editing – Selina J. Eckert

Overwriting: How Do I Cut It Down?

My book is too long! Now what???

Last week, we took a look at how to bulk out a story and add words. We discussed how we can add in subplots or characters, create new scenes we may have glossed over in earlier drafts, show rather than tell, and discuss what may be lacking with our beta readers.

This week, we will address the opposite problem: overwriting. Overwriting is when your word count is higher than your target, and if you plan to query, it’s important to remove the excess so that an agent will take your work seriously (look back to this post if you want a reminder of why word count matters).

Dealing with Deleting

Cutting your work can be hard. So before we even discuss that, let’s talk about overcoming the emotional and mental hurdle of paring down your manuscript.

You may have heard the phrase kill your darlings, and very simply put, that means we shouldn’t hang on to things just because we like them. They need more of a reason to stay.

For me, I find it’s easier to start cutting things out when I spend at least a month away from a work. That way I’m less attached to it. If I don’t wait long enough, lots of useless darlings stay in my work and weigh it down.

However, just because something doesn’t work in your current story doesn’t mean it will never work. You can always copy/paste your darlings into another document to repurpose later. Even if you never come back to it, you can rest assured that your darlings aren’t gone forever…they just moved. And if you decide you want to add them back in, they’re easy to find again.

But often you won’t even be able to notice, and your manuscript will be better for it.

How to find places to trim

Extra subplots and characters

Yup, extra words can lurk in unnecessary subplots and characters. For example, the first few versions of This Cursed Flame included several extra characters: Alem, Cody, and Afya. And none of them made the final cut. Here’s why:

Alem: this was a character substituting for the real antagonist. He chased the main characters around when all along a different character should have had this place. And so I cut him. (Plus, his name was really similar to the big bad, Ahriman. That can be confusing!)

Cody: this one was hard. But this character served no purpose and had no influence on the outcome of the story. He was fluff, there to add drama that the story really didn’t need.

Afya: this was the hardest. I loved her! But ultimately, she had the same issues as Cody. She was redundant to the plot, and combining her with another character served her purpose better.

So you see, characters can be cut or combined with other characters, and sometimes, that’s the way to do it. Make sure every person in the story serves a purpose and influences the final outcome in some way. And if they don’t, or if their presence muddles the plot, do away with them.

And the same can be said for subplots. If it’s doing the same thing (not pulling its emotional weight in the story, for example) or confuses the plot, it may be better to eliminate it.

Scenes

As you go through and read to revise, ask yourself what each scene contributes to the overall story or subplots. Is it moving the story forward? Does it develop relationships or establish the world?

And, can it be combined with another scene to serve the same purpose?

You may find that some of your scenes aren’t pulling their weight (like the subplots I mentioned above), and if that is the case, they might be eliminated. And if there’s something in the scene you really like (a darling), see if you can add it in somewhere else.

THe writing itself

Another place to look is at your writing itself. This level of editing will be smaller in scale, but you’d be surprised how much it can add up! So what should you look for?

Purple prose: any unnecessarily over-the-top descriptions, such as overly flowery explanations of the setting. Your beta readers or critique partners should be able to point this out.
Weak adverbs: look for adverbs and adjectives. While personally I love them, oftentimes they can weaken your writing if you’re not careful (and add lots of unnecessary words!). Check each one. Can you make your sentence or your verbs stronger by eliminating the modifier and replacing the words with something stronger? For example, “very loud” can be changed to something like “cacophonous” or “deafening.” (hint: any time you see a word like very, try replacing it and the words associated with it with a single, strong word)

Ask your readers

While you’re doing all this editing, don’t forget to ask your beta readers and critique partners these same questions. Ask them if any characters, subplots, or scenes feel unnecessary or redundant. Ask them to point out paragraphs or sections that feel weak or purple. Take each comment into account and see what you can change to improve (and trim) the writing.

