I saw an interesting article in the New York Times called, "To Use and Use Not." It's about a new edition of Hemingways A Farewell to Arms. In addition to some other material, it will include the fifty-seven different endings Hemingway wrote before he got to the one he wanted.
The actual ending ("It was like saying goodbye to a statue. After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.") is famous. Probably not as famous as the beginning of Moby Dick or the ending of The Great Gatsby, but still quite well known.
I can't think, however, that reading all the failed attempts is really going to be that informative, except perhaps to give more evidence that writing can be difficult but worth the effort. Watching deleted scened on DVDs can be fun (and sometimes you can second-guess the decisions that went into the final cut), but if you're really studying film you'd be better off watching the actual film a few more times. That's where the most important lessons are.
(Also, typing the last two sentences up there, specifically "I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain," reminded me that when I write a sentence that has "aaaaaa and bbbbbbb and cccccc" rather than "aaaaaa, bbbbbbb and cccccc" (or, of course, "aaaaaa, bbbbbbb, and cccccc")...
Where was I?
Oh, yes, when I do the "and and and" thing, which I do despite the occasional disapproving email, I got it from Hemingway. Oh, well. That was one lesson I learned, and I didn't have to read fifty-seven other versions of the ending to learn it.
Speaking of Hemingway, he used to dislike semicolons, and for years I avoided them as well, though I've now become more flexible in that area. I do use them sparingly, however.
I just read an article about them at the New York Times blog called Drafts, which also posted the articles about commas that I linked to here. I'm definitely going to follow that blog from now on, in addition to "After Deadline," which I've read for years.
Also, in terms of Vonnegut's put down of semicolons, comparing them to transvestite hermaphrodites, I do have to wonder what he had against transvestite hermaphrodites. What had they ever done to him, to be compared to semicolons?
I have to agree that there seems little real purpose in reading the 57 failed endings.
I can only put the idea down to the same people who think out-takes of actors saying the same line wrong 30 times is funny, and people who think reality TV is really real.
And on a related note, I also love a good “aaaa and bbbb and cccc” sentence when it fits the rhythm of the story. 🙂
I know people who bemoan the fact that, since pretty much everybody writes on computers these days, future generations may not have all the drafts to pore over and study. I don’t really care one way or the other.
When Orson Welles wanted to learn how to direct a movie, he watched Stagecoach every night for a month. He didn’t look around for the deleted scenes and outtakes. 🙂
Typo! First paragraph: “firty-seven.” This one was actually kind of fun because if you pronounced the typo, it sounds like 30 but I assumed it was 40 and then it was really 50!
I might be easily amused.
Have you read any John Irving books? His main character is invariably a writer, and there’s almost always a section where the MC stoutly defends the semi-colon to his editor, publisher and/or the public.
I like John Irving. I like semi-colons too, and I use them (although not excessively — I don’t think).
Typo fixed! (It is better when they’re entertaining. 🙂 )
I’ve read at least a couple of Irving’s books (Garp and Hotel New Hampshire — I think that’s it…), and I didn’t remember the semicolons. I do remember the bears and the wrestling, though.
I wrote about The Hotel New Hampshire a while ago:
http://u-town.com/collins/?p=138
I’d totally love to read those endings!
Now I feel like a slacker for only writing one ending for every book and feeling satisfied with it. 😛
Hey, as I learned when I was a musician, sometimes you do get it right on the first take. (And it’s important not to second-guess that, thinking, “that was too easy…”).
I was interested in the endings that were in the article, but I’m not sure I’d read fifty-seven of them. And I’m definitely not buying a new copy of the book just to get them.
(Though I do endorse the idea of promoting Hemingway the writer from time to time so people don’t think he was just some macho celebrity. I’m not a huge fan of some of his novels, but he wrote some of the most amazing short stories I’ve ever read.)