.
For sure when you're working on the first draft you need to go with "Trod." I myself prefer the motto "Trudge On."
ReplyDeleteGreat bracelet! And what's with that delicate wrist? Is it yours or a wrist model's?
I need to get my George and Martha sides working together. Think I;m gonna need a bigger bracelet.
ReplyDeleteRobin, that's a wrist model, not me. (Hey! Great career for a flaked out parent in a YA novel, don't you think?)
ReplyDeleteAnd David, perhaps a George/Martha reversible T-shirt? Two-sided belt buckle? OK, now I'm getting ridiculous...
That's my wrist!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're enjoying the bracelet, Sara -- now I'll have to get to work on creating a George/Martha line!
Yes. Very very different. The mad woman in the attic and Marian the librarian. Or Frog and Toad, as the case may be...
ReplyDeleteWhat a great bracelet! I, too, am rather fond of Food and Trod. I think I'm like TadMack in that I'm always editing quite a bit as I compose, so my writing process can go a bit slowly as a result. I think it's actually because my editing personality is a domineering tyrant.
ReplyDeleteThe only time I've been able to actually separate them is when I've tried to do NaNoWriMo--no time for editing!!