Ann Dayleview: A Case Study

I have one amazing example of overwriting and trimming to share with you. My friend Ann has a fantastic manuscript with one huge problem: it was over 200,000 words long. As a YA (young adult) fantasy. (reminder: YA fantasy should max out at about 100k words)

So she spent months trimming it down, looking for the places she could tighten her work and improve on the story.

And you know what? She cut it in half. Her manuscript is now under 110k words, which is something she can query an agent. Isn’t that incredible?! If you want to read more about how she did it, check out her blog post here! It’s really worth the read, especially if overwriting is something you’re struggling with.

I also talked to Ann, and she had a couple extra pieces of quick and dirty advice for trimming down a manuscript:

Look for eating and traveling scenes. Often, these have plenty of unnecessary material in them (I’m super guilty of too many food scenes!).
Make sure everything relates to the overall goals. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory.

It’s as simple (and as hard) as that!

Now that we’ve discussed all these points, do any of them speak to you? Have you had experience with drastic manuscript editing? What tips do you have to share for overwriting or underwriting?

Let’s chat in the comments!

And don’t forget, if you want the latest news, special extras, and a monthly roundup of the blog posts, make sure you sign up for the newsletter!

Underwriting: How Do I Write More?

Aaaand we’re back to our regularly-scheduled writing posts! A couple weeks ago, I introduced the topic of word count, underwriting, and overwriting. And I admitted that I am a chronic underwriter. But what I didn’t get into was how I deal with that to get my manuscripts closer to their expected word counts.

Which brings us to today.

There are actually several ways you can bulk up your manuscript, and you’ll find next week that they are similar (if opposite) to the fixes for overwriting!

Now, first a note: word count isn’t something you HAVE to worry about during your first draft. But it is something you should consider before you try to query anyone. During my personal writing process, I write the book with a target word count in mind, plotting the major story beats at certain word counts to keep myself on track. But I usually end up finishing before I hit the final target count. And when I rewrite, I can meet or surpass that goal.

Here’s how.

Look at subplots

One of the things that can affect your word count is the number of subplots you use. Obviously, a story meant to be shorter needs to have only a few subplots, otherwise there just isn’t enough space to address everything.

But if you’re writing an epic novel or anything with more length, there is so, so much you can do. Think of personal, internal struggles. Relationships between characters. A shady past that’s catching up with someone. A mystery that’s plaguing your MC.

You have so many options to add to the story. And these can even relate to your main plot. Just remember that a subplot needs to add value to the story, so avoid adding things just for the sake of adding them. Use them to strengthen relationships or build characters or develop the world.

Think about your characters

Another possibility is to add a character or give one of your side characters scenes from their perspective. But this has the same caveat as adding subplots: make sure it’s adding value to the story. Don’t add in a useless character (I had several useless characters in the first draft of This Cursed Flame…they’re gone now!). And make sure those perspective scenes are meaningful to the plot or subplots.

Add scenes

Look critically at your manuscript. Are there places you didn’t explain enough? Are there scenes you skipped that might actually be fun to show (as long as they – you guessed it! – add value)? These spots can add words to your manuscript in fun and exciting ways.

Show, don’t tell

If you’ve been writing for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard this advice. And honestly, I can be really guilty of this one. I tend to do a lot of explaining, especially in early drafts, because I am fleshing out my world and characters for myself.

Stop it.

Your reader doesn’t need all of that explanation. Sure, a little is fine. But too much is boring. And not much of this should survive editing.

Plus, when you cut the telling and start showing (by adding scenes, inserting more natural inclusions of information, adding dialogue, etc.), you will naturally increase your word count.

Talk to your betas

The last, and sometimes easiest, way to bulk up your word count is to send it to beta readers to get opinions. Then you can see where things may actually be incomplete or confusing, places you may need extra scenes, or subplots you may have left incomplete. In your next draft, you can address these concerns by adding whatever they felt was lacking (if you agree with them…beta readers can be tricky, but that’s a topic for another day).

Final Thoughts

These are some of the simplest ways I’ve found to naturally increase your word count while adding to a story…and trust me, I’ve had to deal with this a lot! But the thing to remember is that you will find ways that work for you, and your ability to hit your target count will likely improve with every book you write, as long as you make a conscious effort to aim for that.

