Editing and Revising–With Mindfulness

A term used for a particular stage in Buddhist meditation practice, Mindfulness is referred to as sati, a form of remembering, perhaps suggestive of “memoir” which also derives from “remembering”.

In a state of Mindfulness, the meditating individual checks in with herself to just listen and see, in order to reconnect with her mind and feelings, ensconced in the world around her. A state of active, open attention to the present, Mindfulness is an engagement in observing from a distance, a gradual observation without judgment.

How does a state of mindful meditation work, and what does it have to do with writing? One of the earliest Mindfulness exercises is to ask: What shape is it? Where exactly is it located? What color is it? What texture? How is it changing? What is the feeling of this object? Try it, while looking at rainfall, for example.

As writers, we raise some of the same questions when we revise and rewrite. What form does a particular character have? What textures enhance the scene’s authenticity? How does a character change? How does he or she feel? That’s editing and revision. [Elsewhere I have discussed my Zen style of writing spontaneously, in the zone, unaware of the ending. –“Zen Mind, Writer’s Mind”, SheWrites.com, September 30, 2019.]

Editing and revision are a different state of mind, not Zen– spontaneous, non-goal-oriented,– but involving a sort of space between the writer and the draft so we can see what’s there, in order to let it go. While the first draft is fluid, perhaps explosive and streaming, the Mindfulness required for editing and revision is a process of actively noticing new things about the first draft.

If the writer is truly in the present moment, there is only the text, its context, its perspective. It’s energetic because the observer is non-judgmental, reading and noticing words, images, feelings, as if they were written by another.

Some writers feel that rewriting, editing, deleting one’s “darlings” is stressful and exhausting. What is exhausting is thinking that you’ll find problems you cannot solve. We want to hold words as they are, so we can control them and be finished. But everything is always changing, and if you fight it, you lose the opportunity to thrive with the change.

What mindfulness nurtures, especially for me as a writer, is a gentle attention to what is on the page without the rigidity or single-mindedness of the words as immutable. Not easy, but definitely achievable. We need to read our own writing as an organic, fluid object changing in the present moment, a moment changing into the next. I needed to release my writing and ideas, not confine them.

In the end, what can I say about writing my first novel, Things Unsaid? I revised and rewrote Things Unsaid at least six or seven times. Did I enjoy the journey? Not until I really was mindful of what I was looking at: what I was writing and what I was reading. Really notice. Really observe. Look at your book as if you’re seeing it for the first time. Then you’ll know when to move on.

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Diana Y. Paul was born in Akron, Ohio and  has a Ph.D. inBuddhist Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has a B.A. in both psychology and philosophy from  Northwestern University. Diana is a former Stanford professor in Buddhism with a focus on the role of women and intergenerational families.

Diana Y. Paul is also the author of three books on Buddhism, one of which has been translated into Japanese and German.  Her short stories have appeared in a number of literary journals. She lives in Carmel, CA with her husband and calico cat, Mao. Her second novel, Deeds Undone, a mystery continues the narrative of Things Unsaid.  A Perfect Match will be her third, When not writing, Diana creates mixed media art. Her art has been in museums and galleries in California, Hawaii, and Japan. Visit her blog on movies and art at:

To learn more about her and her work, visit her author website at http://www.dianaypaul.com and her blog  http://www.unhealedwound.com or follow her on Twitter: @DianaPaul10.

Winner of New Adult Fiction– Beverly Hills Book Awards for 2016

Winner of the 2016 SILVER Medal for Best Fiction in Drama from Readers Favorites

Finalist USA Best Books Awards 2016 in Literary Fiction and in New Fiction

A story of the complexity of the bonds between parents and children and how difficult it can be to escape them, Things Unsaid is a highly charged family saga of characters fighting for space to breathe.

Jules, her sister Joanne, and her brother Andrew all grew up in the same household–but their varying views of and reactions to their experiences growing up have made them all very different people.

Now, as adults with children of their own, they are all faced with the question of what to do to help their parents, who insist on maintaining the upscale lifestyle they’re accustomed to despite their mounting debts. A deft exploration of the ever-shifting covenants between parents and children,

Things Unsaid is a ferocious tale of family love, dysfunction, and sense of duty over forty years.

“With a grace that is absorbing and deft, THINGS UNSAID tackles many difficult questions, including filial responsibility, depression, marital strife, and sexual identity. …The author depicts heart-wrenching conundrums as the three siblings are forced repeatedly to evaluate their personal priorities….An engaging tale of family dysfunction and intractable senior citizens.”

—Kirkus Reviews

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