Hello All, I hope life is treating you well. Things are good here in my neck of the woods. I've been plugging away at the second draft of my work-in-progress, and after several re-writes, the first chapter is nearly finished.
I tend to edit as I go. Although I've heard some writers argue this method slows the process, my mind has never worked like other peoples. For me, ideas come in pieces, parts of dialogue, character development and chunks of scenes. First, I write the main ideas. Then, comes what I refer to as "The fillers," or the editing portion of my process.
For example, in my first go round, a sentence may come out something like this: Despite her reservations, Soledad's curiosity itched at her. She had to know who was in the bed.
Okay, so the idea is there, but there's no sense of foreboding or urgency. Next, comes the pondering part of my writing process, where I sit blankly in front of the computer while it stares accusingly back at me, blinking, begging for more pages. Unfortunately, the ideas to complete my scenes don't come when I need them. Instead, they hit me at 3 a.m., or while I'm in the shower, or carpooling a load of boisterous kids. I have learned to carry a notebook with me, just for these moments.
Once I've written all my ideas down, I return to the computer ready to add my fillers. Now, the revised sentence may look something like this: Despite her reservations, Soledad's curiosity itched at her as painfully as an irritated rash she wasn't supposed to scratch. It was an awful curiosity, the kind that tempted passersby to gawk at a fatal accident. Similarly, the temptation to know the identity of the person in the bed was too hard to resist. Soledad....
Well, you get the point, I won't bore you with the rest of the paragraph. The reasons I have to edit as I go are glaringly obvious, I need several re-writes to fit the pieces of my scenes together. In fact, I've always envied those truly talented authors who can produce a well thought out, well written draft on the first go round. I've always said, "Where I lack in talent I make up with tenacity." Hopefully, my hard work will pay off someday.
Anywho, I would be interested to know what your process is. Do you write the entire draft without looking back, then revise after it's complete? Are you an edit as you go type of author? Has anyone ever written a perfect draft the first time out of the gate? Please share your experiences. Perhaps I can learn something from them. Until next time, happy writing.
I tend to edit as I go. Although I've heard some writers argue this method slows the process, my mind has never worked like other peoples. For me, ideas come in pieces, parts of dialogue, character development and chunks of scenes. First, I write the main ideas. Then, comes what I refer to as "The fillers," or the editing portion of my process.
For example, in my first go round, a sentence may come out something like this: Despite her reservations, Soledad's curiosity itched at her. She had to know who was in the bed.
Okay, so the idea is there, but there's no sense of foreboding or urgency. Next, comes the pondering part of my writing process, where I sit blankly in front of the computer while it stares accusingly back at me, blinking, begging for more pages. Unfortunately, the ideas to complete my scenes don't come when I need them. Instead, they hit me at 3 a.m., or while I'm in the shower, or carpooling a load of boisterous kids. I have learned to carry a notebook with me, just for these moments.
Once I've written all my ideas down, I return to the computer ready to add my fillers. Now, the revised sentence may look something like this: Despite her reservations, Soledad's curiosity itched at her as painfully as an irritated rash she wasn't supposed to scratch. It was an awful curiosity, the kind that tempted passersby to gawk at a fatal accident. Similarly, the temptation to know the identity of the person in the bed was too hard to resist. Soledad....
Well, you get the point, I won't bore you with the rest of the paragraph. The reasons I have to edit as I go are glaringly obvious, I need several re-writes to fit the pieces of my scenes together. In fact, I've always envied those truly talented authors who can produce a well thought out, well written draft on the first go round. I've always said, "Where I lack in talent I make up with tenacity." Hopefully, my hard work will pay off someday.
Anywho, I would be interested to know what your process is. Do you write the entire draft without looking back, then revise after it's complete? Are you an edit as you go type of author? Has anyone ever written a perfect draft the first time out of the gate? Please share your experiences. Perhaps I can learn something from them. Until next time, happy writing.
Hi Andrea!
ReplyDeleteMy story ideas come to me at odd times too. I have several WIPs in various stages of development but because I was editing and revising as I went along, I never could finish any of them. Now I'm participating in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
challenge and learning to turn off the internal editor until the first draft is completed. At the end of November, I'll be able to determine if I was able to accomplish that.
~kristal lee
www.kristalleeromances.com
I can't edit as I go or I'd never finish. I write the entire draft, it's horrible, I write another one, and another. By the third time I'm ready to do a thorough edit.
ReplyDeleteKristal Lee, Welcome to my blog. I see where you're coming from here. If an author keeps editing her work before moving forward then she will never finish it. However, I do think there is a fine line between over editing and adding ideas as they come. I can't proceed to the next chapter if my instincts tell me there is something missing from the last one. After about ten re-writes I usually move on. The funny thing about my process is, once some time has passed, I still find mistakes in the edited chapters. I guess this occurs because I've given myself some space from the book. I probably have a couple of more drafts to go before my book is done. Best of luck with Nano.
ReplyDeleteKaren, it has been a while my friend. Thanks for stopping in. A lot of writers seem to share your opinion. My first draft was a big mess and I edited it.(: This time, I know a little more about writing than I did before, so I hope my MS., will read much cleaner after the second go round. I'm also following a thorough outline this time, hopefully that will help to eliminate the aforementioned problems. Take care, and don't be a stranger.
Hello Andrea! I must admit my writing process is very similar to yours. I'm working on my first novel (YA fantasy) and I just can't help but go back and edit as I go and after I complete each chapter. I think it does slow me down, but I think it would bother me worse if I didn't go back and make some changes right away.
ReplyDeleteThough, there comes a point when I really need to continue on. I'm getting better at finding that point sooner.
I hear you on the tenacity vs. talent! That is definitely me. Also, I do some light line editing as I draft. Can't help myself! I see a messy sentence, I have to doctor it up. Other than that, I stick to a good outline and write it out as fast as I can. Then my revision process is all over the place.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your process--writer's methods are always so fascinating to me!
Cheers,
Jackee
Jackee, good to know I'm not alone here. I could edit forever if I let myself. Writing is a process.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I'd love to say that I'm a writer who never looks back, but that would be a bold faced lie. I have been training myself out of the habit of late, but yes, I am one that edits on the spot. I suppose that's why it's taken me so long to write my novel.
ReplyDeleteGood to know I'm not alone.
-J.