You can think of the writing steps as a tower that you are climbing.
Each story (pun not intended) is one step. It looks something like this.(I was going to put a picture of the Leaning Tower of Pizza but I can't get the formatting on this post to come out...)
T--hink
O--rganize
W--rite
E--valuate
R--ewrite
The first two I usually do in my head. The last two don't usually get done at all but to have writing that is really worth someone's time to read I must become a "TOWERER"! All steps must be used.
So there's my tip: always edit! Hard as you try you cannot make your story speak it's best the first time through. Also, don't swing to the opposite extreme and get discouraged at how bad your first draft is. Writing takes time.
Can I be different? I never completely do the last step, and I edit as I go. Think and organize (in my head of course), then write, then go back and edit a bit, then write some more, go back and edit, write a bit more, go back and edit a bit, then finish, do a bit more editing and ta da! I'm done.
ReplyDeleteI guess my method is more like a house with multiple additions over the years....
DeleteThat's the method I use to use. However, I never managed to finish my stories that way. I would lose my incentive as I went along... I rarely reached that "ta da! I'm done!" part. :P Oh well...
DeleteYeah, I have lost my incentive on many stories. Then again, if I don't edit as I go, then I may never end up editing at all.... I'm also a perfectionist who has trouble trying new things.
DeleteI have discovered with the book I'm writing that editing proves to be a nice break when I hit writer's block.
Haha! I thought that tip would generate some...shall I say complaints?! Just an FYI a real author came up with the tower principle. I simply rewrote it for this post. In other words, it does work. Whether you chose to use it or not is up to you. It's your choice whether you "tower" or become a sprawling house with multiple additions. My personal preference is a tower...missing the last two levels/stories. ;D
ReplyDeleteFYI, I found a published author who uses the same method as I... I'm not saying it's the best method, just saying it works too.
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