But until next week, when we discuss overwriting and trimming the fat from your manuscript, does anyone else have suggestions for bulking up a word count? What has worked for you? Do you ever worry about this?

Talk to me in the comments!

Do I Need a Sensitivity Reader?

(The answer is yes)

There has been more and more discussion lately about the utility and necessity of sensitivity readers. And, friends, not all of it encourages me.

Recently, I saw a poll on Facebook asking fellow authors if they would let a sensitivity reader edit their work. And the answers (as well as the phrasing of the poll question) kind of concern me. Many of the responses were along the lines of “absolutely not!” and “I would never want to filter my writing for these sensitive snowflakes!”

Writer friends, that mentality and lack of understanding is a problem.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about what a sensitivity reader is and what role they play in the editing process, as well as the benefit that having sensitivity readers can offer authors. So today, I want to discuss and get into when you should consider finding a sensitivity reader for your own work.

Sensitivity reader (n): a beta reader with topic-relevant experience and/or expertise who reads a manuscript in order to evaluate sensitive content for misinformation, stereotypes, and harmful portrayals.

Sensitivity readers DO NOT edit an author’s work. They are simply targeted beta readers (which is actual a term that is coming into popularity for this type of reader).

And they can be very important to your work. Just in the last year, several books have been pulled from expected publication because of issues related to lack of sensitivity readers. Check out this article, and this one.

Remember all those times I mentioned that we, as authors, want to give our books every chance for success? Well, that’s one role of a sensitivity reader! Do you want to write something so offensive or ignorant that you alienate an entire demographic? Are you so convinced in the “rightness” of how you decide to write, that your work will somehow be corrupted if you take these “special snowflake” feelings into consideration, that you refuse to care about the feelings of your readers?

Guys. That’s not acceptable. Without readers, there can be no stories. Their experience and what they bring to a story is half of it. And these people are people. They deserve their stories to be told with respect and consideration, not for hype or effect or to play to tropes and stereotypes.

So let’s talk about some flags that mean you should find sensitivity readers.

You write about a character with a mental illness or disability, physical illness or disability, or other similar conditions.
You write about any marginalized group of people.
You write a story containing abuse of any kind.
You write about a sensitive topic with which you have NO personal experience.
You write about a sensitive topic with which you HAVE personal experience.
You write about a real topic or place where you are not part of the culture.
You write Young Adult.

Let’s break that down a little more.

I think the first four are pretty self-explanatory. You want people to read your work who have direct experience with the topics in your story. It is important to have these opinions and checks and balances to tell you if the way you are portraying them and their situation is inaccurate or harmful in any way. If you ignore this, you risk, as I said, angering and alienating an entire group of readers who may (and will, depending on the context) drag you, your career, and your book through the mud. And besides that, by having these readers look at your work and provide feedback, you will add a layer of realism and relatability to the work. Having these readers will only strengthen the material you release.

And then there’s #5. Even if you are writing #ownvoices, I would still suggest finding another reader or two to contribute their experience. It doesn’t hurt to know how other people with this same experience view what you said. Example: I once wrote something in a book I had experienced myself. But when I had someone read it, they told me that what I said, even though it was a true thing for me, would actually be a harmful thing to keep in the book for my (teenage) audience. Without realizing it, I could have been causing harm, even though I wrote from personal experience.

Sensitivity readers can also be especially important if you’re writing YA. Because when you’re writing YA, you have to remember that you’re writing for young adults. They are still kids. Even if it’s a tough topic, even if they need to think about it, we need to write books that are fit for younger audiences. And that means avoiding the spread of misinformation, avoiding writing things that will directly harm a teenage reader (particularly if they are in a marginalized group or fit into my categories above). It also means sharing information that teens will find important. Just take a look at this article about what teens can learn from books, and why discussing these things is important!

