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Friday, June 3, 2011

Drafting vs Rewriting

Last night as I was doing some revisions I came to a scene that was...well it was horrible. It should have appeared much earlier in the book.  The characters and reactions were all wrong because I wrote it so long ago I didn't fully know the story and people.  So I started again from scratch.  It's been a long time since I've drafted anything and it felt soooo good.  I'd forgotten how much I like the initial first draft stage, the freedom of putting down any little thing I think of, the electricity of the characters speaking to me and watching the scene unfurl.  It was nice.

Don't get me wrong, I like revising too.  They both have advantages and shortfalls.  But there is a freedom about first drafts that I've missed.  I'm also faster at drafting than revising. I thought about going into a description of the pros and cons of drafting and revising but it seemed like a lot of reading for a Friday.  Besides I need to meet my revision goals.  So, the writing world, or at least this part of it, wants to know: do you have a preference between the two?  Are you faster at one?  What do you like/dislike about each of them? 

Hope everyone has a happy weekend!

7 comments:

  1. Isn't it just lovely when you get to rewrite a scene and it comes out _singing_? Congratulations. What a great feeling.

    I'm slow at both drafting and revising. [g]

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  2. I can get bummed in either drafting or revision, but I think revision is more rewarding--seeing the whole thing get smoother, clearer, cleaner.

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  3. Jill: Thanks, I think the scene turned out well but I'll probably hate it tomorrow.

    I'm not really fast at either, just faster at one than the other. :)

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  4. Zan: That's the part I like about revision. It's just getting to the tighter cleaner version that's hard.

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  5. Ha ha ha ha!! I know exactly how you feel! Every time I sit down to edit I wish I was in that heady rush of drafting stage. Hope it gets smoother as you go along :-)

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  6. There are some things I do really like about revising. I guess I need to keep a second project in the drafting stage so I can have that rush to get me through the more sober revising.

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  7. I wish I could do that! I've got so many shiny new ideas. But I doubt I'd ever finish anything if I kept switching back and forth.

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