Say you've written a nifty tale about a concept that hits your mind. For example, I one wrote a piece called "Ninja Leprechauns", simply because I put the those two words together. And, like the chocolate/peanut butter mix of Reese's cups, I typed up a story about assassins with the combined powers of ninjas and leprechauns. And these bastards wipe out a whole bunch of mobsters as a sort of "final exam", easily succeed, and become full-fledged badasses.
And you know what? The story sucked!
Yep. I'll admit it. It sucked. I let it sit and collect dust for about 3 years. And now, I'm gonna put "Ninja Leprechauns" into my second book. Why do this?
Because I'm gonna nip and tuck the original draft. This is the best/worst part about the writing process. You don't just write a story, run it under the spell-checker, and figure that it is utterly flawless. That's good for high school but the real world. If you've written something and care about it, be prepared to polish and re-write it a bunch of times. How many? That's up to you.
Here's my method (maybe it'll help):
Step 1: Puke a story into existence, while under the influence of music and caffeine. Just write. Don't edit. Just write it out, save it, and go about your day. Let what you've written percolate in your head. What really pisses me off about this phase is that I'll save the story, turn off my computer, hit the shower, go to work, and then come up with fourteen different add-ons for the damned thing! Should this happen to you, scribble them down until you can get back to your fledgling masterpiece.
Step 2: Within 24 hours, look it over and fix the errors/non sequitors. You'll have spelling and grammatical errors. Some of your wording might not flow and need some fixing. And sometimes, you'll screw up facts in the piece (like having someone fire a six-shooter 8 times) or have to hit Google to verify the state capital of Florida. You're human. It happens. Read through it and patch it up once. Then go about your day.
Step 3: Within 48 hours, look it over again with a calm mind and some spare time. Think: "I can make this thing a little bit better". The thing is . . . you probably will.
Step 4: Put it away and write something else. Try not to touch this story against for AT LEAST a week. I know. It sounds weird. But I've got so many stories in my stable that I can actually do this. And when I look over a story that I haven't touched in months/years, I see it with a new set of eyes. My mind's more able to pick apart its flaws and make it better.
Step 5: Then, when you decided to pick up the story, make a decision. Either polish the story up a bit and feel happy. Or scrap the thing, because it just won't fly. And sometimes (like in the case of "Ninja Leprechauns"), you can go back to Step 1 and rewrite it from scratch.
Step 6: When you feel it's done and ready, stand up and re-read it aloud. Seriously. It's funny how you'll spot weaknesses in your descriptions, dialogue, or word flow when you're reading aloud and pacing about.
Step 7: Hand it off to your editor and/or fellow writer. Accept any criticisms your story gets and change only what you think needs changing. But try to see their critiques through their eyes. NEVER, EVER, write a story and submit it without putting it under another set of eyes. That's just silly.
How many edits does it take to get a story to where you like it? I dunno. I opened up "Unheroic" and still see stuff I want to change. But that's a peril of the writing game: to paralyze yourself by eternally polishing a work . . . and never submitting it. My advice is to go with your gut and then get a second opinion. If a story's ready to go - perfect or not - put it out there.
If the story's well-written and downright enjoyable, you've done right by your reader. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to redesign my assassins.
Have a nice day.
[Older posts can be seen at http://PlotTwisted.blogspot.com]
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