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10. How would you describe your writing process?
Lots and lots of early drafts. Lots and lots of rewriting. Lots and lots of editing.
The standard writing advice is to go ahead and write a shitty first draft. The idea is to just get some words on the screen and then rest of the work won't be so hard. So that's what I try to do. First I write some notes to help me figure out what needs to happen in a chapter. Then I write a shitty first draft. Then I write a slightly less shitty second draft.
Usually I stall somewhere between the second and third draft. From then on it's like I spin my wheels trying to figure out why everything feels wrong. Why is this chapter not working? Why am I not relating to this character? Why is this dialogue so clunky? Are these scenes really in the best order? Are all these scenes even necessary? Did I pick the best point of view character? If I do this thing here, will I have written myself into a corner several chapters from now? Slowly I keep writing, rewriting, editing, and making notes until I'm finally done. Usually I'm happy with the chapter in the end, but I can't help wondering, isn't there an easier way to get the same results? I'm still figuring that part out.
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Lots and lots of early drafts. Lots and lots of rewriting. Lots and lots of editing.
The standard writing advice is to go ahead and write a shitty first draft. The idea is to just get some words on the screen and then rest of the work won't be so hard. So that's what I try to do. First I write some notes to help me figure out what needs to happen in a chapter. Then I write a shitty first draft. Then I write a slightly less shitty second draft.
Usually I stall somewhere between the second and third draft. From then on it's like I spin my wheels trying to figure out why everything feels wrong. Why is this chapter not working? Why am I not relating to this character? Why is this dialogue so clunky? Are these scenes really in the best order? Are all these scenes even necessary? Did I pick the best point of view character? If I do this thing here, will I have written myself into a corner several chapters from now? Slowly I keep writing, rewriting, editing, and making notes until I'm finally done. Usually I'm happy with the chapter in the end, but I can't help wondering, isn't there an easier way to get the same results? I'm still figuring that part out.
( Read more... )
