1st Draft

[adyc]

Dear All,
I have read somewhere that when you sit down to start your best selling novel you have to plan each page and going off with a rough idea of a story line in your head is not the best way to go about things. I am now 50K words into my novel and I have written most of it as it came out of my head. After all I thought the best way to start is to get it all splurged onto paper/memory stick and worry about the detail on the numerous rewrites.
Am I wrong??

AdyC

[Saeltari]

Do what works for you.

[Boneman]

James Michener is quoted as saying: "I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter". And he sold millions.........

My advice? Just write it. If you spend time becoming so clinical about crossing the t's and dotting the i's, and planning, planning, planning, that you are more likely to lose your creative flow in all that 'organisation'. Personally, I knew where my story would start and where it would end, and I knew there would be lots of adventures in between, but boy, did it change as I wrote it! Characters that were only supposed to be on one page took over chapters, others died after uttering two words, and I thought they'd last for ages. About 30,000 words into it, I had a lightbulb moment that changed the end of the story completely. (Made it much better, as far as I was concerned.) You simply cannot be creative if you've planned it all to the finest degree, it leaves you no room to manoevre. That's the way instruction books are written, not fiction, IMHO.

You're already doing it, just continue. But be ready for the re-writes......

[adyc]

I guess that is where the real work begins. I find it easy to sit here and write a couple of thousand words in a sitting but it is going to be a different kettle of fish wading through the rewrites.
When you rewrite do you take one specific 'filter' and go through the manuscript looking for that specific problem...for instance punctuation, layout and then do the whole thing again for rhythm? Or try and do the lot at once.

Ady

[chrispenycate]

As far as I can tell, there are no rules. Either that, or writers are very bad at sticking to them. You try a bit of this, a bit of that, and work out what works best for you; which might or might not be what works for somebody else. Some people (excessive, from my point of view, but what do I know) Don't even read their original version, but do a total rewrite and compare later. Others basically clean up the details, but don't try and sling out the pages of laboriously created but unfortunately unnecessary stuff that has crept in. Most of us fall somewhere between these extremes.

One thing there seems to be some agreement on; don't do the edit too soon after the writing. If you still remember what you intended to write, that is what you'll see on the page, even if it wasn't what you actually put down.

And never get too close too it; nits must be puck, but the overall flow is more important than the detail (perhaps that comment was aimed more at myself, but it's valid, nonetheless.)

[blairWitcher]

Im not the ones of the "gifted" kind so I prefer the research - outline -write - rewrite sequence. I don't know about the others but I find it easier to write if i have a story outline and some researched facts beside me. I also have this "grammar problem"(mr. Chrispenycate's a witness to that ) so I tend to rewrite my entire work after it was given the necessary corrections.

It's just the matter of preference and style. play by your strengths

[crystal haven]

I tend to write with very little outline in place to start with. I have a general idea of where I want to go - but how I get there? Not a clue, usually. It develops as the characters interact with each other and their surroundings, and I follow it through.

I look at the work done the day before, and edit, then carry on. That gets me back into the feel of the story. When I’ve finished writing from start to finish, then I go back and work on it from the beginning again. I do print it out though. I find I can work better with a printed copy in front of me.

Everyone is different. You have to write the way that suits you the best.

[Boneman]

By adyc
When you rewrite do you take one specific 'filter' and go through the manuscript looking for that specific problem...for instance punctuation, layout and then do the whole thing again for rhythm? Or try and do the lot at once.

Personally, I tend to examine each scene and ask 'what does this add to the story?' If it's zilch, out it goes! If it does add something, then I will admit to looking at pov, grammar, punctuation, and repetition, and try and do all my editing at once. And I still miss things...... Lemme know what works for you, will you?

[reiver33]

I tend to have 'an idea' and then do nothing for ages while it rumbles around in my subconcious, gaining momentum before bursting out onto the page. Sometimes its like trying to remember that great dream from the night before and getting it down before the vision fades is a real struggle.

I find that some scenes, stages in the story arc, seem to attract an unexpected amount of detail around what was originally a straighforward a-b-c progression. Sometimes these almost take on a life of their own and can spawn unexpected plot developments - even if they remain only in the backstory and have an indirect effect on the 'real' thing. For example; I liked the title "Under A Darkening Sky" and shoehorned in 'the Great Storm' as a cosmetic backdrop and justification for it. However, about half way it I suddenly realised that the damn thing was a weapon and the real reason the city had remained unscathed. Although this plot development was never explicitly referenced it did colour my appreciation of certain character's actions and motives.

In terms of re-writes I find that only time lends a fresh perspective - if you have that luxury. You can tackle procedural issues - as Boneman says above - ASAP, but in terms of rhythm and relative value I feel you need to shake off the initial creative urge which shaped your prose in the first place before trying to reassess it.

[Jon_Sauve123]

For all of the 6 books I've written so far I basically just spewed onto the page whatever came into my head, with filters of course. In the end everything worked out pretty well with them all, they'll still need revising but at least all the main plot points are worked out already. I guess it just depends on who you are.