Personal update: I had surgery yesterday and am on pain meds atm, so please forgive me if this isn't the most coherent post I've ever written.
Different people have different writing processes. Some write by hand, some by computer. Some outline; some just write on the fly.
But everyone, it seems, offers and seems to follow some very basic advice: write first, edit later.
Now, that's good advice. It works particularly well when I'm writing articles or essays.
Problem: it doesn't work the best for me when I'm writing fiction.
I'll have been writing as my primary hobby for 8 years, this summer. In that time, I've started a myriad of stories in various stages of incompletion. Some didn't keep my interest; some I stopped when I realized I lacked the skill to pull them off (yet). All are affected by what I've realized is a weakness of mine: I can come up with killer situations and fascinating characters, but my plotting often leaves something to be desired.
No plot = no story.
So I have a handicap that means much of what I've come up with and previously written is unpublishable. I get that and accept it.
What I've noticed is the method of sitting down and just getting that first draft as quick as you can without a thought to how terrible it is only excerbates my plotting handicap. If I have minimal plot when I've thought about it, how much do you think I have when I'm just writing what comes naturally, when I naturally think of situations and not plots?
Precisely.
When my current progress in a story feels comfortable, I can let loose on the draft without getting stuck on the mechanics (too much; I've worked as a professional proofreader, so I have my limits). But when progress slows or starts feeling "off" or awkward, I now go back and examine what I have, editing as I go.
Sometimes, I just need to think about what I have, and the next step will come to me. Sometimes, I need to take a step back, pass what I have on to my reader, and wait for her to get back to me. But either way, I'm still editing as I go, so maybe it can be a workable method.
The "Don't edit as you go!" is probably like any "rule" in writing: you can't break it until you know why it exists and why it works/doesn't work for your current situation.
—You know, like punctuation rules.
:-)
What's your take on the "Don't edit your first draft 'til it's done" rule?
1 comments:
Oh, I absolutely dare not edit until I'm done with the first draft. If I try I get so caught up in polishing what I have that I grind to a halt.
What I find helps with plot is outlining first. Before I started outlining I tended to end up hopelessly confused.
Having said that every writer is different. Some need to edit as they go.
The most important writing rule I've ever heard is 'all the rules are guidelines'. Write how you need to write to get the story written.
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