Christian Speculative Fiction discussion

Last question for our NaNoWriMo themed month. As you write, do you edit as you go and wait until that section is right before moving on? Or do you write your full rough draft quickly and then go back to edit when the project is done?

Editing takes me such a long time, and I hate to break the flow of my ideas. I write my first draft quickly (unlike this current NaNoWriMo novel!) and then I go back and edit. How about you?

I not only edit at the end (most of the time, at least), I will often put the manuscript on the shelf (metaphorically) for a few weeks or even a month or more so I'm coming at it with fresher eyes.

I've often heard people say they go with the flow to begin with and do their detailed editing later, but I've never been able to do that. A passage isn't 'real' to me unless it's properly expressed—so I absolutely have to edit as I go. Otherwise I feel I'm writing rubbish. A lot of editing also happens later, so I guess I do both!

David wrote: "I will often put the manuscript on the shelf (metaphorically) for a few weeks or even a month or more so I'm coming at it with fresher eyes." — Yes, I often do that too.

I write that ugly beast of a first draft and then after 4-8 weeks of time away from it, I read it, then edit the book. I'm probably rare in that way.

I go back periodically and edit, which is partly why I lost some of my word count for NaNoWriMo (that and Thanksgiving week). But I only count my total words that remain and don't include the words I've cut. I understand most people don't do it that way. If I did, I may have reached 50K already. But no matter. I'm happy with my progress and I just may reach 50K words before it's all over regardless.

Lara wrote: "Last question for our NaNoWriMo themed month. As you write, do you edit as you go and wait until that section is right before moving on? Or do you write your full rough draft quickly and then go ba..."

I want to edit and I make notes but I don't go back once I write during NaNoWriMo. I know this is true for a lot of people especially the people I have met on Scribophile-a wonderful place to workshop your work. NaNoWriMo is about getting the words on the page. The "Now What?" months are for editing and changing things. At least, that is how I usually go about it.

It's been so long since I finished my first draft I've forgotten!

My first (and so far only) book was a process of learning how to write. I wrote about 1/8th of it before going back and "starting over" with some new writing skills I learned. Then I got access to a professional editor to read and critique the first 10k words, so I went back again to start over with her notes and use that to update everything I had so far.

Put all that aside, I try hard not to edit until the full draft is done. Though, if I do something with the story that requires changing something already written I do go back and fix that right away. I did that enough that had I not, it would have been a convoluted manuscript and probably would have been extremely difficult to fix. But fixing as I went at least meant I had a cohesive story, albeit one in much need of editing.

Chyina wrote: "I want to edit and I make notes but I don't go back once I write during NaNoWriMo. I know this is true for a lot of people "

Yes, I have been advised this as well. It probably works well for people who outline. But I'm a pantser. If I don't go back and get myself on the right track, I'll waste a lot of time going down the wrong path. So, I use NaNoWriMo as the motivation I need to sit and write everyday. I love how the writing process is so unique to each writer. It's truly a craft!

I don't do much editing as I go. If I am away from writing for a few days I may reread to get back in the groove and find things that need fixing. My normal practice is to write straight through unless something feels off. I do several edits and since I discovered MS Word's audio feature, it has added a helpful tool to my arsenal. I will do a straight read through and edit as soon as I'm done. I will put it aside for a few months as I work on other aspects of writing/publishing/marketing then do another audio read through with edit. After it comes back from the "official" editor I will fix what she found and go through it again. That's the official plan. Somehow I go through it more than that. During the NaNo, I did not including editing except for what was blatantly obvious.