It’s also important that we, if we are adult authors (like me), accurately showcase what teenage life is like. I don’t know about you, but my own teenage days were a decade ago, and things have changed! Flip phones are out, for one. And internet culture is much bigger than it was when I was in high school.

The things we say, and the way we say them, can make or break our books. Words have so much power, my friends.

Beta readers are critical to your work. Sensitivity readers are critical for your work. Please consider the value in utilizing them as important resources while you edit. Take their comments seriously, and do everything you can to make your book shine in a truly positive way.

And, as always, keep writing!

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Writers, readers, gather ’round! Do you have experience with sensitivity readers? Are you a sensitivity reader? Tell me about your experiences and thoughts below!

The Creation of a Story: This Cursed Flame Edition

Want to know the process This Cursed Flame went through? Keep reading!

Last week, to get us into the spirit for This Cursed Flame‘s release, we discussed some of my favorite genie books (by the way, I definitely missed The Midnight Sea by Kat Ross… so good, but not traditional genies. They’re called daevas, but they share some traits with mythological djinn.).

This week, though, I want to go over the development of This Cursed Flame, from story seed to the version that is up for pre-order on Amazon and all other major retailers now. Buckle in, folks. It’s been a long journey.

As you will likely notice in some of next week’s coming material, this book started as just an idea stemming from an old sitcom. I went through a major phase of loving classic sitcoms when I was in middle school, and honestly, I never grew out of it. Sitcoms were my own personal comic relief during school and at the end of rough days. They were light and fluffy and full of magic or imagination or simply characters and worlds (even the realistic ones) I loved.

One of those sitcoms I especially loved was I Dream of Jeannie, but you will have to come back next week for more on that. 😉 It inspired an idea in me in 2011, the summer after I graduated from undergrad. I loved the scenes where we got to see Jeannie’s world, inside her bottle, things from her perspective.

And I wanted more. I wanted a book from the perspective of a genie.

It started with an idea of a human girl stolen away from her life and transformed into one of the djinn… but as such, she could never be really djinn (or really human), and so she was thrust into a world not her own where she could never belong anywhere again.

That first version had extra characters, too. And boy did it make the book confusing! The first difference between early versions and the final version is that I had a sub-antagonist instead of the main antagonist, Ahriman. It made little sense, but to my baby writer brain (I was only just realizing what it took to finish a story, even though I’d been writing since elementary school) it felt right.

But the story felt complete to me, and I wanted to publish. I entered grad school and realized how much I loved writing and wanted to share it with the world. I initially wanted to publish this version myself, independently, but life changed during grad school in about 2014, and I suddenly couldn’t afford to hire the professionals who would help me.

So I queried it for traditional publishing. I got some interest, but no one wanted it after reading it through and through.

So I took it back to edits, and I removed that sub-antagonist, and I tried a little more querying with the same results through 2017. I shared this version on Wattpad as well, and got a few enthusiastic views, but I still wasn’t happy with it, and I decided to go back to edits again and head toward independent publishing again (in 2018), now that my financial situation had changed.

So I hired a developmental editor, who suggested a mountain of changes. I had another team member, Afya Sura, who I still love, even though I ultimately had to cut her out of the story. And then there was the human… you’ll see when you start reading that Laurelin is the main human character, and her boyfriend is Cody. Well, it became apparent during edits that Cody served no useful purpose in the story… but Laurelin had a pretty good one. And then there’s Safiyya. I bulked up her backstory and her role and it turned out so beautifully!

And, finally in January 2019, this was the story I wanted to tell, the story I needed to share. I had started 8 years ago with a theme of “Dragons can be beaten”, and eventually I realized that my theme was actually “Sometimes we put ourselves in the bottle.” It covers the story and the feelings I had for it when I started, even though I didn’t realize it yet.

And now, on April 27, 2019, it will be available as this final version as an independently published novel. And I couldn’t be happier!!!

It’s been a long journey, and I know you will adore it just as much as I do. I can’t wait for it to be in your hands in just one week!

So don’t hesitate; head over to the link and see just what I’m talking about. Again, it is on Amazon and all other major retailers now and will be sent directly to your e-reader next Saturday!

