Writing Ideas: Writing is Rewriting
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Those of us who spend a lot of time studying the craft of writing inevitably come throughout bits of writing advice that we hear time and again: show don’t tell, write what you recognize, and kill your darlings. These writing tips could be a bit cryptic, but the one about revisions is crystal clear: writing is rewriting.
The intention is to get ideas out of your head and onto the page (or the screen, because the case could also be) as quickly as possible without worrying about grammar, spelling, and punctuation. You don’t have to get the small print right. Just get that tough draft completed. You possibly can clean it up later.
Like most writing suggestions, this one is debatable. Some writers want to labor over each sentence while composing a primary draft. This means fewer edits later on. Others use the drafting course of to navigate by way of their ideas. This often means more revisions when the drafting is done; in different phrases, the bulk of time is spent on rewriting.
Getting it Proper the First Time
When you have a very good grasp of your project, then sharpening as you go could be a great process for you. For example, if you’ve sketched your characters and made an in depth outline of your story, then you'll be able to give attention to details as you're employed through your first draft.
It might appear to be attempting to get it right on the primary draft will likely be a time saver. I’m unsure about that. Drafting on this manner means going over every sentence and paragraph a number of instances earlier than moving on to the next. In this sense, you’re still revising a number of occasions; you’re just doing it at the sentence or paragraph stage reasonably than revising the whole manuscript.
Nonetheless, this can be a technique I often use when writing weblog posts, and I’ve found that there are some advantages to it. I find fewer errors once I proofread. I also outline the posts first when I use this method, so the drafting is a bit smoother since I already know what I want to say. As I draft, I go over each sentence and paragraph. Finally, I can often polish it with a single proof.
All of it goes by fairly rapidly, however since I’m working on short items, I can simply maintain all of the ideas for each piece in my head as I’m writing. Once I’m working on a more elaborate project, like a novel, there’s much more going on.
Get it Right Through Revisions
A e book is an enormous undertaking. It’s commonplace for writers to spend over a yr on the primary draft alone. When you’re writing a novel, you've got rather a lot to think about: characters, plot, scenes, motion, dialogue, description, themes, and story arcs. Even if you have a common idea of what your story is about, when you begin fleshing it out, you’ll run into all kinds of problems.
These problems can slam the brakes in your writing progress. In the event you’re also paying close attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuation or working out essentially the most minute details of every scene as you write your first draft, you’ll find yourself stopping every few sentences to iron out the wrinkles. While you try this, you risk losing your prepare of thought. If you’re deep right into a scene, you could lose its entire flow because you’re worrying over minutia that could be handled later.
Throughout revisions, you possibly can shave off the surplus, editing your piece down, or you'll be able to construct on the narrative, fleshing out the details. You'll be able to clear up the grammar, do away with all of the typos, and fix every little thing that needs fixing. Each time you undergo another revision, you make the manuscript better. All that rewriting results in a clean, polished project.
Most writers seem to get the very best results with this method.
Rewriting
For those who’re going to write down by rewriting, plan on going over your work a number of times. Right here’s an excellent system:
1. First draft: as you write the first draft, focus on getting your ideas on the page. Don’t go back and revise at all. In reality, don’t even re-read what you’ve written unless you absolutely should in an effort to get your bearings.
2. Evaluation: go through your draft and make notes about massive problems that have to be addressed. You may need to rename some characters, conduct analysis so that you get the main points proper, transfer large sections round, or make main changes to the narrative.
3. Rewrite: utilizing your notes, do an intensive rewrite of the whole draft. Now your messy tough draft is cleaned up.
4. Revise: learn through your draft again, making modifications as you go. Tighten up the dialogue, easy out the descriptions, examine for sentence flow and phrase choice. You would possibly do targeted revisions: one for dialogue, one for fact-checking, one for double-checking your descriptions.
5. Edit: you’ll probably clear up lots of technical errors as you rewrite and revise, but once you edit, you need to be focused on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure. If you’re undecided in regards to the guidelines of grammar, that is when it's best to look them up.
6. Proof: lastly! Now you’re simply checking for those last remaining pesky typos.
You might have to repeat a few of these steps. For instance, I normally suggest proofreading a manuscript till you may’t find any remaining mistakes or typos. Ideally, when you’re carried out, you’ll herald a professional editor. Bear in mind, no matter what number of instances you go over your manuscript, just a few mistakes and inconsistencies will slip through. An editor will catch everything you didn’t.
How A lot Do You Rewrite?
Do you attempt to produce an ideal first draft or do you observe the outdated adage that writing is rewriting? Do you employ completely different writing processes for different tasks? I do. Finally, what are a few of your favorite writing ideas? Share your ideas by leaving a remark, and preserve writing.
