How to Start Turning Mess Into Magic

It’s really common to hear marination as a metaphor for the thinking work of writing: most of us need some amount of time to consider what we’re going to say and how we’re going to say it. I prefer stewing. Thinking is hot and exhausting work; pulling the last bits of substance out of your ingredients is a slow, building process that requires frequent stirring and the ability to walk away–and to come back again to check on it.

When you’re letting a messy first attempt stew, you have to let it alone when it doesn’t taste quite right. You have to come back more than once to reevaluate what you’ve got, and maybe to adjust all those pieces you prepped in your mess-en-place. And you eventually have to decide that it’s time to take the last bit of inedible element out and serve the thing up.

The key to making magic is (unfortunately, since most of us would probably prefer actual magic) a blend of patience and frenetic work. For writing, this might look like leaving a draft in a drawer for a month before pulling it out to rework. It might also look like frantically dumping a creative burst onto the page and then not looking at it again for a few years. Different kinds of pieces take different stewing lengths, but they all require the second opinion of an experienced taster to make sure they appeal to the consumer. And having a sous chef in the kitchen can drastically reduce the amount of prep work and patience required.