Something John Higgs said about writing a book has stuck in my head. It was in an interview for the Wind-Thieved Hat podcast that was published on my birthday last year:
“How it works in my head is the book already exists in the future, and you’re just trying to reveal it. You’re just trying to find out what it is. And when you’re at the editing stage, you look at something and it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s not what it is in the in the future, that’s not quite what it should be’. And then you tweak it. And the moment it’s right and chimes with the book that will be on shelves in a couple of years, you know, you just know that that’s good. And it’s a very satisfying moment.”
I love that idea; writing, not as improving the text but rather bringing into being a potential object.