Blasting Through Vs. Getting It Right

[dr_mabeuse]

Another thread asking about an opening paragraph made me wonder about this: how do you write? Do you tend to blast your way through a story from start to finish and then go back and edit and revise or do you have to get it right from the start and polish each paragraph as you go along?

I tend to be a blaster. In fact, I've trained myself to ignore my opening paragraphs altogether when I start writing, knowing I'll come bck to them. But then, I often start a story having only the foggiest notion of what's going to happen in it, so it makes no sense for me to try and get it right before a first draft is finished.

--Zoot

 

[impressive]

<---- So NOT a blaster.

 

[Vermilion]

Come back and polish it after it's finished... Usuall clear up the really mega blips as I go, though.
x
V

 

[neonlyte]

I blast through... but that first para I find easy to cut and really difficult to get right once the story is written.

I tend to overwrite and distilling the essence of what I want from the verbage sometimes leaves me frozen like the proverbial rabbit in the headlights. The longer you stare at it, the less sure you can be of what to cut and what to leave.

I rarely, if ever, return to earlier drafts. I'm sure ruin lies in that direction

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I write the entire story first. I usually don't write in a linear fashion, but tend to jump around a lot as I write. I've never really thought about my opening paragraphs, they are what they are.

ETA: I'm not a literay writer, I don't try to find the perfect word, or phrase. I just try to tell a story. I don't try to polish my work, I just try to make it error free.

 

[raphy]

ut then, I often start a story having only the foggiest notion of what's going to happen in it, so it makes no sense for me to try and get it right before a first draft is finished.

--Zoot

I never know what's going to happen in my stories. I define my characters, put them into a sticky situation and then let them figure their way out

 

[3113]

I tend to be a blaster. In fact, I've trained myself to ignore my opening paragraphs altogether when I start writing, knowing I'll come bck to them. But then, I often start a story having only the foggiest notion of what's going to happen in it, so it makes no sense for me to try and get it right before a first draft is finished.

How about inbetween? The worst of both worlds, I suppose. I don't know what's going to happen, and I usually blast my way through the first third, and then realize I can't blast any farther until I go back and fix things. Edit, cut, rewrite. Get some new explosives and tools because the old ones aren't going to work anymore.

It's a bitch. I do not recommend this method. It'd be a lot better if I could blast till the end or just chip away carefully.

 

[cloudy]

<---- So NOT a blaster.

Me neither. I just can't leave a paragraph, sentence, word, whatever, alone and keep going. I have to fix it, or just stop writing.

That's why I have so much trouble with NaNo.

 

[jomar]

Blaster

I havn't been writing long, but I'm definitely a blaster. I plow through it editing on the fly. As I'm writing I also notice text I know I'll come back and change. I don't write long stories, but I have a basic idea and my stories take shape as I write.

jomar

 

[Carnevil9]

In the words of Curly Howard, "I'd blast!"

I blast through to the end, often at a sitting. I generally have the story arc in my head before I sit down to type. But I leave lots of holes, TBDs, XXXs, which need to be filled in later on a "polishing pass." Not because I'm not sure of the story, but just because I don't want to stop and think of the perfect word at the moment. I might lose my momentum.

But that's just me. I don't know if it's a good method or not!......Carney

 

[scriptordelecto]

How about inbetween? The worst of both worlds, I suppose. I don't know what's going to happen, and I usually blast my way through the first third, and then realize I can't blast any farther until I go back and fix things. Edit, cut, rewrite. Get some new explosives and tools because the old ones aren't going to work anymore.

It's a bitch. I do not recommend this method. It'd be a lot better if I could blast till the end or just chip away carefully.

Hmmmm...Are you sure we aren't twins? I do exactly the same thing! Sigh...

 

[3113]

Hmmmm...Are you sure we aren't twins? I do exactly the same thing! Sigh...

This is getting mighty suspicious. I'm working on the theory of time travel. I just haven't figured out which one of us is the future self....

 

[scriptordelecto]

I blast through to the end, often at a sitting. I generally have the story arc in my head before I sit down to type. But I leave lots of holes, TBDs, XXXs, which need to be filled in later on a "polishing pass." Not because I'm not sure of the story, but just because I don't want to stop and think of the perfect word at the moment. I might lose my momentum.

But that's just me. I don't know if it's a good method or not!......Carney

Don't thinks there's such a thing as a good or bad method. If it works for you, then it's a good method for you. That's what's great about writing!

 

[scriptordelecto]

This is getting mighty suspicious. I'm working on the theory of time travel. I just haven't figured out which one of us is the future self....

Or the evil twin..... Oh, wait...that'd be me!

 

[3113]

Or the evil twin..... Oh, wait...that'd be me!

