When you're on a roll writing your novel how often do you look back over what you wrote? I don't want to leave all my editing until the end so I'm writing as clean as I can and I've been going over and rereading my novel every few days. This will get harder the more I write of my novel. It's already kind of there. And I'm kind of on a roll with the writing. I banged out 2,000 words yesterday and it felt really good. I'm kind of afraid to look back at it. I think it's great, really. But I am fully aware that it might not be. It's not just for editing reason that I reread my novel. I think it is helping me keep the story on track. I've never really worked with an outline, but I feel like there are a lot of things to keep track of in this novel. I've got a loose idea of how I want the progression of the story to build, but I don't yet know the whole story. I like to surprise myself when I'm writing. I think that's my favorite things about writing. What I did was jot down chapter names (even though I'm more likely to not name my chapters in the end). So, I want to keep my momentum going and have 2k-word writing days all the time. And I want to feel good about my work. What's the best way to do that?
I don't. At all. I strongly suggest you leave your edit work until the end. Why? Because editing and writing are different things. While you are (with due respect) working in fairly small word counts then it's practical to edit and write in parallel. But a book is 100k words. To be crass; it fucking long bro. I find it vastly better to separate out writing and editing to ensure that you can actually focus on what you are trying to get done. When you are writing then you can just say "Fuck it, I'm following where this takes me" and then when you come to edit some weeks later you can dial that back to where you want it with a clear mind. I think you will find that trying to do everything at once doesn't give you the distance that you need between writing and editing. To edit well you need to be really dispassionate and look in like a new reader and that almost requires having some significant distance between writing and editing. Personally; I write a book then edit the previous one, then write another book, then edit the one I started with. That ensures that when I come back to edit a book I am six(ish) months removed from writing and am ready to be brutal in cutting things.
One of the unintended consequences of my workflow these days (I write each scene in its own text document) is that I don't get to look at old scenes while working on new ones. I don't even scroll past the damn things. I like it.
Current WIP not withstanding, I tend to write in 5-12k chunks. I glance over it as I go, on breaks, whatever, and then I will read what I wrote yesterday when I sit down today. This always results in some editing, but that's not why I do it. I do it so that I am sure I have continuity and am in the right place when I start back. There's really no right way to do it, and everyone has their own way of doing things. The rule for me is - I only reread the previous day's work. No further.
Since when is writing 2k words in a day a "fairly small word count?" Obviously, my novel is longer than that. My chapters are longer than that. Maybe you can write 2k words every day, but I'm not there. Anyway, I think we just work differently. I need to edit and refine as I work on this. I'm not going to just write anything with the idea that I can fix it later. I want to make some sort of profound statement with this book that keeps growing in layers as I rework and continue to work on it. I think the worst writing advice ever is to just write and fix it later. Later is going to really suck if that's how you work. At least it would for me.
How do you keep track of everything you've written and how do you know the scenes fit together? I just can't imagine working like that. You must have a much better memory than me.
Okay, maybe 2k words a day is nothing to brag about. You're putting me to shame with that 12k. I don't even know how that's possible. It wouldn't be for me. But good for you. And thanks for the tip.
That's my method. Let it sit overnight and come back the next day to fix some typos, get where I'm at in my head, and keep going. I will occasionally read an earlier bit if I need to refresh my memory ("She said that then, right?" etc) but no editing on those checks.
That's not what I meant. I wasn't trying to show you up. 12k is about 14 hours straight for me, but it happens fairly often.
I have to edit on the fly. I can't just let something I could have said better wait when it occurs to me. More often than not, something I'm writing now will remind me of something else I've already written that wasn't exactly right, and I have to go back and fix it. Slows me down, but ...
Of course everything is down to personal taste and I don't mean to say that you shouldn't work the way that works for you. But, I am in agreement with @Trish that, on a good day I'll put out 15k words, and even on an average day I'm looking at 10k. And that doesn't mean anything per se, but it's more than I can't edit as fast as I write. I can write much faster than I can edit, that's really all I mean. That's why I think you need to seperate out editing and writing. For me at least, even if I wanted to, I couldn't write and edit in one day. And maybe in you process you can do that, but even then you'll have to come back with some detachment weeks later anyway.
