Writing an entire first draft before editing

Discussion in 'Revision and Editing' started by jannert, Oct 11, 2013.

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  1. shadowwalker

    shadowwalker Contributor Contributor

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    Yes, that's all I was saying, is how I would feel. I would never presume to make that a generalized statement about someone's else's method (or writing).
     
  2. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    @shadowwalker @minstrel Just curious guys, on average how many (new) words a day do you write and how many hours does it take you?
     
  3. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    When I'm writing full speed, I do about 1,500 words per day. That's about three or four hours of work. Sometimes I go as high as 2,000 words or even more, but I don't think I've ever hit 3,000 in one day.

    Right now I'm not working at that speed, because I'm starting a new story and it's causing me some false starts. Once I figure out where to begin and what tone I want, I'll speed up.
     
  4. A.M.P.

    A.M.P. People Buy My Books for the Bio Photo Contributor

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    I can type between 55wpm up to 80~wpm.

    A day? I once wrote 16,000. Took me about 10 hours.
    Typically, I write until I'm tired of writing. It can range from.. 10-30 some pages in MS format so... 2500-7500.
    It completely depends on how into the writing I am and how well I know my current scene. All those things can slow me down or speed me up. Usually, a rewrite slows me down as I pay more careful attention to detail and imagery and the like.
    Also depends on whether I do any mass editing, that takes up more time than anything.

    Oh, poop!
    I just noticed this was not a public question!
    I'm so sorry :(
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2013
  5. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    :confused:

    What do you mean, not a public question? I wouldn't think because 123 addressed some specific posters he/she's not interested in anyone else's answers. You're fine.
     
  6. A.M.P.

    A.M.P. People Buy My Books for the Bio Photo Contributor

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    I just feel rude, like if I intruded on a stranger's private conversation :p
     
  7. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    You can always talk to me, I'm lurking in the thread. ;)
     
  8. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    That includes you're "perfecting" of it, too?

    I get about that much done per day, on a good day, in about 2 hours.

    I asked because I'm wondering how much our methods really differ. If you had said, 500 words done in four hours, then, yeah, now we're talking very different.
     
  9. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    Ginger's right, A.M.P. In fact, I'm collecting a file on everyone here, so tidbits like the one you just gave me (16k words, very impressive) make it that much easier.
     
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  10. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    :D
     
  11. shadowwalker

    shadowwalker Contributor Contributor

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    I've never really paid much attention to word count. I typically would get 5-10 solid pages done in a day, maybe two - solid meaning ready for my betas. I don't know what you mean by "new" words, though. And speed comparisons don't really mean much - different people write at different speeds even if they use the same method.
     
  12. A.M.P.

    A.M.P. People Buy My Books for the Bio Photo Contributor

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    If you saw all the whining and talking to myself as I was on the verge of a nosebleed, you would not be saying impressive :p
    I just buckled down and powered through it like a man.
    It wasn't pretty. Physically and emotionally draining.
    Worst part? I am rewriting chapter 1 and 2 >.>

    I prefer my usual couple of thousand, sans-edit, a day.

    @shadowwalker true, everyone's finger speed is different. However, typetouching helps a lot.
     
  13. shadowwalker

    shadowwalker Contributor Contributor

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    I'm not just talking about typing speed - mine's right up there (after 40+ years it should be! lol). I'm talking about how much people write/edit/revise/whatever per day. Some writers can move along at a brisk pace, day after day. Some writers move along slower but steady every day. And still others are sporadic, some days going great guns, other days maybe getting a page at most. Method has nothing to do with that.
     
  14. A.M.P.

    A.M.P. People Buy My Books for the Bio Photo Contributor

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    Oh, I gotcha.
     
  15. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Yes, it does include the editing-as-I-go work. That's how much I write when I'm happy with the prose in my first draft.

    When I was just getting started, I'd only do around 500 words in four hours. I think I'm faster now because I'm a better writer than I was then - I don't make as many rookie mistakes and my sensibilities are better tuned. I've found my voice, I guess, and it's easier for me to write in it now. Either that, or my standards have fallen. I don't think they have, though.
     
