Write and ReWrite

[Darwinist]

Curious what kind of process other authors take with their writing... it took me a long time to get comfortable with it, and it may sound like its time consuming, but its a process that has worked well for me.

First step is, I just write the damn thing. Nothing special, nothing fancy. I don't even name most of my characters, I just come up with descriptions of them... ie

• The guy in the sunglasses went to the bank and robbed it. The robbery took ten minutes and then he was out the door before the cops arrived.

Next step I take is, once the whole thing is finished, I go back and rewrite it to fix some plot holes and fill in some details.

• John went to the bank and robbed it. The alarm was triggered by a nervous teller. The teller didn't have much money, but he made it out the door before the cops arrived.

Then lastly, I go back and rewrite it with more detailed descriptions of what, how, who, where.

• John went to the bank at the corner of Franklin Street and Grimes. The teller was cashing Phil's check when she noticed the gunman and tripped the alarm. John threw the bank bag at the teller who immediately filled it with the cash that was going to be Phil's. It was all she had. Disappointed, John rushed back out the front exit before police arrived and surrounded the building.

Perhaps each copy isn't as starkly different as the example given. Sometimes I put a bit of detail in the first copy, but my motivation is... make the story first, flesh it out second, get it right third. Which has been very helpful to me.

What kind of pattern do you follow?

[belial.1980]

A lot of published authors have recommended a method like yours. Most people that I've spoken with tend to agree it's best to get a draft then work on revisions on the piece as a whole, rather than rewriting the first chapter over and over till it's "perfect."

I follow your method for short stories. I'm ::trying:: very hard to finish a first draft of a manuscript for my novel. In either case I think it's a good idea to finish a draft then let it sit for awhile before you revise. That way you can exercise other ideas by working on something new and come back to revamp/edit it with fresh eyes.

[LizW65]

Well, with my work in progress, I wrote a first draft, tinkering with a few individual scenes in the process.  Then I set it aside for a few months, after which I went back and did a re-write of the whole thing, cutting about 30,000 words in the process and getting it correctly formattted.  I just finished that step about a week ago; I've now started handing off copies of the MS to friends and family along with a critique checklist.  The temptation to keep tinkering is strong; however, I'm determined not to do anything more to the MS until I get some useful feedback, at which point I will do a second re-write and then start querying agents.

FWIW, I usually start by naming my characters.  (Harry D. is right--names are powerful, and getting just the right name for a character is very important to me.)  Then I think of a general scenario in which to use them, and gradually enlarge upon that until I have a fully fleshed-out outline.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

FWIW, I usually start by naming my characters.  (Harry D. is right--names are powerful, and getting just the right name for a character is very important to me.)  Then I think of a general scenario in which to use them, and gradually enlarge upon that until I have a fully fleshed-out outline.

Hmm. I rarely get names early on.

(2000 words today, back in the saddle after the post-Worldcon busy.  All moral philosophy and nothing actually happening, but the chapter is only half-done yet.)