Well, first off, they're numbered. Second, I have another document that lists all the scenes in order, and I also use that to store notes about what's in each scene, or plans for future scenes. Here's an excerpt from the summary document: ## Synopsis - [Prologue](./prologue.md) A girl (Grier) is sacrificed to a god, some two millennia ago. - [Chapter 1](./chapter_01.md) - [Chapter 2](./chapter_02.md) - [Chapter 3](./chapter_03.md) These early chapters seem to give somewhat of a misleading impression the potential impact of her "losing" funding. People assume that she *has* to go overseas, period, and that it *has* to happen *now,* and that simply isn't the case. I should go back and make this clearer so that her uncertainty regarding taking this job seems a little less wishy-washy and a little more reasonable. The original reason for this, of course, was that she knew it had something to do with fighting, and she was concerned. That is no longer true, of course. So... This is something I want to retouch later on. - [Chapter 4](./chapter_04.md) - [Chapter 5](./chapter_05.md) - [Chapter 6](./chapter_06.md) - [Chapter 7](./chapter_07.md) - [Chapter 8](./chapter_08.md) For reference, in Brittany, the Wild Hunt is lead by Arthur Pendragon, the Once and Future King. - [Chapter 9](./chapter_09.md) Alexander pays for a lot of things in cash. He probably doesn't have a reason for this, but it does make it easier for him to disappear, or to exist without a lot of financial records marking his passage. I have found this method of keeping track of things very helpful as well.
For me, it really depends on how fragmented my writing sessions become. When I have several days in row of a few hours each day to write, uninterrupted, I can go for quite a long stretch without feeling the need to review (and since I started using Scrivener, it's even easier to keep track of names and events, as well as ideas for the story going forward; the corkboard feature is worth the price of the software by itself). And, in fact, I try not to review that often, because when I do, I find myself nipping and tucking the text, which I would really rather leave for the editing phase. But when my sessions are shorter, interrupted or more fragmented, I find the need to go back and review more often to make sure I don't lose the thread of what I was working on.
Everybody works differently. I think the only advice I'd dish out is don't allow yourself to get stuck trying to achieve perfection at an early stage. Maybe there are a few people out there who finish a full draft of a novel and don't need to change a thing, but I suspect there aren't many of them. Editing later on is not a waste of time, by the way. That's when you can work on the total picture. The thinking behind the edit-as-you-go approach probably is 'if I get the beginning perfect, and the next chapter perfect, and the chapter after that perfect, and etc, until I reach the end, I won't have to do any more to it. It'll all be perfect.' If you can work that way, fair enough. Few of us can. What usually happens is we get the beginning perfect, the next chapter perfect, and then something occurs to us that changes the focus, or a character doesn't seem to fit after all, or we uncover a bit of research that alters things, and so forth. And by the time 'the end' appears, the perfect beginning we crafted so carefully no longer fits. If you can assure yourself that nothing is going to change, that no new ideas are going to hit you while you are writing your novel, that everything is going to work out on the page the way you envisioned it in your head, then fair enough. But if you can't be sure, then editing each little bit to internal perfection seems like a waste of time. Like @EdFromNY , I can find myself niggling over words and 'nipping and tucking' the text if I spend too much time reviewing the previous day's work. I do review it, and nip and tuck a bit—catch typos, etc—and get back in the mood, but then I move on. When I'm in full flow, I can't wait to get the whole story told. The thing is, you are definitely a writer who finishes your work (and to a very high standard, if I may say so) so I think you probably are just experiencing normal dips in confidence. I think that happens to all of us. You're not a beginner, and you know what you're doing. So just allow yourself the time you need to bang your head on the wall in frustration every now and again, but then move on. You're already a really good writer. Your method works. I know you usually do short stories, so maybe working on a novel is a first-time event for you, and maybe that's what's causing you anxiety. I have every confidence you'll do a great job with it. Just scream and claw the air for a while to let off steam, whenever you feel the need, and then get back down to business. It's normal.
