Lately I've been having what you might call "weird-ass" dreams, partly due to an unfortunate fever I've been running, and partly due to the fact that I have an over-active imagination that spills over into the nighttime. Fortunately, I've been told that this is how bestsellers and religions begin. Since I'm in no mood to write scripture, I figured I'd scribble my dreams into stories, which I reserve the right to later turn into a religion if I so choose. One has resulted in a 300-page novel and the other is currently spinning into a short story.
There are five steps to the writing process as follows:
1. Think
2. Write
3. Make it better
4. Make it correct
5. Share the product
I've got number one down because I do my best thinking when I'm unconscious. If only I could submit in my sleep, I'd have it made. Number two is easy for me, but I get stuck on numbers three and four because I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I tend to edit forever. In layers. I'll do an overall copy edit to catch typos and late-night or boozy meanderings, then I'll isolate and refine the protagonist's dialogue and then each major character. I'll do an edit for technical accuracy (with the help of subject matter experts, the Internet and books), one for geographical accuracy (usually with the help of Google maps in lieu of actual travel) and then whatever other aspects are present in the story--medical research, historical research, etc.
I won't even say it's the submission process I hate, because that's over-said and sounds defeatist and whiny.But it's where I get stymied. So I suppose I'm implying it.
"I submitted manuscripts to publishers. This was not so much a feeling that I should be published as a wish to escape the feared and hated drudgery of normal work." -Tanith Lee
There are five steps to the writing process as follows:
1. Think
2. Write
3. Make it better
4. Make it correct
5. Share the product
I've got number one down because I do my best thinking when I'm unconscious. If only I could submit in my sleep, I'd have it made. Number two is easy for me, but I get stuck on numbers three and four because I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I tend to edit forever. In layers. I'll do an overall copy edit to catch typos and late-night or boozy meanderings, then I'll isolate and refine the protagonist's dialogue and then each major character. I'll do an edit for technical accuracy (with the help of subject matter experts, the Internet and books), one for geographical accuracy (usually with the help of Google maps in lieu of actual travel) and then whatever other aspects are present in the story--medical research, historical research, etc.
I won't even say it's the submission process I hate, because that's over-said and sounds defeatist and whiny.But it's where I get stymied. So I suppose I'm implying it.
"I submitted manuscripts to publishers. This was not so much a feeling that I should be published as a wish to escape the feared and hated drudgery of normal work." -Tanith Lee
Blog off.
Labels: awesome, book, coffee, column, Cynthia, diary, editing, Loveland, poem, poetry, prompt, short story, writing
I wish 3 and 4 weren't followed by the invisible yet very present step called "Repeat." Or maybe it's "Repeat ad nauseum."
ReplyDeleteI think my tombstone will say "She edited. A lot." (Subtle Buffy reference)
Delete