#I have to rewrite 3 parts for chapter 5 but the 1st draft is done

[ragnar0c]

I'm going to work on 1 out of 3-4 things for my birthday.

Chapter 5 of OoS and/or* the chapter 5 bonus comic

( Very likely only one of these choices. You won't see either of these if one is done before the other. But know one will be done [hopefully] unless I explode orrrr choose)

A picture of yassified Kujura with brown eyes and big earrings bc I'm madly in love with him or something.

My Zodiac sona/ a picture of myself

[n7punk]

do you find you run out of steam once you reach the halfway point of your fics or does writing the next chapter before posting the one before it help you

okay these are 2 separate things. i'll address the question and then why i write ahead/post the way i do. this is also focused on multi-chapter fics obvs, specifically long-form (5+ chapters) ones. under a cut because of length.

1) no, i don't think I have ever run out of steam in the middle, although whenever i finish a fic i'm always ready to be done with it and move onto the next project.

when i start a new fic, there is a burst of initial inspiration/excitement for the plot, world setting, etc, that makes the first few chapters (usually 2-3) come to me faster. then i kind of "settle in" to the fic and reach what i would refer to as its midpoint for inspiration and writing speed (although my personal life also effects both regardless of where i am in a project).

usually the next-to-last or last 2ish chapters are the hardest to write because at that point im looking ahead to my next project and getting excited over it, i've already written most if not all of the big moments in the fic that i was excited for, ive been on the project for a while so my interest is waning, and endings also feel weighty because i want to stick the landing so it's hard to make myself do it. this is of course variable: i was super excited for the reveal in chapter 9 of ASGNE, so i had plenty of energy for it and was only anxious about finishing things off nicely in the epilogue.

2) writing the next chapter before posting is actually an editing technique. at first i was updating every day, so writing ahead wasn't really an option and varied - i could be a few chapters ahead, or finishing it just as i posted it. then i switched to generally updating twice a week, which usually let me be at least a little ways into the next chapter (or sometimes multiple chapters ahead) when i did the final edit and posted the "current" chapter. because of this, i knew where the story was heading, if it had stuck to my outline, all the subplots that had developed, etc. it allowed me to make sure everything flowed and was foreshadowed properly, but then i abandoned the schedule.

to ensure i was always excited about what i was working on, i would post it as soon as i finished writing/editing it. i switched to finishing the rough draft of the next chapter before i posted the last one because in chapter 4 of iHTWcyn i realized there was something i wanted to do that would come out of nowhere, because it hadn't been foreshadowed in previous updates. i wrote myself into a corner, basically. i actually think that chapter came out better for it, but i realized that wouldn't always be the case, so i switched to my current method.

now, i do the rough draft of the 1st chapter, and then if i feel unhappy with it/a scene, etc, i go back and work on editing/rewriting those parts until i feel like it just needs a final edit. at this point, i move onto the 2nd chapter and do my rough draft of it, once again only fixing anything glaring. i then go back and do the final edit of the 1st chapter and post it. often, to carry on the story's momentum, i'll then reread and do a first pass edit of the 2nd chapter and just keep going when i reach the end, starting to write the rough draft of the 3rd chapter. after that is done, i do the final edit of and post the 2nd chapter, etc, repeating until the end of the fic. most chapters get multiple editing passes (i also usually start a writing day by rereading from the beginning of the chapter, editing a bit as i go, until i reach the end of what i wrote and begin writing again). often, i wait until ive done the first rough draft of both the next-to-last and final chapter before i post the second-to-last chapter to make sure the finale comes together as well.

holding onto one chapter allows me to go back and adjust for any story changes that took place while writing the next chapter (i outline most of my fics to a degree, but im a plantser when it comes down to it and i always leave myself open to changing or adding a plot based on how the fic is developing or new ideas i have). it helps the final product be better, and since im only one ahead (usually), i don't start losing motivation because it's not going to be that long before people see what im working on. holding back more also would start getting confusing, especially in longer fics. when i get even two chapters ahead, going back and doing the final edit of the "current" chapter can get confusing because i forget where the characters are at in the story, when they know already, what was "recently" said in the chapter before, etc (i was two chapters ahead in knifepoint for a bit and had this issue, though that ended up working out in my favor when i got sick and couldn't write for awhile).

[ryesnatcher]

SOFT AS A PSALM IS SO WELL WRITTEN PLEASE FINISH IT AT SOME POINT 😭😭😭

♥️♥️💀♥️ thank u so much!! If it means anything these messages have fueled me to rewrite everything I was hating in what I wrote of part 3!

However! I have officially reached a final draft of chapters 3-5 and I actually like them??? Once I've done the grammar check and editing I'll be posting it next week! As a bonus I'm posting chapter 4 on December 1st!

Love u so much anonym, and I hope u enjoy the next chapters as much as I have enjoyed rewriting them!!!!

