Rewrites & On the Road

Yesterday I received a call from the editor: "Can you rewrite your book in three weeks?"

"Well," I said, "that all depends. Am I rewriting a few paragraphs, or a few chapters?"

"I'll get back to you."

Writing, they say, is actually rewriting. It is revising again and again. Or, in my case usually, it is writing so quickly that the editor might say, "This is a complete do-over."

A few weeks ago I was at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and noted that Jack Kerouac's manuscript of "On the Road" was on display. I spent a few minutes gazing at this manuscript, which he produced as a stream of consciousness on a scroll. The entire book is one page. Very little rewriting (and these were merely typewriter XXXX's placed over unwanted words or phrases).

Okay, so Jack could do it and produce a masterpiece. Maybe that's the key. Next week I'm going to go in search of odd mediums on which to write. I'd love to submit a manuscript written on an old sliding glass door, perhaps, or on 45-pound Olympic barbell plates. How about writing on a roll of toilet paper--I mean, if I really wanted to make a statement? If my wife will let me, I might even use some old crayons and write on the walls. Wouldn't that be grand, producing an entire book in the living room?