5 ms·

> ”since when you are really editing the draft later, most likely you are going to throw away many pages and paragraphs of work” It seems relevant that I also

by soneca 3y ago

> ”since when you are really editing the draft later, most likely you are going to throw away many pages and paragraphs of work” It seems relevant that I also do not write like this. When I wrote my first novel, I wrote the draft and gave to my beta readers. Most of the feedback I got was that I needed to add stuff. Develop a character more, take more time to get to the resolution of a problem, add a new perspective. From the first draft to the final version, it got probably around 30% bigger. Very few paragraphs were cut after that initial draft.

spondylosaurus 3y ago
I hate to invoke the tired "plotters and pantsers" dichotomy, but this does seem like one of those things that comes down to whether you set out to write with some kind of scaffold in mind (or on paper) or whether you're more inclined to let the blank page take you wherever it takes you. I'm definitely in the former camp, and have the same line-by-line editing habits that you describe, both in my professional and personal writing. And like you, end up throwing away very little, because anything I included the first time around was included deliberately. OTOH it stresses me out a little imagining what it's like to write more spontaneously, without even a vague sense of where you're headed—what happens when you hit a dead end and need to backtrack? Do you just throw out hours and hours of work and try again?
- girvo 3y ago
  > what happens when you hit a dead end and need to backtrack? Do you just throw out hours and hours of work and try again? Quite literally, yes! :)
  - spondylosaurus 3y ago
    That sounds so frustrating! But I admire and maybe even envy your ability to do it. And with a smile, no less.
- schwartzworld 3y ago
  Keep writing. You can always go back and add or change details as needed later on.
- powersnail 3y ago
  It's rare to hit a complete dead end, but if it happens, yes, backtrack and try again. But it's not like it's all going to be wasted. I've explored one branch of something that doesn't work, but I've explored. Some plots/character developments/scenes/places can still be reused in a different way when I try again.
- latexr 3y ago
  > what happens when you hit a dead end and need to backtrack? Do you just throw out hours and hours of work and try again? If it’s good, you put it aside and can maybe reuse it at a later point in a different context. Or you do like Neil Gaiman: write everything by hand the first time, and edit at the same time you type it. That way when you have to throw away a bunch of pages which don’t really fit you no longer feel like you’ve wasted effort but that you’re saving effort.
powersnail 3y ago
We all have different processes. I write short stories, and almost always have to axe/rewrite/move whole sections when editing. I usually edit my draft in 3 tiers: structural editing, then language editing, and finally copyediting.

by soneca 3y ago

spondylosaurus 3y ago

I hate to invoke the tired "plotters and pantsers" dichotomy, but this does seem like one of those things that comes down to whether you set out to write with some kind of scaffold in mind (or on paper) or whether you're more inclined to let the blank page take you wherever it takes you. I'm definitely in the former camp, and have the same line-by-line editing habits that you describe, both in my professional and personal writing. And like you, end up throwing away very little, because anything I included the first time around was included deliberately. OTOH it stresses me out a little imagining what it's like to write more spontaneously, without even a vague sense of where you're headed—what happens when you hit a dead end and need to backtrack? Do you just throw out hours and hours of work and try again?

girvo 3y ago
> what happens when you hit a dead end and need to backtrack? Do you just throw out hours and hours of work and try again? Quite literally, yes! :)
- spondylosaurus 3y ago
  That sounds so frustrating! But I admire and maybe even envy your ability to do it. And with a smile, no less.
schwartzworld 3y ago
Keep writing. You can always go back and add or change details as needed later on.
powersnail 3y ago
It's rare to hit a complete dead end, but if it happens, yes, backtrack and try again. But it's not like it's all going to be wasted. I've explored one branch of something that doesn't work, but I've explored. Some plots/character developments/scenes/places can still be reused in a different way when I try again.
latexr 3y ago
> what happens when you hit a dead end and need to backtrack? Do you just throw out hours and hours of work and try again? If it’s good, you put it aside and can maybe reuse it at a later point in a different context. Or you do like Neil Gaiman: write everything by hand the first time, and edit at the same time you type it. That way when you have to throw away a bunch of pages which don’t really fit you no longer feel like you’ve wasted effort but that you’re saving effort.

powersnail 3y ago

We all have different processes. I write short stories, and almost always have to axe/rewrite/move whole sections when editing. I usually edit my draft in 3 tiers: structural editing, then language editing, and finally copyediting.