Vicki asks:
Do you normally write everyday or most days until you hit the end before you edit? Or do you pick one day each week to go back and edit what you’ve written?
Actually, Vicki knows the answer to this, since she’s on a writing loop with me where we check in with our progress everyday, and she knows i don’t always check in.
No, I don’t write everyday. I wish I did. I wish I were more disciplined. I’m a “work to the deadline” kind of girl. I’m trying to change that, but life keeps getting in teh way. Like this summer: first it was a family emergency, then I had to chuck a whole bunch of plot and restart, then I was out of town for five weekends straight.
Regarding the writing/editing divide, I edit as I go. Always have. Just my process. As a result, I don’t usually have a whole bunch of drafts. I hear this can be a problem for many writers, since they keep working and working on making the beginning “perfect” and never move forward, but that was never a problem for me. I also like regularly re-reading the book up to the current point (I write in order) so as to keep the pacing solid and the one consistent.
However, it’s easier to do this when you aren’t on deadline, and since I’ve been writing to very firm deadlines I’ve started training myself to move on even if I know I’m going to have to go back and edit a bunch of stuff later. Using this technique is pretty much a work in progress. It’s definitely not my favorite way of doing things, but if this were fun all the time it wouldn’t be a job, right?
I know others who are all about the drafting process, though. There’s no right way.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:19 am
I’m still finding my way. I tried the writing through till the end way and the revisions were so major it was almost like doing a completely different book. I like rereading what I have done every few pages. I like sending out to my Cp’s and then going over what they send back the minute I get it back. I like going foreward knowing that I am polishing as I go.
I just don’t think I am cut out for the writing the whole thing straight through.
teri
July 30th, 2007 at 10:26 am
I work in a very similar way, Diana, and I’m glad to hear that someone else does too! I always sort of thought that I was an anomoly!
July 30th, 2007 at 10:38 am
I write forward and then go back a edit the last several chapters. This was not something I used to do but found just as tjbrown said by the time you hit the end it would be like writing a completely new book.
I also found that having an excel spreadsheet of my characters (regardless of importance)helps big time. There’s nothing like naming someone the same name as a dog in the book or calling them one thing in chapter three and when they are back in chapter nine calling them something else.
July 30th, 2007 at 11:26 am
If I edited as I wrote, I would never get anything done. I work much better when I write straight through. Even if things change in the middle. And I find that, when I get to the end, I’ve been contemplating how to tweak the earlier stuff all along, so the editing goes pretty smoothly.
I have one book right now that I’m working on. I had LOTS of editing. But I enjoyed it. I thought I would have to do a third pass, but I find that I tweak it as I retype. Yes, I am completely retyping the MS b/c it will be easier than working with a flawed MS.
I love to read about different writing processes. Everyone is so unique!
July 30th, 2007 at 11:46 am
I mostly write straight through (but not always in order) without revising, except when I think of something I’ll go back and just stick a note in to make a change later, and sometimes I’ll go back and write a scene and stick it in, or move things around.
So I guess I do revise somewhat during the writing, but it’s only revising major things, not going back and layering in details.
July 30th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
At the risk of dating myself, back in the days when I did my writing on a typewriter, I wrote the story first (with lots of strikeouts) and edited afterward.
With the computer I switched to editing as I wrote. Made the story (and characters) very easy and loads of fun to play with.
But now that I’m on the same writing loop as Diana and Vicki, with a daily word count check, I find myself going back to just writing, no editing–that’ll come when the story is done (if ever–but I can assure you it’s definitely half-baked now).
July 30th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
I never know how things are going to end until I get there, or who the characters are until the do something interesting on the page. So I tend to write straight through, figure everything out in the end, and then go back and do a big big overhaul of the first part. I think that if I edited along the way, I’d just end up cutting and changing it later. I’m hoping that as I write more, I can streamline this process a bit cause these revisions are taknig forever!
July 30th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Your process is so similar to mine, Diana! Right down to plotting in the shower and editing as you go. I almost always end with a fairly solid first draft that needs only routine editing. I work without a note or an outline and focus on what’s next while setting up things I want to do later. Other favorite plotting places (besides the shower): driving, vacuuming, drying my hair, doing dishes, and during most other mindless, but necessary, tasks!
July 31st, 2007 at 8:27 am
For me, it is important to meet a daily word count or I’ll get bogged down. To keep going forward, I don’t go back and fix problems, but add to a list of known deficiencies. When I finish the draft, I tackle the big issues, then work my way down to the smaller items.