[mimzy-writing-online]

Hi there! I am making my first draft of one of my wild and I’m writing on my computer. I try not to edit while drafting (only if it’s like a major plot whole. But my question is - I guess it’s a question - I see people say they have four or five drafts and I was wandering why? Like are they all different of just evolutions of the same story. I feel like as soon as I’m done writing and start to edit I would do it all in the same file. Thanks for the help already

Hi Anon! Funny you should ask, I’ve been meaning to write a series of guides for the drafting process and have been procrastinating it [and then vowed to myself that I’d write them this coming month as part of my August goals] So here’s a quick explanation:

When people talk about multiple drafts, they’re talking about the editing process. So calling them evolutions would be very accurate, they’re evolved, better versions of what came before.

And drafts should all be separate files. The reason for this is because a lot of things tend to get deleted between drafts and you don’t want to lose them forever. I made the mistake of editing everything on the same document with one of my wips and lost a lot of scenes or small moments in a scene that might have been used somewhere else, or just been nice to go back and reread to see what I originally envisioned. 

I’ll break down what each draft is.

Rough draft: This is the first time getting the words on paper, just writing as much of your wip as possible. It will be rough, messy, sloppy, full of plot holes, typos, and stale prose. That’s what you want. The rough draft is allowed to be sloppy because you want to get your wip written as fast as possible.

“The rough draft is to make it exist on paper. The first draft is to make it nice.”

“You can edit a terrible book, you can’t edit a blank page”

These are some key advice phrases to keep in mind when writing the rough draft. I struggled with the first half of my most recent rough draft because I was ignoring that advice. When I started listening, I got through my rough draft much faster.

I’m currently working on my 1st draft of A Witch’s Memory, but I have edited a full novel to the point of it having five separate drafts, and I’m using that experience as a guide for what I’ll do with A Witch’s Memory as I continue to edit.

I’m going to talk about my process after the rough draft, how I personally do it.

After the rough draft, take a notebook and read your story all the way through. You’ll take notes of where you find plot holes, where you think improvements could be made, how to make a scene or chapter better. Notes for the editing stage basically.

First draft: Take all your notes and your rough draft and put them to the side. You’re going to start a brand new word document. You’re going to take your rough draft and rewrite it word by word. It’s tedious, and it seems to take forever, but it will make huge improvements on your story. All the basics of your story will still be there, like plotline and characters and important scenes, but they’ll be written better, with nicer prose and better sentence structure because now you can take your time.

Second draft: After you finish your first draft, make a copy of it on your computer and rename it the second draft. This way you can work on the second draft without altering the first, and without having to reenter everything word by word. You’re going to edit prose and sentence structure there, making it sound even better.

For some people, they only have 2-3 drafts, others 4-6, and some have more. I personally aim for a rough draft and 5 drafts after that.

If you’re writing a story with multiple 1st person point of views, I would make one of your drafts focus on this step (probably the 3rd draft) In this draft you’ll focus on one character’s POVs and edit those. Your focus is to make sure the character’s personal voice is unique and consistent, and that they stay in character. Do that for all the characters so that they have a unique voice. 

At the end of your editing process, you need to have a full grammar edit. This is just going through your story with a fine toothed comb and making sure everything is grammatically correct. If this is a novel you’re sending to a literary agent, editing it yourself is perfectly fine. If this is something you’re self publishing, you need to hire a professional editor. If this is something you’re posting online for fun, you don’t need to worry so much about editing, you can edit yourself with less stress.

[merigreenleaf]

WIP Rambles Thing

It's been forever since I did any tag games, so I'm super excited that @bluemartlet tagged me in this! And @toboldlywrite asked to be tagged, too. I feel like such a weird writer, though, because everything I’ve worked on in the past five years has been the same series. So I guess if you forgot about dorks, here’s dorks! (There’s info about the characters here or here if you’re on mobile.)

1. Colorweaver (rewriting/editing the guh... 4th draft? Parts have been rewritten six times, but some parts only twice, so I guess that averages to a 4th?) Genre: These are all the same comedic contemporary high fantasy series POV: 3rd person close/limited, multiple POV; in the current draft there are 3 (Adair, Blythe, Dray) plus letters/journal entries from Rosalie Blurb: Adair Cerulean is an amateur cartographer with the ability to make his drawings have the semblance of life. Like the other creators who possess magic and channel this through art, Adair is a Weaver. Adair is in the process of working on the project that, once complete, would advance him in rank when he discovers it missing! As its new owner seeks out more Weavers, Adair feels a tug from his creation to follow. This pull leads him to a carnival where he meets a healer standing guard over a stricken performer. It turns out that his thief is more than a mere robber and there’s more at stake than just a stolen map. Will Adair get it back and stop the thief before anyone else is hurt?

