A Writing Tip from Eileen Toomey
DEADHEADING
Estimated reading time: 1 minute
You planted the mums the week before the early September heatwave. Even though you watered every morning, there are many withered blooms. Without thinking, you pull the dead buds from the stems, leaving a little pile at the base of the tall black pot.
This process is called deadheading, and it has nothing to do with music.
Deadheading encourages the plant to continue to bloom by removing the old growth just as writing involves removing or revising passages that are not working. The writer “deadheads” weak writing, pruning away sentences, paragraphs or whole sections. This editing process helps the stronger ideas blossom by clearing distractions and letting the writer focus energy on the most fruitful parts of the text.
The writer, like the gardener, learns over time how to be discerning in her cuts, making choices that allow her creation to flourish. While it can be emotionally difficult for the writer to discard words, she must understand that it’s just part of the process. Writing involves both creation and revision. Deletion is a tool. Careful removal of faded blooms and flabby text makes room for continued growth and beauty.
Eileen Toomey has been published in The Rumpus, Cleaver Magazine, Oyster River Pages, and various literary magazines. Her poem “Immunotherapy” won second prize in Cleaver’s FORM & FORM-BREAKING Competition and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2023. Her creative nonfiction piece “Canaryville Girls” won second prize in Cleaver’s DUALITY NON-FICITON Competition in 2024. Eileen is a book inc writer and an instructor at Project Write Now, a non-profit writing organization, located in Red Bank, NJ. She is currently working on a memoir about her childhood in the working-class neighborhood, Canaryville, on Chicago’s south side. You can find links to her publications and social media accounts at https://bookinc.org/member/etoomey.
Read Eileen’s award-winning poem, “Immunotherapy.”
Read Eileen’s craft essay, “It Started with a List: CRAFTING A HELIX POEM.”
Read Eileen’s Writing Tip, “Deadheading.”
Read Eileen’s award-winning essay, “Canaryville Girls,” which won second prize in Cleaver’s DUALITY Creative Nonfiction Competition in 2024.
Read more from Cleaver Magazine’s Writing Tips.
