Stage Three of the Writing Process: Editing

The final step of the writing process is the longest and hardest. In the early years of writing, I had this impression that a true writer would write a first draft, spell check, and voila! The genuine creatives just sit down, write as they pull their hair out, and then send out their perfect draft to the publishing house. That's what I saw on TV whenever they showed writers, whether in documentaries or in fiction. Thankfully, I learned soon enough that rewriting is as much a part of writer's life, as thinking up stories. It still daunts me, and it is the one step where I am still working on a personalised process, but I am beginning to enjoy it. Looking at the first draft, just the sheer amount of revisions required often makes me feel like I am never going to get the book done, but then when I see improvements that I make, no matter how little, it gives me hope that little by little, I will get there. Currently, my editing process is quite simple. After the first draft, let the manuscript rest for a little while. Then read through, get the feel for the story. This step tells me if I have plot holes. The next step is to fix easy mistakes, like wrong names. Then go through and fix the plot holes, or any consistency issues. Basically this is a rewrite where required, add scenes, delete scenes, without worrying about making the language perfect. Ideally, a short break here and then another read through. (A step I am most likely to skip) Then go through and revise properly, line by line edit. Polish. And hopefully, done! So there it is, a deceptively simple process that takes forever. This is what I am following right now. It may change, but for now, seems like a logical plan. That's all folks. The three stages of my writing process. How about yours? Have you got yours figured out, or is it work in progress?

Stage Two of the Writing Process: Writing

This is it. The moment I've been waiting for since an idea appeared in my head. This is the time to tell the story. To write. To let the creativity pour out of me. Without restraint. Without worrying about the final result. This is the time to immerse in the world where my characters and I are the only people in existence. Ironically, this is also the shortest of the three stages. I finished the first draft of my current WIP in November for NaNo. Entire draft in a month. Of course that was a bit extreme case, but say even if I were to do it on a more slower basis, in terms of overall hours, it wouldn't take much longer. Having an outline definitely makes it easier, because I don't have to stop to worry about how I am going to move forward. To avoid internal editor from switching on, I open a new document for each of my outline point. I copy a point in the new document, so I can see it as I write, and make sure I don't miss anything. Of course sometimes I may add things that are not included in the outline point, but that's okay. When I am done with that scene, I delete the outline bit, close the document and open a new one for the next point. I find this works better than writing it all in one big document, because then the temptation to go up a page and check/change something is too great. As a rule, I don't change anything as I am writing, even if I know it's wrong. For example, in my NaNo novel, I realised half-way through the book that one of my supportive character's name changed after a few chapters. Instead of going back to all the scenes that he was in, I left it there. When I started editing, it was one of the first things to be corrected. Of course there are exceptions. If I have written/changed something about the scene I am writing or the scene right before, and if it's a small thing, then I might go and change it then and there. The point is not to get bogged down by editing. Writing process must flow fast and smooth. I have found that this works for me. The purpose of the first draft is to get the whole story out. Once it's there on the page, it can be revised and made better. But it needs to be there first. I tried using yWriter and Liquid Story Binder, but in the end, I found MS Word works best for me. For any kind of lists I need, like a list of characters, I use Excel. MS Office covers all I need, and I suppose because I have been using it for years, I am comfortable and familiar with it. I have occassionally written first draft by hand too, but that was mostly because of flexiblity issue. Now that I have Finn (netbook for those of you who haven't been introduced), typing straight on the computer is definitely more practical. So there it is - the writing. I just sit down, follow my outline, and right as fast as I can, or sometimes as fast as the words would flow.

Three Stages of the Writing Process

I have been writing for a good few years, and I have written several books left at various stages from outlines to second or even third drafts. But it was only since last year that I got serious about taking writing as a career and not just a vague dream or a hobby. So since last year, I have been examining my processes, and trying to find what works for me. When I was writing my first draft of this book last November for NaNo2009, I had a pretty solid plan in mind. Finish the book, edit for two-three months, start submitting. Solid plan. Or not, as it turned out. While I was getting frustrated with POV decision and daunted by editing, I realised that deadlines are meaningless if they don’t produce good result; they are also meaningless if they are unrealistic. That’s when I started to think consciously about the whole process of writing a book, from thinking of an idea to finish the final edits and polish and declaring it ready for submission. That brings me to… Three Stages of the Writing Process 1. brainstorming / outlining 2. writing 3. editing This will be a three part post starting tomorrow where I will talk about these three stages, as I see them. I hope you will find something useful in them, and I look forward to hearing your opinions/experiences about these three stages as you see them. Disclaimer: All opinions and views are subject to change with experience.