Have to be "More evil twin" in our case

 

[scriptordelecto]

Have to be "More evil twin" in our case

Laughs maniacally!!!!! Bwahahahah!

 

[Selena_Kitt]

<-----blaster

 

[rgraham666]

In between for me.

Sometimes I blast, sometimes I fiddle, sometimes both at the same time.

Not doing much of either these days.

 

[Liar]

Quoting myself from a thread ages ago. Somewhat related...

I just got hold of Daniel Chandler's "The Act Of Writing" as a part of a basic course in jornalism I'm attending. Never heard of those writing strategies he talks about before, but they seem to make sense to me.

I'm definitely a water-colourist. I have the whole thing planned in my head when I start to type, and my characters does not "get a life of their own and take over". Nothing unplanned happens in the plot (How can it, when I decide what happens?). If a story turns out to have flaws, illogic plot or something, I can't correct it while I write, it's make or break every time. I never write down notes, and I almost never make any more revisions than to correct spelling and language.

What kind of writers are you? How does a story of yours come into being?

------------

Writing Strategies

[Ali] Wyllie (1993) surveyed student and academic writers to learn about the writing strategies they used. She categorised five main strategies and gave them names associated with creative or construction occupations.

Water-colourist
Architect
Bricklayer
Sketcher
Oil painter

'Water-colourists’
They start writing with the end result clearly in their minds. They think hard about what they going to say and make mental plans about the structure. They then work continuously and sequentially until the job is done, with few pauses or revisions. They rarely lose sight of the ‘big picture’ as they write. Only a small percentage of the respondents were in this category!

‘Architects’
They made detailed plans first, usually with chapter or section headings to guide them. They write a first draft, usually in a sequential way, starting with chapter 1, but sometimes starting with the easiest section. They then continually review and revise their work until satisfied with it. They rarely correct as they go along, preferring instead to leave it until they have completed the first draft.

‘Bricklayers’
They don’t always have a big picture in their minds when they start writing, but more likely a series of ideas and points they want to make. They start with one idea and build up the text sentence by sentence, revising each until they are happy with it. Their revision is predominantly at a small scale, sentence or paragraph level, rather than with the text as a whole. The big picture emerges slowly in the process, with ideas emerging sequentially and gradually

‘Sketchers’
They usually produce rough plans that organise text under broad headings, though these might be abandoned once they begin to write. They are flexible in their writing, usually writing in a linear and sequential way, from introduction onward, but sometimes starting with an easy section. They revise frequently, both to the meaning, grammar, spelling and ordering of the text, both during the
writing and after, until they are satisfied with it.

‘Oil-painter’
They write by discovery and never have a complete picture in their minds when they start. They start off by jotting down a few ideas as they occur and organise these later. They begin writing sometimes with a rough plan, but often not. They jump into the text anywhere they feel comfortable or at the easiest part and go backwards andforwards from there. Their work is subject to much revision and they may correct as they go along, but generally do this later.

I guess that puts me straight in the getting-it-right fold.

 

[scriptordelecto]

Quoting myself from a thread ages ago. Somewhat related...


I guess that puts me straight in the getting-it-right fold.

I think I fall more under the Oil Painter category.

 

[R. Richard]

I would rather call myself a voyager. I never use an outline. I write the story and let my characters develop themselves as I go. Once I have a stroy written, I try to go back and polish it up a bit.

 

[Stella_Omega]

According to Liar's list, then, I'm mostly a sketcher. that description makes it sound easy, though- as if the method actually works...

It does on smaller stories, but I really feel that I need to learn some "architectural" skills if I'm going to write to my own highest standards.

 

[damppanties]

How about inbetween? The worst of both worlds, I suppose. I don't know what's going to happen, and I usually blast my way through the first third, and then realize I can't blast any farther until I go back and fix things. Edit, cut, rewrite. Get some new explosives and tools because the old ones aren't going to work anymore.

It's a bitch. I do not recommend this method. It'd be a lot better if I could blast till the end or just chip away carefully.

Me too.

 

[SimonBrooke]

According to Liar's list, then, I'm mostly a sketcher. that description makes it sound easy, though- as if the method actually works...

It does on smaller stories, but I really feel that I need to learn some "architectural" skills if I'm going to write to my own highest standards.

I think I was a sketcher or even an oil painter fifteen years ago. And the result was a series of wrecks of novel length pieces where the plot is broken and really isn't rescueable. So now I'm an architect. I have a provisional plan and I know where I'm going - but it's contingent and subject to revision.

 

[sweetnpetite]

The only thing consistant about me is my inconsistancy. So sometimes I blast and sometimes I don't.

I think blasting usually gets better results, but sometimes I just can't.