How does editing figure into your writing process?
I admit that when I started writing essays in high school, the editing process was virtually nonexistent. Typos, maybe, but little else was changed during the drafting process. That was a failure, but a common one. It’s hard to see the value of drafts in shaping the tone, message, and flow of your writing.
That’s not the case anymore; I routinely take more time editing than writing, to ensure that my message is clear.
And that’s the same, more and more, in my compositional process, too. In the past, I wouldn’t notate something until I was quite settled with it. And sometimes I still do that – doing the editing in my head or out loud before I write it down. But more frequently, I treat what I’ve written as malleable – just as malleable as a first draft in a Google Doc. As I flow through the piece, I’ll often treat sections as placeholders – good enough to represent the idea I want. Or I’ll leave blank bars with a message like “fill in later” or “mostly staccato eighths” or “violin enters here.”
It comes down to not treating your creative output as precious. Nothing I’ve ever written is “perfect” (whatever that means), so all of it is ready for improvement, step by step, as I go. When you let go of that preciousness, it becomes easier to edit and improve.