2. Sentinel (writing the 3rd draft, but technically there have been 6 versions; the others were detailed outlines. This has been hard to nail down!) POV: Ditto; POVs are Adair, Blythe, Firedrake, and Rosalie who gets normal chapters in this one. Blurb: Adair has recovered his stolen map and acquired a new family who will -- with luck and a lack of imps -- protect him in the future. His elation is short-lived, however. The other artists refuse to accept his choice of sentinel-intended or his desire to help as magic in the capital city begins to go awry. When an enemy thought to be defeated returns to team up with someone from Adair's past, he and his family start receiving cryptic advice seemingly from the future. Caught between past and present, and hoping they don’t muck up said future, the dorks must decide how far they’re willing to defy authority, their own arcane training, and calendars.

3. Untitled (brainstorming 1st draft) POV: Ditto, although by this point I might throw in a 5th and add Camille into the mix. This book snuck into a previously-planned trilogy a few months ago so it’s the newcomer of this quartet. Blurb: Adair has been begrudgingly promoted and is now able to practice his cartography wherever he chooses. The dorks, along with their fledgling carnival troupe, are asked to travel to the neighboring country to check for anyone showing signs of magic. This is a cover to hide their real task of investigating the possible source of the arcane glitches happening back home in Concordia. They soon find out that Galanvoth’s plotting goes deeper than anyone thought. It’s up to the dorks to do their own kind of bizarre plotting involving disguises and a fake marriage trope to get to the truth. Will they be able to uncover the people responsible before the magical disruption turns into permanent damage to their home?

4. Iconoclasm (first draft started, but needs to be massively re-outlined) POV: Ditto and I have no idea who else might be joining by this point lol Blurb: As if the previous assignment wasn’t weird enough, a being straight out of history approaches the artists with a plea. There's trouble in his home and he asks that the help he once gave be returned. His only requirement is that the dorks be the ones sent, much to their dismay. Three of them are fugitives and Montglace doesn't exactly embrace outsiders with open arms. Fortunately there's a resistance brewing and those rebels are more than happy to accept strangers into their midst-- at least until they realize how strange said strangers are. When the dorks are forced apart, they begin to realize that they can never truly be separated. If they can find a way to weave their magics into each other and face their greatest fears, they just might be able to help bring down a stagnant and cruel mythos. And hey, if they can do this, facing their own people to tell them that they kinda broke artisan tradition (again) and mucked with magic (again) won’t be nearly as bad, right?

I have two more under the read more. :)

5. Shadowweaver (book 1 in the next trilogy. 1st draft is sorta started-- it was originally part of Sentinel before I pulled Gilly’s subplot out of it and moved her later in the series) POV: Still 3rd person limited, multiple. Likely Gilly, Grandeau, and Astra, but this trilogy is weird because it takes place in two points on the timeline with one of the MCs serving as a bridge and I’m not sure yet how much of Astra’s plot fits into the first book. (I introduced Gilly, Chell, and Ametrine here. Ametrine is the dorks’ adopted son, Astra is his younger sister [not adopted], and Grandeau is Gilly’s brother although she doesn’t know that yet.) Blurb: Gilly is a carnival performer, thief, and ghost-freer who shares these jobs with her roommate/best friend Ametrine. While the two of them are tracking down art that was illegally gained by a dishonest art dealer, the dealer’s sister catches Gilly in the act. She gets away, but is intrigued by this girl whose weak voice is oddly captivating. She finds herself drawn back and soon discovers that while Chantrell is confined in her own home, she isn’t as sick as she appears, nor is she as dead as people seem to think she is. Gilly is determined to find out the truth and, with Ametrine’s help, set her new friend free.

6. Sciamachy (book 2 in the next trilogy, brainstorming) Blurb: Chantrell has joined Gilly and Ametrine on their thieving and ghost hunting adventures; with her magical ability to produce any sound, Chell is the perfect distraction for the others’ heists. It’s during one of these encounters that Gilly notices a shadow that shouldn’t be there. Meanwhile Astra, twenty years in the future, notices the same thing. Someone or something is trying to reach out to the girls using the shadow magic they both share. Could this be connected to the elementals that Astra has discovered are being used to power Galanvoth’s inventions?

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I have other stories in progress or in the planning stages, but those are short stories, so I didn’t include them here. I have ideas for way more books because my plan is to make this a huge sprawling series that spans centuries and locations (and possibly worlds). Like I want to write one about the founding of Concordia and the Muses and my immortal character back when she was very young, and maybe more following that character at different points on the timeline, and one that follows the “antagonist” of Colorweaver, and... well, I’ve been working on this series for five years and I’d gladly work on it for another fifty. :D 

I’m not sure if you’ve done this yet, but I’m going to tag @lynnafred @elliot-orion @lady-redshield-writes @homesteadhorner @perringwrites @joshuaorrizonte @thatwriternamedvolk @theguildedtypewriter and anyone else who happens to see this and wants to play because I’ve been gone WAY too long and I need a recap on what everyone is working on. So if you’ve done this before or have a similar post already shared, feel free to link me to it or tag me in it. No need to do a tag game, I just would love reminders of what everyone is writing. <3