First Draft: Written mostly pretty well. Will edit during if I put in something that necessitates a change, or if I see a spelling/grammar error, etc. If the story takes multiple days, I re-read (and line edit) the preceeding paragraphs to get a running start, as someone else said, and then plunge further. I then send it out to my First Readers list [or workshop it] and wait for comments.
Upon receiving the various comments and edits, I review them, just to get them in my head. I have up any modified word documents, any just commentary e-mails, and any other notes from people and the document printed out in front of me [or on the screen if I want]. I edit a lot here. Mostly I'm looking for turns of phrase, the need to add more detail, the cutting of the slow-downs, movement of this piece of info to somewhere else, breaking up dialogue, etc. The structure remains intact, for the most part, but the details are polished. Using the comments I agree with or resonate with me, I work through the story. It feels like I change a lot, but when people read it they don't notice the change as much. That is due in large part to the fact that I will rewrite entire pages, but include bits and pieces of the previous words. So the same stuff happens, just revealed slightly differently.
After that, I try to let it sit a little. Then I print it out [remember, short story here] and do grammar/spelling/consistency line edits from the end to the beginning. I read each sentence in reverse order. Helps me to not get caught up in the flow and catch the small stuff. If I have time, then I also call upon my grammar natzi friends to help out.
Then, it is basically ready to go.
If I send it out and get rejections, I consider editing it again. Mostly because I'll have had more time for it to sit at that point so that I'm further away from it. I keep hoping that I will get a personal rejection to help with the revision, but no such luck so far.
That's my process.
Rarely will I re-draft something. If it has been too long [1+ years] and my writing has changed and my style is different [I'm still growing] then I may read the story, note what I liked and rewrite a "first draft". I did this recently and was much happier. In retrospect, I didn't change a lot, but the story flowed much better for me. Then this "first draft" will undergo the normal process.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-08-27 09:27 am (UTC)Here is how I work:
First Draft: Written mostly pretty well. Will edit during if I put in something that necessitates a change, or if I see a spelling/grammar error, etc. If the story takes multiple days, I re-read (and line edit) the preceeding paragraphs to get a running start, as someone else said, and then plunge further. I then send it out to my First Readers list [or workshop it] and wait for comments.
Upon receiving the various comments and edits, I review them, just to get them in my head. I have up any modified word documents, any just commentary e-mails, and any other notes from people and the document printed out in front of me [or on the screen if I want]. I edit a lot here. Mostly I'm looking for turns of phrase, the need to add more detail, the cutting of the slow-downs, movement of this piece of info to somewhere else, breaking up dialogue, etc. The structure remains intact, for the most part, but the details are polished. Using the comments I agree with or resonate with me, I work through the story. It feels like I change a lot, but when people read it they don't notice the change as much. That is due in large part to the fact that I will rewrite entire pages, but include bits and pieces of the previous words. So the same stuff happens, just revealed slightly differently.
After that, I try to let it sit a little. Then I print it out [remember, short story here] and do grammar/spelling/consistency line edits from the end to the beginning. I read each sentence in reverse order. Helps me to not get caught up in the flow and catch the small stuff. If I have time, then I also call upon my grammar natzi friends to help out.
Then, it is basically ready to go.
If I send it out and get rejections, I consider editing it again. Mostly because I'll have had more time for it to sit at that point so that I'm further away from it. I keep hoping that I will get a personal rejection to help with the revision, but no such luck so far.
That's my process.
Rarely will I re-draft something. If it has been too long [1+ years] and my writing has changed and my style is different [I'm still growing] then I may read the story, note what I liked and rewrite a "first draft". I did this recently and was much happier. In retrospect, I didn't change a lot, but the story flowed much better for me. Then this "first draft" will undergo the normal process.
Zhaneel