Perfectionist, Plougher or Plodder?

[Guest]

What kind of writer are you?

Do you analyse and critically sweat over every single sentence?

Do you just write and go with the flow, ploughing on, only looking back over what you've written until after you've got the story out of your head and onto "paper"?

Do you plod along, at a steady pace, with no great speed or enthusiasm, but not with much of a critical eye, either?

Anything different?

I ask this now, because with NaNoWriMo looming and many here taking part, it's something that some seem to be thinking about.

Me? I'm a plougher. Seems to work, but god, do I hate the editing process!?

Lou

 

[English Lady]

fellow Plougher here I just write as i'm inspired, very rarely know how osmething is going to end but I HATE Editing!

 

[lucky-E-leven]

75% Plougher/25% Perfectionist

I love to write in long blocks and think the flow benefits from this, but when I go back and edit, the perfectionist comes out and hacks it all to shit sometimes.

~lucky

I really, really, really want to do NaNo this year, but am having serious doubts about time allotments with school and what not.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I just let it allout, getin ginto the flow and followng it to it's end. Seems to work for me :0

-Colly

 

[cloudy]

Perfectionist here. Guess that's why it takes me so damn long to get a story finished, and why I feel so drained afterwards.

 

[neonlyte]

I've settled into writing a stream then heavy editing.

Did first draft edits of 5 chapters this weekend, that required substantially restructuring, only one chapter emerged relatively unscathed.

I find it better to write fairly loosely then to spend the time editing striving for some kind of 'perfection' in the way in which the language is used as well as coherence within the story.

But there are exceptions, my Halloween entry was written on Saturday morning, it has the highest score of any story I've posted on Lit, though reduced by two x 1 votes after it reached the mandatory 10, Laurel has been informed.

I'm currently writing between 2000 and 3000 words a day and did a 7400 word draft chapter in an eighteen hour stint last week. That draft was developed from an initial 'sketch' of the chapter of about 1200 words.

From my experience, my draft chapters tend to double in size once I work through the editing process, it is a case of adding and subtracting, I find the drafts convey the essence but lack the detail that brings the story to life.

 

[gauchecritic]

Well, by your definitions I'm a perfectionist.

I edit on the fly, I know when it doesn't sound or feel right so it just doesn't get typed. If it does get typed it gets changed before I finish the next paragraph.

I think I probably read my stuff about 20 times whilst in the process. Cup of tea? re-read the last paragraph. Light a cig? re-read the last paragraph. Start the day? re-read the last paragraph.

Probably takes a lot longer to write this way but I rarely edit after writing 'The End'

Gauche

 

[MLyons]

I'm all three, depending on which stage of writing the story I happen to be in.

I'm not saying anything about how others work... just how I work:

There's no point in being a perfectionist on the first draft. My first drafts are crap. My second drafts are usually crap too.

At these stages I'm usually either "ploughing" or "plodding" just trying to get the general feelings and sequence of events right.

By the third draft things start to become a little less like crap, and I can start actually paying attention to specific language--concentrating on really showing the story and getting rid of all those tell-y things that I shamelessly wrote (more for my benefit than anyone elses) in earlier drafts.

By the seventh or eighth revision and beyond, I'm all "perfectionist" all the time. When I feel the story is absolutely as good as I can write it given my current abilities, that's when it gets posted. That way, no matter how it's received, I have no regrets and no second thoughts about the choices I made or the effort I put in.

That's just me though. So after it's all said and done, I suppose I'm a perfectionist.

 

[Guest]

 

[shereads]

Podiatrist.

 

[R. Richard]

Actually all of the above.

Sometines the story just seems to write itself and I am sort of an observer.

Sometimes I have to search and search for the path the story wants to take.

I always edit moy work, often to later re-read it and find that I have missed major things.

It is a learning process.

 

[Liar]

Perfectionist here. Guess that's why it takes me so damn long to get a story finished, and why I feel so drained afterwards.

Me too. Obsessing over tiny little details that noone else is going to give a toss about anyway is my favourite hobby.

But more than anything, I'm a major league Procrastinator.

#L

 

[Guest]

Perfectionist, but I enjoy it. My 'style' is somewhat like Gauche's except for the rhythm. I edit and rewrite as soon as I begin a piece. When I reread and there's no more to think on than a comma, or placement of an adverb, then I know I'm done.

But, with serious work I leave it a few weeks or months and reread afresh for the final editing.

Perdita

 

[oggbashan]

Ploughing perfectionist - I write at high speed but edit drafts as I go then return to re-edit, polish, and hack about.

Even then I miss typos that are complete words or give speeches to the wrong people - because you can't SEE your own errors - you read what you think you wrote not what you actually did write.

I ploughed through last year's NaNoWriMo at high speed, did a rough edit before posting on Lit and then left the story alone.

The more I polish, the worse the rating.

Og

 

[Guest]

Hmmm, some interesting replies here. Thanks for the input, everyone.

Upon further reflection, I guess I'm a ploughing perfectionist, as others have stated they are. I whizz through the initial writing of the story (when I'm not finding reasons or excuses not to, i.e. procrastinating), but then go over the story with a very critical eye afterwards, especially longer pieces, and then get sick to death of editing the damn thing. I find I hardly ever have to touch short stories, it's the novels that take it out of me.

Why do we do it?

Because we love it really.

Lou

 

[Belegon]

Ogg's post is very close to my style in some ways...I tend to wait on my muse and then it just flows for several minutes or, if I am lucky, several hours. Then I reread it. Then I hand it to my best friend and get her opinions. On occasion I will ask for opinions from a couple of litsters.

My best stuff seems to be written over the course of two or three long sessions, usually a few days apart.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

There was an American painter named Albert Pinkham Ryder who could work on a paiting for 10-20 years. Even after the work was sold and someone had it hanging on their wall he'd sometimes astonish them by showing up with brushes and paint to touch it up just a little.

I can relate to that. I'm a perfectionist. As soon as I've written the second sentence, I'm already back editing the first.

Usually I write in pretty long slugs, but while writing I'll scroll back a couple of pages and start editing. Then everytime I open the piece up I have to edit it and tweak it a little. I'm never satisfied. I finally submit it when I can't stand to have it around any longer or when I realize that I'm starting to pick it to pieces.

---dr.M.

 

[fogbank]

I'm a chronic plougher. Plough through a first draft, print it up, and then retype/rewrite in a second ploughing. And repeat until it's perfect (which never happens, so I never actually finish anything; but it does usually get better with each additional ploughing).

 

[rgraham666]

Ploughing perfectionist.

I bounce back and forth writing and editing at the same time. Seems to work for me.

I'm trying to add plodder to my repertoire. I don't write often enough so I'm trying to get into the habit of writing everyday.

I just wish i could come up with an idea for a novel. Short stories seem to be the best I can do so far.