  16. A.M.P.

    A.M.P. People Buy My Books for the Bio Photo Contributor

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    It's probably like learning to capitalize every word after a full stop.
    You might have spend an hour before going through the whole text searching for that mistake but now you don't even think about it.
    You've perfected it; it became a reflex.

    I hardly doubt you can get worse at writing unless you only read bad advice and bad books.
     
  17. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah, this is what I'm thinking. As a writer gets better and begins to find his voice, I'm wondering if the first draft perfectionist needs to spend less time on a paragraph before he is satisfied, while Speedy Gonzalez starts leaving behind coherent sentences.

    After all, there's a middle ground between typing sofast and not even looking atthe screen and not bother tocorrect what you're writitng or really even think it through and spending an hour debating what comes after the word "the."
     
  18. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    I think it goes beyond accepting that there is no one right way to do this. Sometimes, you find that what has worked for you in the past suddenly does not.

    I have typically been a write-first-edit-later guy. Rarely do I edit before I have a completed first draft (and then only obvious errors I spot when reading back to where I left off at the end of the last writing session). But in my current project, I have found myself challenging a lot of my former practices and this is one of them. Because it's a historical, the factual backdrops for the story are locked in, but characters still evolve in unpredictable ways. Maybe it's because this is my first historical, but I have found myself going back and editing repeatedly, scrapping whole chapters, changing characters and POVs and, in one case, changing the direction of a major subplot. This isn't a case of trying to get to a perfect first draft, it's a matter of needing to make changes to have a first draft that's viable. It's harder work and it has slowed down my progress, but I think it will be a better novel because of it.
     
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  19. shadowwalker

    shadowwalker Contributor Contributor

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    Can we not use the word "perfectionist" for those who edit as they go? Perfectionism is not even in the picture as far as methodology - that's a personal quirk. Also not confusing typing speed with writing speed - again, two different things. ;)
     
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  20. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Thank you! I always have my doubts about people who claim they write as fast as they type. I'm a pretty good typist, just like everyone else here, but it doesn't matter - typing speed is never the limiting factor on writing speed. Most of my writing time is spent staring off into space, thinking about what I want to say and how I want to say it. Once that's decided, the mechanical act of getting it into the word processor is trivial.
     
  21. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    i can write for up to 18-20 hours a day, for days on end, when on a major project... but i never bother to count words or pages, just keep typing [or writing on a notepad] till i either get to the end, or need to stop for a meal, or to sleep for a bit...

    i don't see any benefit to knowing how much anyone else can turn out per hour/day/week/whatever... the whole 'how much do you...' thing just seems like a hs boys' pissing contest to me...

    besides which, the contest 'winner' who writes the most may be [and usually is] spewing out totally unmarketable dreck, while the biggest 'loser' may be crafting pulitzer/nobel-quality wordwork, or at least writings that get paid for and read by other than family and friends...
     
  22. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    I average about 3 pages a day which is approx 1500 words. I could possibly do more but I tend to polish
    as I go along.
     
  23. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    Typing speed is not an issue except in the case of extremes. Presumably most of us take pauses to think.
    Of the few responses I see, it seems most of us are similar in terms of producing new material, regardless of how strongly we polish. I asked this question because I think part of the differences in writing the first draft comes down to merely how we perceive our writing routines work.

    Unless someone is pounding away at the keyboard at 1,000,000 words per hour, or erasing the same word over and over again, it's possibly not that different.
     
  24. ChaosReigns

    ChaosReigns Ov The Left Hand Path Contributor

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    i like what @mammamaia said about not paying too much attention to word/page count and how long you write for, she has a point and i'll certainly be taking a leaf out of her book
     
  25. A.M.P.

    A.M.P. People Buy My Books for the Bio Photo Contributor

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    Yeap, can't stress that enough at times.
    Some people worry if they go too slow they will never get anywhere.
    It's like a roller coaster, starts off slow before it speeds up and then goes back and forth.
    Everyone has their own pace, the real thing is how dedicated one is to keep working on a project and not give up.
     

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