My writing process. · 10:26am Mar 30th, 2020
This is more for other would-be writers out there. Writing can be a daunting process. Not just in putting your thoughts to text, but making them readable. Here's what I do:
1. Make a timeline of events.
What do you want to have happen in your story, and how do you get there? Write those thoughts down so you have an outline to look back on to see if you're still on the right track. if you like the new path you ended up on, then edit your timeline to match it. I happen to have an Excel spread sheet to help me keep track of everything.
2. Write your rough draft.
My rough drafts usually go on Google Docs first. I get a general idea down for what I want in the chapter, the dialog, and overall flow of the narrative.
3. Edit.
Google Docs does a pretty good job of catching many grammar and spelling errors. I'll go back and do a quick readthrough of the chapter and look for what words that don't fit right or sentences that might need to be reworded.
For a much better second look, Grammarly catches so much more and can offer better alternatives. So, I'll copy and paste what I have in GDocs to Grammarly for another review. There is a free version, that still works pretty good, but I pay for the subscription which offers a lot more help.
4. Use FimFic's readback features.
After another review with Grammarly, I'll copy and paste the document into FimFic and save it. Once saved, I click the edit button that brings me to the preview page. I will click the first paragraph and have it start reading the chapter back to me.
Once it starts reading it back to me, I can click on the Edit button again, and follow along with the audio playback and good lord do I catch so many more mistakes. For some reason, when I read my own work, I know what I want it to say and will end up mentally filling in the blanks of words I thought I typed in or used the proper tense of something. Listening to the audio playback say something that sounds off, it really helps me realize where I screwed up. Othertimes, just listening to it makes me realize a sentence or certain phrasing of things doesn't sound right.
When these errors are noticed, I can pause the playback and make the needed corrections.
5. A second pair of eyes.
Not everyone can get an editor. Sometimes not even consistently. When and if I can, I will request a review of my best attempt at a self-edit for them to look over.
6. Review their work.
After my own self-edit, GDocs looking for errors, Grammarly looking for errors, another edit by myself listening to the playback, I review the suggestions made by my editor. Lots of times its mistakes I missed because apparently I kinda suck at English. Other times it's better phrasing, or added context they will give to improve a scene.
My biggest problem is dialog, though. Some characters speak very properly, others with more relaxed concerns for proper English, and others with heavy accents and/or slang. I don't end up taking a lot of those corrections or suggestions because I want to keep my characters consistent with how they talk with each other.
7. Sit on it.
If you haven't noticed, my story is already pretty damn big. Not just big, it's full of characters doing a lot and there are a lot of moving pieces. Being able to write ahead of what I publish allows me the chance to make sure what I write doesn't break continuity or leave a plot hole. Or, just the same, writing in something new that would otherwise force me to retcon a published chapter. Something as small as mentioning something in conversation, a small act, a character making an observation, noting the change in the environment. Anything can create problems for the story.
Thankfully, doing this has yet to create a situation where a reader has hit me up with: "How were they able to do/know that if (insert error here)?"
To put things in perspective, I'm about to publish chapter 51... but I'm currently working on chapter 69 (Oh, my god, did this story ever get out of hand for me) and periodically I have to go back to make small changes or additions to an unpublished chapter to keep the story going smoothly.
Final thoughts.
I would love to put out more chapters more often, but for the story, I'm putting together, and the limited support I have at the moment, I don't feel like I can deliver the best product to do so. But, if anyone is wanting to write, I hope this helps.
Good advice you have there. I have no talent for writing myself. But if I were to write I would probably do the same things.
This is solid and straight forward advise. Thank you.
5231749
It's not always about talent. If you have a story to tell, just write it out. If it's something you want to express or share, forget the opinions of others and just do it.
5232183
Always happy to help.
Pure gold advice.