Be sure to come back tomorrow for the kick-off of the launch week festivities, and until then, let me know about your own story’s journey in the comments below!

Writing is Vulnerability

Writing is hard. So is letting someone else see your writing. And most of all, hearing what they have to say about it.

Happy Friday, writing friends! A bit of a short post today, but there are some things on my mind this week that won’t take up as much time and space as usual.

Recently, I’ve done a lot of things in my writing life that have been putting my vulnerabilities to the test: I sent my first book baby off to a developmental editor (and got all the comments back this week), I’m publishing this book baby next year (so promoting it a lot), I am entering writing contests, I am preparing to query (again), and I opened a freelance business (more on that at the end of this post).

Needless to say, I’ve been busy, both mentally and with my time. And besides just keeping me busy, they have exposed me to not only hearing and accepting criticism but asking for it as well.

That’s rough.

But it got me thinking about the process of writing itself. While all these activities have opened me up to a place where I have to leave my vulnerabilities out in the sun for all to see, all those things I hold dear and support my image of myself (or used to hide from others)… the truth is that we already do that whenever we write with honesty.

You see, if we write from our own lives, whether it is using experiences, emotions, or ideas with which we are familiar, we are telling truths that, more often than not, are so close to who we are as people that letting someone else see it, or even just admitting it on a piece of paper (or computer screen, whatever) is telling the world something about us. It’s a piece of us, so much so that any criticism or questioning of the things we write feel like criticisms of us both as the writer and the human.

It’s so hard to do this, even in the privacy of our own homes, but it is so important to being a writer. Lending our truths and our vulnerabilities to our stories makes them real and gives them more connection and depth. Without it, the story is shallow and meaningless. And without letting others offer criticisms, we are limiting our ability to improve ourselves and our craft.

So yes, it’s hard to let other people see these things, to open yourself up to criticism. And it’s hard to hear the critical things about our work and ourselves. But it’s vital to our growth as writers and to make our stories that much better.

So go write, go share. Don’t be afraid of the criticism. Ask for it. Embrace it. Use it to your advantage. And remember these words:

Writing is vulnerability.

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IT’S TIME!!! Friends, I am finally open for business! If you have editing and/or proofreading needs, consulting needs, or the need for a fantastic fantasy map, I’m your girl! Take a look at my Services page to see what I’m now offering (and the rates), and if you need a little more convincing, look over at the Testimonials as well.

I can’t wait to work with you to make your stories shine!

All About Editing

So. You finished a piece of writing. Congratulations! You’ve made it further than the majority of people who want to be writers. But that doesn’t mean your work is done! You still have to go back and revise and edit. You may have heard writers talking about editing, but do you know the different kinds or when to do what? Do you know what types of editing you can do on your own and when you may want to hire someone or ask for help? If not, today is the day to learn. And if you already know, how about a refresher?

First, let’s distinguish between revising and editing.

Revising: This is when you are making changes to your work, such as rewriting characters, scenes, or the entire piece.
Editing: These are smaller, more focused and technical changes, such as grammar, spelling, punctuation, and line-by-line style. This may occur at various stages of the revision process, depending on how many revisions the work has been through and how close it is to publication or querying. You may do some of this work yourself, or you may find help from others. Developmental editing (which we’ll get into in a minute) is on the border of these two, as it tackles big picture issues of the story while still being considered editing.

I know, I know. The line is a little tight there sometimes. But both of these are critical to the development of a good piece of work. In fact, revising can fix a bad book. See what Alex Bracken has to say about it:

books made in revisions — Gives us hope for all those horrible first drafts.

Okay. So now that we have editing and revising straight and we understand how important editing is, let’s take a closer look.

Developmental Editor: This person takes your manuscript and looks for overall problems, such as issues with character arcs and development, plot and pacing, and loose ends and holes.

