I spent approximately 10 minutes reading this post, and I enjoyed every single one, I'll likely be spending a few more hours catching up on the story.
As for the first half, I kept nodding. Editing, in the way it is usually done tends to dilute writing. I've never been a fan of 'polished' pieces, they often feel like they've lost something vital. Maybe that's why I tend to prefer writers' journals to their novels. Then again, maybe their life was the better story all along.
I think your word 'vital' there is a great one to use. Perhaps also words like 'raw' and 'organic'.
One aspect I left out was that for stories I have them written in my head (sort of trance-like meditation, imagining the whole thing) before I come to the actual sitting down and writing stage. So, because I know what I'm going to write, I just let it come out and it's nearly always at least 95% fine first go. So I absolutely agree about editing losing the vitality - for me, vitality is one of the most precious and important aspects of a piece of writing. The original version is so much closer to the writer's true self, in other words.
I love that you described your process like a kind of trance, it makes so much sense, the way the story lives fully formed before it’s even written. Thank you for expanding on this, it’s always beautiful hearing how other writers move through their work.
Also you’re so welcome!! Thank you for recommending me too <3
To me, "Editing" is the most important part of "my" writing. I bring no skill to the game other than the fact that I want to product something that is not a constant source of critiquing for the reader. I will include a blurb from my website to illustrate my own thoughts and feelings about writing.
--- The Long Road ---
Wanting to tell a story, verses committing to the idea of writing one, are two very different concepts. How long will the story be? How does one make the story entertaining enough to suck the reader in? How far down the rabbit hole of fiction will the audience allow? Is the character development lacking?
This journey has given me insight regarding my own writing skills. The need to keep a complex story, believable, and yet, resolve the plot-line without leaving a bunch of questionable gaps. “Hurrah! Finished.”
Now comes the editing. Then the realization that the entire second chapter of the first book needs to be eliminated and replaced with something better. This, in turn, forces the rewrite of all three books. Again with the editing. Now try to get someone other than yourself to read the final product and give an evaluation. Good luck with that one.
So, here we are at a point in the road where I present this bit of fiction to the masses.
I think perhaps in my case the reason I don't do (or need to do) much in the way of editing is because I work everything out before I do the writing. If everything (especially plot I'm thinking about, and no continuity errors) is already clear in my head then I can write it organically and naturally, and I hardly need to change anything.
So maybe what I'm really saying here is that I do the editing before the writing, so I don't need to do much afterwards. So it's not so much editing per se I am rejecting, perhaps it's more of jumping into the writing too soon. Does that make sense?
It does. I will admit, the story-line flows for me as well. Most of my errors have been punctuation with the occasional grammatic failure.
When I first started writing the first novel I had no idea where it was going to take me but I wanted to explain the science behind the invention. It was clunky but I thought it could be polished and that would be that. I was wrong. I felt that to make it even remotely plausible for the reader it had to be fixed. And in the end, it required modifying each of the books to accommodate the rewrite.
I spent approximately 10 minutes reading this post, and I enjoyed every single one, I'll likely be spending a few more hours catching up on the story.
As for the first half, I kept nodding. Editing, in the way it is usually done tends to dilute writing. I've never been a fan of 'polished' pieces, they often feel like they've lost something vital. Maybe that's why I tend to prefer writers' journals to their novels. Then again, maybe their life was the better story all along.
Thanks!
I think your word 'vital' there is a great one to use. Perhaps also words like 'raw' and 'organic'.
One aspect I left out was that for stories I have them written in my head (sort of trance-like meditation, imagining the whole thing) before I come to the actual sitting down and writing stage. So, because I know what I'm going to write, I just let it come out and it's nearly always at least 95% fine first go. So I absolutely agree about editing losing the vitality - for me, vitality is one of the most precious and important aspects of a piece of writing. The original version is so much closer to the writer's true self, in other words.
Forgot to say thank you for your recommendation, by the way!
I love that you described your process like a kind of trance, it makes so much sense, the way the story lives fully formed before it’s even written. Thank you for expanding on this, it’s always beautiful hearing how other writers move through their work.
Also you’re so welcome!! Thank you for recommending me too <3
To me, "Editing" is the most important part of "my" writing. I bring no skill to the game other than the fact that I want to product something that is not a constant source of critiquing for the reader. I will include a blurb from my website to illustrate my own thoughts and feelings about writing.
--- The Long Road ---
Wanting to tell a story, verses committing to the idea of writing one, are two very different concepts. How long will the story be? How does one make the story entertaining enough to suck the reader in? How far down the rabbit hole of fiction will the audience allow? Is the character development lacking?
This journey has given me insight regarding my own writing skills. The need to keep a complex story, believable, and yet, resolve the plot-line without leaving a bunch of questionable gaps. “Hurrah! Finished.”
Now comes the editing. Then the realization that the entire second chapter of the first book needs to be eliminated and replaced with something better. This, in turn, forces the rewrite of all three books. Again with the editing. Now try to get someone other than yourself to read the final product and give an evaluation. Good luck with that one.
So, here we are at a point in the road where I present this bit of fiction to the masses.
I think perhaps in my case the reason I don't do (or need to do) much in the way of editing is because I work everything out before I do the writing. If everything (especially plot I'm thinking about, and no continuity errors) is already clear in my head then I can write it organically and naturally, and I hardly need to change anything.
So maybe what I'm really saying here is that I do the editing before the writing, so I don't need to do much afterwards. So it's not so much editing per se I am rejecting, perhaps it's more of jumping into the writing too soon. Does that make sense?
It does. I will admit, the story-line flows for me as well. Most of my errors have been punctuation with the occasional grammatic failure.
When I first started writing the first novel I had no idea where it was going to take me but I wanted to explain the science behind the invention. It was clunky but I thought it could be polished and that would be that. I was wrong. I felt that to make it even remotely plausible for the reader it had to be fixed. And in the end, it required modifying each of the books to accommodate the rewrite.
Live and Learn.