An interesting thought occurred to me recently
whilst pushing on with getting a first draft of my new novel down. The thought
was that whilst I was trying to get my first draft down as quickly as possible
new ideas and plot points kept occurring to me. Although I write with a kind of
outline – especially for the first half of the book, so I do not get stuck - I
also like to leave myself open to new directions as I write. And writing as
fast as possible for first draft seems to be best for me.
Some of the ideas that occurred to me were good ones
that seemed to have come up epiphany-like from the ‘girls in the basement’, but
should I stop and incorporate them? I wanted to do just that but it meant going
back and introducing something much earlier in the draft in order for it to
make sense. Which, in turn, meant that I wasn’t actually moving the story forward.
But the extra material did add more depth (or a subplot) to the story. Great
you might say…
I read somewhere that a good idea was to keep a
revision sheet alongside you as you write so that you can jot down the idea as
it occurs to you. Also to make a note of where the material needed to be
introduced (approx.) and then continue to write the draft as if the plot point
was already incorporated. Lately I have been trying this method with my present
book and it is surprisingly easy. I know I will have much more work to do in
second draft but once I have the main story down I don’t feel the pressure to
rush through that. In fact I like to take my time and re-consider everything
that has gone into the story.
Anyway this is my best tip of the year!
Do you have any good tips to pass on to others to
try?
I do that. If a new element comes into play as I write, I just not that I will have to weave it in earlier and keep writing.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good tip, I'll certainly be trying it for my next WIP :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good tip, Pat. I shall give that a go because once I go back and start tinkering, it seems to be the end for me! :-) x
ReplyDeleteI write like this. Incorporating it into the beginning is what revision is for. If you're on a roll, then it doesn't interrupt the flow.
ReplyDeleteI have done this. Sometimes I do go back and make the changes, if I feel that it's important for my thought process to do so. But there have been lots of other times I did what you did -- made notes in another document of where I would need to change things and then proceeded as if the changes were already made.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I do, too - a note and keep going. For me second draft is always a time of putting the pieces together in the right order and making things fit together, so it works well.
ReplyDeleteI keep a composition book next to the computer when I'm writing and make any notes pertaining to upcoming plot, revisions I've thought of, details I'll need to add in (say, if I've just realized whodunnit and need to plant those clues), and I keep track of word count and time, just for me, because it helps me feel like I've accomplished something and is like punching a clock. I think if I went back to edit as I was writing, I would get bogged down and not keep moving forward.
ReplyDeleteShannon at The Warrior Muse
I like the idea of a revision sheet...I'll give it a go next time I'm writing first draft.
ReplyDeleteMy best tip (I'm in 2nd draft) has got to be splitting the scenes up, since doing so, I've found everything more manageable and its easier to see any glaring plot holes as well.
Thanks for sharing.
That's a great tip! I try to keep it all sorted in my head... which doesn't always work!
ReplyDeleteI tend to just go with the flow, write everything that comes to mind, then print it out. Seeing it all in front of me, and reading straight through gives a good idea of the bits that are in the wrong place/not needed at all/can be adapted to fit a different scene. The second draft is where I really get into my stride.
ReplyDeleteI like this idea. Anything that makes writing easier and organised is useful.To keep going and not have editing stops is important to me, so having a side note for new ideas is a good idea. Thankls, Sean
ReplyDelete