This type of editing tends to be the most expensive, but it is vital to the development of the story.
This editing should really only be done after several rounds of editing on your own and with critique partners and beta readers. Then you can go ahead and hire one.
This may not be strictly necessary to hire professionally if you plan to query, but it is non-negotiable if you plan to self-publish.

Copyeditor: This person looks at your work from a technical standpoint. In this pass of editing, the editor is searching for problems with things like grammar, spelling, and punctuation. They are not looking for big picture issues or style issues.

Similarly, line editing is looking at your work closely on a creative and stylistic level. A line editor will look for overused words and phrases, awkward or overly verbose sentences and passages, run-on sentences, pacing, and confusing writing. They approach with an eye for detail and clarity, looking at the ease of reading your work.

The overlap between copyediting and line editing is pretty large, and not every editor will distinguish between the two.
The cost for this is often somewhere between developmental editing and proofreading.

Proofreading: This is typically the last step of the editing process, as this type of editor is only looking for things like typos and missed errors from early editing passes. It is the last clean sweep before publishing.

Tends to be least expensive.
Critical for self-publishing, but still important for querying.
The very last step, after all other changes are made.

Whew! Okay. So now we have the types of editing straight, and we understand the difference in content and cost.

But editing can be super expensive, and everyone likes to save a little money. So let’s think about what we can do ourselves versus what we should hire out or ask someone to do for us.

Developmental Editing
- First of all, NEVER hire a professional to look at a first draft. You are throwing money out the window. Do everything you possibly can on your own and with beta readers and critique partners before spending any money!
- As I said above, this is a must for independent or self-publishing. Hire a professional!
- If you plan to query, you may choose to hire someone if you want to spend the money. It can’t hurt, but it’s also not necessary. And it will definitely help you polish up that manuscript!
- If you want to attempt any developmental editing on your own, I suggest leaving the manuscript out of sight and working on something else long enough to forget the details. You need to look with fresh eyes. Personally, I set a minimum of two weeks, if I can, for shorter works and one month for full-length works before I allow myself to look at the document again.
- Beta readers and critique partners can offer some developmental editing, if you find the right ones and ask nicely.
Copyediting and Line Editing
- Probably wait until after developmental editing is done. You don’t want to still be making big picture changes when you’re line editing and fixing grammar; more will likely pop up, and then you’re wasting time, money, and effort.
- Sometimes we are okay doing this on our own, particularly if we let it sit for long enough and forget it. But it might be better to ask a writer friend or, if you can’t find someone willing, a professional to look over your work. It is hard to see flaws in your own writing, as our brains tend to skip over things and fill in blanks so we don’t always catch common errors.
- This is a good way to learn how to improve our writing, also, by asking others to critique flaws in our writing style or weaknesses in our knowledge. It will all get better with time!
- You may consider hiring a professional if you don’t have a friend good at grammar and writing, if you plan to self-publish, or if you struggle with your own grammar and writing style.
Proofreading
- Do this last. Very last step.
- Please do not do this on your own. While you may be good at catching errors in other people’s work, as I said above, it is all too easy to miss errors in our own work because of our brains and the closeness to the story.
- If you have a friend you trust, have them proofread.
- If you don’t have a friend you trust, hire a professional.
- If you plan to query, make sure you get someone to proofread.
- If you plan to self-publish, for the love of all things good, make sure you get a proofreader. This one is especially critical; while one typo may be forgivable, a reader who finds multiple typos and simple mistakes in a finished, published book is less likely to trust your future books and may give up on you altogether. I’ve done it, and I know other people who have as well. It looks unprofessional and messy. Do yourself a favor and avoid the hassle!

That was a lot of information, but understanding the editing process is crucial to producing a polished manuscript, wherever it is destined to be published. I hope this overview has given you a better understanding of what types of editing exist, when you may want to hire a professional, what you can do yourself, and other little details you may not have considered before. Good luck with your own revising and editing, and be sure to leave questions and comments below!

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News!

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Five Reasons Why First Drafts Are My Favorite

Every writer has a part of the writing process they love most. For some, they love going back to their manuscript and fixing and polishing, so they love to edit. For others, they live for the brainstorming and information gathering that is a pre-write. For many, including me, first drafts are the most desirable stage of writing.

