The trouble with reading about writing is it takes up one’s writing time. If you have to choose between writing and reading about writing the choice is clear. But what do you do when someone sends you a book on writing as has just happened to me? The book is excellent but I have decided to put it face down—pages spread helplessly akimbo—while I write about not reading it.

Or not reading it now—bedtime is okay because that’s not my writing time. Why not? I don’t know. Perhaps it will become my writing time even though it isn’t yet. When you read about writing it appears that it’s hard to feel comfortable about any time not being your writing time. I suppose mealtimes are exempt, but I need to check.

Of course. if you write about food professionally, spearing a flower of broccoli dripping in garlic and olive oil is research and you may need to write or take notes while you consume it. Which reminds me–food is never far from my writing-because while writing I’m either having a snack or thinking about what I’m going to have for dinner.

I feel sure my characters are a hungry lot. I’ll have to ask them later-maybe do a little rewriting to get in their three squares between all the scenes of sex, murder and mayhem. In any case. they surely all have refrigerators even if the fact of it doesn’t appear on the page. Perhaps that’s been the trouble with my writing all along—not enough refrigerators, not enough food—even though there’s been plenty of rewriting. Puh-lenty.

Rewriting is what writing is about as you probably realize if you’re a writer but no one’s going to tell you that up front if you’re a writer wannabe. You may think you can just go ahead write your heart out, check for spelling mistakes and publish. I couldn’t agree more—that’s the way it should be but since it’s not, you need my book entitled The Joy of Rewriting. Here are some chapter headings:

Blather and tripe: how to recognize and remove.

How to rewrite when there’s nothing left after removing blather and tripe.

And so forth.