first,second,third,google?

[bluegreen17]

this from rob brezsny:

In describing his creative process, novelist Jack Kerouac said, "The first thought is the best thought." When Allen Ginsberg was asked "What's the best advice you can give a poet?", he echoed Kerouac. On the other hand, Nobel Prize-winning writer William Butler Yeats constantly revised works he had already published, even fiddling with poems that were many years old. Pierre Bonnard was so committed to editing himself that "he was once caught trying to retouch one of his own paintings hanging on a museum wall," wrote poet Linh Dinh, who concluded, "Last thought is the best thought."

i've heard more votes for 'first thought' in the last few years,but that may be the bias of the types of things i've chosen to read. interesting that i found this today,as in my recent reading of robert fritz,he states that first thought is not always the best...second or third is sometimes better. ah,who knows? probably it varies. the anecdote about bonnard being caught trying to retouch one of his own paintings cracked me up though...i can understand that impulse!

Comments

[darkfader.livejournal.com]

All thoughts have merit.

Which is the best to be projected however seems to be ans unique as the individual.

Those are my thoughts anyway.

(personally, when writing and speaking i try to get it right the first time, but the longer the expression, the more i tend to ramble and need to do some clarification)

[jayteeone.livejournal.com]

First thought is good, but last thought is importnat too. You just have to figure if it fits with the first or stands on it's own.

[bohemelibrarian.livejournal.com]

Ah...the Beats. I love 'em. Jack Kerouac is my idol.

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

I think to a great extent it's probably a function of the writer's personality, too: how instinctual the writer is, how much confidence he has, etc. For example, I'm much more analytic than instinctual about my own writing; I can't easily tell what "sounds right," so I'm not secure in just leaving the first thought on the page. And if I felt compelled to leave my first thought basically unedited, I would also feel compelled to make it perfect right from the get-go, which would make it hard to ever begin. I find starting a piece intimidating even when I know I can draft to my heart's content -- I would probably be stalled for life if I thought I was bound to the first words that appeared on the page! I envy people who can tap their creativity quickly enough to follow the first-thought-best-thought doctrine.