Creative writing is as much about process as it is about character, plot, and dialogue. Yes, you need a solid grasp of grammar and mechanics, a workable love of language, and a sense that you are free to make a mess of things, but it’s your writing process that will carry you through to The End.
Once You Have a Workable Love of Language, Pay Attention to Process
If you write short stories or creative non-fiction in your spare time as I do, you’ve got to make the most of limited time. Weekend writing is bound by constraint, so a process can really help you quickly engage with your characters, dip into a storyline, or craft a poem.
Applying my business writing process to my creative writing practice provided near-immediate results, and vice versa. For example, I introduced free-fall writing techniques from my creative process which produced business documents with better results, faster.
Suddenly, I was no longer weighed down by my expectations of producing a fully-formed fiction piece the first time out, my stories improved.
From concept to finished draft, my process may be a lot like yours:
Notes Transcription
In the early stages, note-taking is essential. I love scribbling in my notebook and writing free fall. Then when I’m in the mood for transcribing, I type the notes, revising as I go. This mess of fractured thoughts and unfinished sentences will eventually become a rough draft. For fiction, this is world-building.
I let it sit for a while. It maybe be days, weeks, or months before I pick it up again.
Rough Draft
Using the notes draft as a jumping-off point, I start fresh, with a blank page with typewritten notes in hand. Writing from scratch allows me to reorganize my thoughts, to work out what I’m trying to say, or what the story itself is trying to reveal. Start to finish, this draft is produced swiftly. For fiction, this is character and plot development.
Save, print, read. Scribble editorial notes on the page. Take a break.
D1: First draft
After a break I start with a blank page, working off a printed draft with notes handwritten in the margins. The version I follow with is jagged and gnarly. This is where I delete chunks of repetitious text (there’s a lot!) and content unrelated to the central idea.
For me, the physical act of keystrokes shifts my left brain into gear. And out comes the tough-minded critic who slashes unnecessary material and cutting whole paragraphs without remorse. Bless her ruthlessness. It’s my third typed piece, but it’s really a first draft. For fiction, things are coming together: I am fine-tuning the central idea (plot) and characters.
Save. Print. Pause. Read. Make notes. Take a break.
D2: SEcond draft
I let the page cool for as long as I can.
In this editorial pass, I pay close attention to word usage, grammar and the finer points of the piece, following the basic flow of the previous draft, but leaving room for re-vision. This is a sustained pass. The result is likely to be different from the previous draft only in word choice and sentence structure because I’m still finding my footing. At this point, it becomes obvious if the piece is working, or not. (Some pieces remain here, in my personal slush pile, for, well, forever. ) For fiction, I’m aware of pacing in this rewrite phase.
Save. Print. Read. Pause. Add editorial notes for revision. Take an extended break.
D3: Third Draft
I add plenty of distance between the second and third drafts. One or two weeks for an article like the one you’re reading, several more for a personal essay, longer for a poem. The uncompromising editor with her critical eye and love of red ink returns. I ask for her best work. In this draft, revisions are specific to the objective of the piece. Does the piece fulfill its promise to entertain, to educate? Is the writing clear, engaging? Does the piece offer something to the reader?
Save. Print. Pause. Read. Add editorial notes for revision.
Final draft
A short break between third and final drafts allows unnecessary details, information gaps, or crevices in the storyline that I previously missed, or where the reader might become confused in extra-long sentences like the one you’ve just read. I fix those. I trim the word count. Line edits and tweaks.
Save. Print. Proofread. Type changes. Repeat. This is the version I’ll submit for publication.
For fiction, I will share this version with a reader. Then the real writing starts. LOL.
. . .
If you’re a weekend writer, like me, with as many personal writing projects underway as books on your bedside table, following a writing process allows you to pick up any work-in-progress, and know exactly where you left off, no matter how long it’s been on hold.
What’s your process?
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This article appeared, in slightly different format, in Byline, Canadian Authors Association (Ottawa branch) newsletter.