[stylist] Writing process

Fri Jan 14 01:52:25 UTC 2011

I also don't think of my writing process as starting with a draft. I do, 
however, routinely save the latest version of my novel, though I never 
bother keeping early versions of articles and other short pieces. 
Although I like to let myself go and just write initially, most of my 
time is spent editing. I've read things suggesting that writers reread 
and edit for specific categories or issues, but I can't get into going 
through looking for one kind of thing. If I'm reading, I'm probably 
going to change something. If I notice something, I change it 
immediately. The other day, I had a feeling I should check a detail in 
one chapter to make sure it meshed with an earlier passage; it did, but 
while I was there, I found a sentence with a simple grammatical error -- 
compound subject with a singular verb. Talk about cringing! I had read 
that dozens of times and never noticed it. It only re enforced my 
opinion that you can't be too careful.
  Donna

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On 1/13/2011 8:01 PM, Judith Bron wrote:
> Bridget and Kerry, I never did the draft thing either.  All my papers 
> from elementary school through college usually got A's.  Even when 
> writing my novels I didn't do drafts, But I worked overtime on 
> editing.  Judith
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bridgit Pollpeter" 
> <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
> To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2011 7:45 PM
> Subject: [stylist] Writing process
>
>
>> Kerry,
>>
>> Wuthering Heights is my all-time favorite book!  *smile*
>>
>> I completely agree with you.  We all have to find the process that works
>> for us.  I, too, do not really do the draft thing.  As organized as I
>> am, drafts have never really been a part of my process even when sighted
>> or for academic papers.  I usually received straight A's so I must have
>> done something right!  *smile*
>>
>> This post is very articulate.  Perhaps you would consider writing a 1000
>> words or less article about the writing process for Slate & Style?
>>
>> Bridgit
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of stylist-request at nfbnet.org
>> Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2011 12:00 PM
>> To: stylist at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 21
>>
>>
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>>   1. Re: stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 19 (Kerry Thompson)
>>   2. Re: stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 19
>>      (James H. "Jim" Canaday M.A. N6YR)
>>   3. Re: stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 19 (LoriStay at aol.com)
>>   4. Re: stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 19 (Judith Bron)
>>   5. Re: stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 19 (Donna Hill)
>>   6. The Tragic Shooting of Gabrielle Giffords (Judith Bron)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:37:49 -0500
>> From: Kerry Thompson <kethompson1964 at gmail.com>
>> To: stylist at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 19
>> Message-ID: <4D2E576D.8090204 at gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>
>> Hi friends,
>>
>> Bridgit, everybody's process is different. For me, writing is about the
>> language. So, from the first, the words are as important as the story
>> I'm telling with them. Of course, sometimes it's necessary to get the
>> story germ down as quickly as possible before I forget it.
>>
>> That leads me to my second point. For me, writing and rewriting aren't
>> separate, distinct phases of the process. I'm a tinkerer. I continually
>> reread my work in progress, pausing to substitute a better word here, to
>>
>> expand a phrase to a paragraph there where it strikes me that the
>> meaning is unclear. And, as the story grows, especially with a novel, it
>>
>> sometimes becomes necessary to go back to add or alter allusions or
>> whole scenes.
>>
>> With short stories, too, the manuscript is dynamic. I tighten here,
>> expand there, occasionally move or delete entire passages. But it's not
>> a matter of Draft 1, Draft 2, Draft 3. I don't work that way and can't
>> even fully understand the concept of working that way. But, as I say,
>> everybody's process is different. You have to find the process that
>> works for you. If producing distinct drafts and revisions works for you,
>>
>> then by all means go for it!
>>
>> Like you, I learned to read print, before losing my sight. Like you,
>> too, I love Nineteenth Century literature, especially Dickens. Wharton
>> isn't one of my favorites, though. I prefer the Brontes. I think,
>> perhaps, you and I were taught writing in different ways, from different
>>
>> aesthetic paradigms. It sounds like you're into modernism, while I'm
>> more old fashioned. One way isn't right and the other wrong, they're
>> just different.
>>
>> Chris, LOL That's short and to the point. Very good!
>>
>> Solidarity and Peace,
>>
>> Kerry
>>
>>
>>
>>
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