Let’s talk for a moment about the first draft. What exactly is it? Obviously, it’s the first time you write your story down on paper. But there are a few other definitions and ideas floating around that are also useful. My personal favorite is by Terry Pratchett:

The first draft is just you telling yourself the story. — What a beautiful sentiment.

Then there’s Anne Lamott, who said in her absolutely excellent book Bird by Bird: “Now, practically even better news than that of short assignments is the idea of shitty first drafts. All good writers write them.”

It’s awesome to hear someone giving us permission to write something bad (pardon the language in the quote).

Jane Smiley says of first drafts: “Every first draft is perfect because all the first draft has to do is exist. It’s perfect in its existence. The only way it could be imperfect would be to NOT exist.”

Again, someone telling us it doesn’t matter what we write, as long as we write it.

So why do I love first drafts so much? I have five main reasons.

First drafts provide a place for short-lived catharsis. We can say whatever we want, with no fear. We can yell at the top of our lungs about something unjust or painful. We can write something just because we want to write it and for no other reason. We can write scenes that ease our hearts and sing beauty to our souls… and then delete it in a later draft.
There is no judgement. Seriously, this is the best place to write without fear of judgement. I don’t know about you, but some things I want to say or include, I don’t actually want to share. I just want to get it out. But I know it’s for me, not for the people who might judge it. And no one is judging how good it is or if you wrote something correctly. You can write as poorly as you want. An extension of catharsis, this is a place of no fear.
It’s all storytelling and no fixing. It can be one of the fastest parts of the writing process, which can be encouraging to the feeling of accomplishment. I know some people edit while they write, but for me, I just love being able to zip through telling a story without worrying about what I already wrote or fixing keystrokes or scenes. It’s incredibly freeing, to have no worries about what happened before or what the edits will bring. I soar on the pages of the book. I get to live in the story. Speaking of which…
You learn the story for the first time. Just like Pratchett said, the first draft is where the writer really gets to know the story in a way much more intimate and detailed than any outline or plan can give you. This is where the feels happen. This is where the magic happens. This is where you begin to find out what it is you’re actually trying to say with the story.
You get to truly create… it’s magic. Writing is its own kind of magic. You create where nothing was before, and you shape it in the way you want, to play with the world you built and the world around us. You are in complete control of what happens. No other stage of the process can give you that pure creation. Everything else is innovating and improving what you start with. But the act of that first creation, the first keystroke or pen stroke, that is true magic.

Those are definitely my top five reasons why first drafts are my favorite part of the process. It’s a magic, creative endeavor that lightens the burden of everyday living and allows the writer to truly play. What could be better than that?

But what about you? What stage is your favorite? Why? Tell me in the comments!

From Spark to Story: My Writing Process

One thing I’ve always found interesting is how the development of a story can vary from author to author. Everyone eventually finds techniques and patterns that work for them, helping them to cultivate their initial idea into a finished product. Personally, my process has developed through a great deal of trial and error of different methods until I arrived at the way I approach stories now. Today, I want to share what my process looks like.

The Idea

Yes, the elusive spark to a greater story.

Like many authors, I can’t really tell you where all my ideas come from; a lot of us honestly don’t know. But there are a number of things that can spark those thoughts. For me, my initial ideas have come from things like dreams, other people’s works (books, movies, magazine articles, etc.), things I’ve learned in school or through my own research, or even something as simple as a photograph, as happened with my most recent idea. But that’s all it takes: one simple moment of “that could be an interesting story.”

The Slow Simmer

After I get that idea, it simmers on the burner for a while, building up some flavor. Okay, metaphors aside, after I have an idea, I sit with it and simply think about it. This simmering phase can be anywhere from days to weeks to months long before I’m ready to move on to the next phase. I let the idea build until I know where I want to start.

