Don't edit! Just write!

I think his idea is great! I've just tested the theory as I was writing a few minutes ago, and it worked better than I could have imagined! I don't think he meant to offend you with his way of thinking - and he didn't say it was the only way to write.

 

I might try your way also, sylvertech.

 

Who has "certified" this "solution"?
And why do we want our urge to edit to lessen? My urge to edit is the only thing that keeps me going! Editing is the alchemy that turns crap into gold. We should all cultivate our urge to edit and make it as strong as possible!

 

This may be why I don't edit as I write. I almost always start on paper.

 

It's why I don't write on paper very often - by the time I get through, it's too full of scratch-outs and rewrites in the margins with arrows going all over.

 

I must admit that I've never written anything over 5000 words so have no idea how daunting it would be to edit a completed book. I guess if you have completed it and believe that it has potential then it would be worth the effort.
For me I find that I have more creative juice in the morning so I get up early and try to put at least 1000 words down on WORD and in the evening I go back and re-read the story and correct any grammatical and spelling errors that word highlights and look out for the things that I constantly screw up when I'm spontaneously writing; I constantly type your instead of you're and of coursr Word will not pic that up.
I recently came across a piece of software called AutoCrit Editing sofware butI need to research it more before I purchase it.

 

Don't you hate it when you've typed a reply and then click the wrong button and everything vanishes? Ugh!

I have a really hard time with this. My inner critic keeps yelling at me to edit, edit, edit as I write. I wish she would just shut up. I used to have a writing teacher/mentor (RIP dear Jeanne) who loved to say "spew then hone". I'm trying to learn how to that. I find that if I am constantly editing, I end up feeling so unsure of the entire piece that I set it aside and often it remains unfinished.

 

That's a golden rule. It's so hard to simultaneously be Ceasar who's doing two things at one moment. Results are always fruitful when you're concentrated on one thing.

 

I hope you will let us know what you think about the software if you do decide to purchase it. It sounds like something I could benefit from. I have found that as I've gotten older, I regularly mix up word forms (homophones?). I also am surprised that I sometimes can't remember the spelling of a word. Drives me crazy.

 

You should look elsewhere for recommendations. This site prohibits advertisements and product endorsements.

 

Yeah, books are products and people profit from them, so if I say, "Go read 'Warm Bodies', it's a great book." Then I just endorsed a product. If I say Microsoft Word is great for word processing software, I just endorsed a product. Kind of a fine line, IMHO, but I digress...

I am one of those writers who has to have percetion as I go and I have a hard time just spewing chapter after chapter without going back and polishing. I know it's not the way to go, but it's my inclination.

~ J. J.

 

A line has to be drawn somewhere. Book discussion is obviously a worthwhile topic for a writing site. Of course, someone is caught trying to promote their own book under the guise of book discussion, that person gets tossed.

However it is NOT necessary to allow software product endorsements, or specific agents or publishers. There are plenty of scammers hawking software products and sites, and the same goes for agents and publishers. So instead of trying to sort out which ones are legitimate and which are not, site policy was set to exclude all of them.

Some members don't like this policy. No matter what the policy, some members will be unhappy. This policy was set to put a limity on spam, and as such it has been quite successful.

So the policy stands. In my opinion, it's a good policy, especially given that I have seen the alternative that led to the policy.

 

Whatever keeps the fire burning..

Like Minstrel I love to read Writer/Author interviews, and I've heard every possible variation on the above techniques work for someone.
Personally I do need to edit quite a bit as I write, it bothers me so much to see an awful sentence I get distracted from the bit I'm writing. And yet if I let the inner editor take over I do lose the picture of the scene I'm writing, I try to get that image down while its vivid in my head but when I go back and look at it I always have to add some detail, find the right word, change details to make things clearer,etc. It's good for me when I'm having a slow day creatively to look back on each scene to make sure I communicated what I wanted to.
Get it down while it's hot, if that's what works for you, and tell your editor he will get his turn!

 

When I write, I feel the need to edit as I go, otherwise I get really demotivated looking at all the errors. I like to take it slow and steady. That way, I know that I'm building a solid foundation for even better stuff to place on top.

Nothing is more motivating than finally getting that paragraph you've been working on perfect. It gets me pumped to continue writing and do better.

 

Thanks for explaining the policy about software. It's too bad there isn't someway it could work to post reviews of writing software but I certainly understand the problems that could arise if allowed.

 

Write drunk, edit sober.