My WIP has a lot of characters, so I bought some multi-colored Post-its and made a time line of when they appear and go away. This helped me determine how many characters I was juggling at any one time. Periodically I will load a chapter into Ginger for auto-corrections and I will read through the chapter and make changes. Mostly syntax, I also look for the adverb "as" and take the opportunity to delete it and start a new sentence. Another change is to make sure the verbiage after "but" is a counterpoint. I know that is not a hard and fast rule but it is for me. All of my dialog I read aloud and I always have to make changes. Now that I look at my post it is pretty basic stuff, oh well.
Lucky. There's no way I could do that. A 14-hour writing day is probably no more than 5k words for me. And I would need breaks and naps. But, seriously, what are you writing like a novel a week? I really wish I could pull off a word count like that in a day, but I don't think it will ever happen for me. I'm kind of fast (in my mind), but nothing like you. I didn't think you were bragging. I'm honestly impressed and wowed by your ability to write so much so quickly.
No, not in a week, but on average I can put out 100k in a month. The last one was 105k and took 28 days.
This is similar to how I work as well. I think some people have trouble just writing or get nervous that they will mess it up, so the idea that it's not supposed to be good and you can fix everything later takes away that fear that could be holding someone back. But if I don't do some editing as I go, it will be an unruly mess. Still, I'm learning that editing as I go is not going to take away the need for editing and revision when my first draft is done, but I don't want to put off the easy fixes let alone all the fixes. And I, too, often get some sort of realization about something else I've got going on and have to go back and play with that. I'm pretty prolific, but, unfortunately, I'm learning I'm not a one-draft writer and I'm never going to be.
Seriously, how do you do it? I would love to be able to write like that. I am writing full time so I do get a lot of words down on the page, but nothing like you. I would say I average between 5k and 10k a week. That includes editing, too. Raw copy (but my writing is pretty clean) I can write about 500 words of fiction an hour. Have you always been able to write this fast? Any tips on picking up speed?
I think so, yes. The first actual book I wrote was 110k (fantasy, long lost and forgotten, at 17 when a friend gave me his laptop to use for 6 weeks while he was out of the country) and it took 32 days I think? I can write full-time, as I have no day job, but it doesn't always work that way (kids, animals, life). I edit the day before's work before I start on the new, and at 25k, 50k, 75k, - I take a day and read through all I have to that point, fixing anything that stands out/I missed. (I also read very quickly). I'm not a planner/outliner so I just follow where it leads me. I am blessed to write very clean the first time around, and rarely have much to fix at the end. Betas catch whatever my brain fills in/misses (though it still happens that something is missed). I wish I had tips, I really do, but I'm not sure if I have any. It's just what I do I guess?
I hear what you're saying. And you're right that my editing will continue. It's just hard for my to build the story if I don't feel really good about what I have down so far. If this is to be my novel (the one I actually finish and pursue publication with), I know there will be a lot more editing. I think part of it is that I decided after 20 or so pages I wanted to take things in a different direction. I felt like I had to go back and play around with things to see if my new idea would work with what I had. I wasn't sure which direction I really should go in. And this happened a few times. I think I've got the story I want now. I do think all my restarts were worth it because this is not the story I set out to write at all. It's so much better. My novel sucks for other reasons right now... Haven't we all been there? So, you're another super fast one? I just don't get how you guys can write that fast. Even if I did no editing or rereading, there is no way I could match your speed. But good for you. I'm a little jealous.
I feel like we work very similar. I'm just super, super slow compared to you. I actually didn't know it was possible for anyone to write that fast. I don't even think I can type that fast. Just out of curiosity, how many books have you written? It doesn't matter how many have been published. I'm just fascinated by your amazing output.
Thank you so much for your kind words. I think I really needed to hear something like that, and I feel much better.