The Exploration

Once I have an idea and I’ve given it some thought, I pick a fresh, brand-new notebook. I have a separate notebook for every project, one that I love to pick up and open. Sometimes I’ll even match the look of the notebook to the aesthetic I see in my head. And I also keep a small library of blank notebooks for the sudden idea I MUST write down immediately. Those can be unpredictable, and I need to be ready!

Then, the research begins. I start my notebook with research on what exists in our world that relates to the story. To keep with the theme of my most recent idea (which is currently in this phase and the next two phases), this was when I sat down and researched the picture that sparked it all, a photograph in a unique setting. So I looked up information about that setting, its geology, its geography, the earth science behind it, the flora and fauna associated with it. I learned everything I could and let that build on the ideas I already had.

In this phase, I also tend to make a board on Pinterest to help me envision what is to come, the Build. I save pictures for anything that could relate to the story, real or fantasy, any character inspirations, setting inspirations, or aesthetics to help me feel how the world feels, to achieve the emotion I want to achieve, to visualize the things I need to create.

Then I take it further.

The Build

I move past the real and into my own creation. I begin the worldbuilding stage. I get to know what my world looks like from the layout of the country to the ecosystems to the culture. I write down everything I can think of to build the setting for the story. This naturally leads to filling in other details, such as characters. In this stage I complete (or set up a solid foundation for) the setting and the major characters I need to start the story, any details I want to include, what makes it unique. And I fill all this information into my notebook.

Note: sometimes the characters come first. Some of my story sparks are a character, and I build out from there. Every story is different. But the general process remains the same, even if the specific parts change and rotate.

The Simmer, Part II

Then I let the story simmer again. This phase could last anywhere from minutes to weeks to months, depending on how the previous phases went. This is where I need to take the build I created and turn it into a story. What is going on in the world that could create an interesting tale? What are the characters facing? Where is the story in the place I found? With these people I met? I ask myself these questions, write down the possibilities, and let them sit in my brain as more ideas.

The Plotting

After I brainstorm the direction I want to go (which can happen all at once or in stages), I generally sit down and write a basic outline for the story. (Side note: I tried to pants one of my books…write it without an outline or any clear direction…and have decided to never put myself through that again! The editing has been a monster.) This helps me find my story beats, lay out the map for the story, and understand where everything is going before I begin. Sometimes, after that basic outline, I will fill in more detail, such as chapter by chapter, but this doesn’t always happen.

The Writing

Finally, I’m ready to draft. And this is my favorite part! I tell the story.

I typically write in a dedicated word processor. Previously, I used Word, and I tried Scrivener, but it didn’t benefit me much. Now, I do most of my drafting on Google Docs so I can open it anywhere and on any of my devices. I wait to convert to Word until I’m ready to share it. This may change in the future as my circumstances change, but I doubt it would deviate much from this basic setup. I prefer to type my stories directly in manuscript submission formatting.

The Revising

After I complete my first draft, which has historically taken me anywhere from a few months to years to complete (depending on how dedicated I was at the time of the writing, how motivated I was, or my health and life circumstances), I am ready to fix the problems.

First I let it sit for at least a month before touching it again. I want to forget what I wrote so I can look at it with fresh eyes.

Then, I read through the entire thing, changing nothing and keeping minimal notes, just to get a feel for how the story flows, feels, and accomplishes what I want it to accomplish.

Then, I do the first rewrite. A brand new, fresh document, where I write the story over again. I use some of the first draft, but the story typically morphs and changes along the way, so many of the scenes, especially early, also change.

Then comes more of the cycle of revisions, allowing others to read and critique my work, and revising again. This process never really ends, so at some point I say I’m done changing it (until I decide to revise again).

The Sharing

This is the end of my work on it. At this point, either it gets shoved into a word processor deep down on my hard drive or it moves to the next step in publishing. This could be anything from sharing it online, such as with Wattpad, to beginning the query process.

And then it is out of my hands.

Now that I’ve shared my process, I’m curious to know yours. Do you do any of these things the same way? Do you keep a dedicated project notebook or Word file for every new story? Tell me about your process in the comments. Let’s talk writing!