Drafts
I used to think that you could sit down, write a story, and have that be the final product. No more.
The first clue came in school. Teachers would make me write a draft, hand that in, and then edit to produce a final version. I'm sure you're all familiar with the process. I think it's part of the state standards here in Colorado. Sometimes they'd even have us do an outline and hand that in as well. I never really liked that. My writing process was somewhat different--I edited as I went. When I trained for my job at the Writing Center, I learned about the many ways to approach a paper. There's no "correct" method for it. Some people produce drafts, others don't (often because of time constraints). In my case, editing as I go is a good strategy for academic papers.
But there's something about short stories that demands multiple drafts. I'm wondering what the distinguishing feature is. I can't see what needs changing in a story unless I set it aside and come back to it later. Then I can approach the language and the structure as a more objective reader; there's some distance between me and the work. Awkward sentences jump out, and inconsistencies come right to the surface. I can make the changes that I need to make. The only thing is that I never know when to stop! I could probably go on drafting forever. It would be so nice to just work, produce something, and have that be that. But alas.
What is your writing process? Do you write multiple drafts? And most importantly: How do you know when to quit?
The first clue came in school. Teachers would make me write a draft, hand that in, and then edit to produce a final version. I'm sure you're all familiar with the process. I think it's part of the state standards here in Colorado. Sometimes they'd even have us do an outline and hand that in as well. I never really liked that. My writing process was somewhat different--I edited as I went. When I trained for my job at the Writing Center, I learned about the many ways to approach a paper. There's no "correct" method for it. Some people produce drafts, others don't (often because of time constraints). In my case, editing as I go is a good strategy for academic papers.
But there's something about short stories that demands multiple drafts. I'm wondering what the distinguishing feature is. I can't see what needs changing in a story unless I set it aside and come back to it later. Then I can approach the language and the structure as a more objective reader; there's some distance between me and the work. Awkward sentences jump out, and inconsistencies come right to the surface. I can make the changes that I need to make. The only thing is that I never know when to stop! I could probably go on drafting forever. It would be so nice to just work, produce something, and have that be that. But alas.
What is your writing process? Do you write multiple drafts? And most importantly: How do you know when to quit?