[Amy RussellParticipant]

Do you plan ahead and outline or jump right in? Know where the story is going, or let it take you somewhere surprising?

Do you edit and revise as you draft or draft everything first, then go back?

The more I talk to other writers, the more I discover that every writer seems to have a different process.

[Irene SmithParticipant]

For novels I do a lot of planning and outlining. For short stories, I usually decide what the story is about, where it needs to end up, and then start writing. I try not to edit as I go but, when I’m stuck, I tend to push commas around and pick at the sentences. I do a lot of editing when I’m done. In fact, it’s not unusual for me to end up with about half as many words in the final as I had in the first draft.

[Amy RussellParticipant]

I totally agree. Making cuts is one of my favorite ways to revise! Also, in the genre of YA, I think I tend to explain too much. So then, in revisions, I tell myself, “It’s OK. Your reader will get it.”

[fairyhedgehogParticipant]

I’ve written two stories! And I’ve got a theme for the month so that should help.

I don’t plan much with stories this length (under 500 words in theory, although my first one was just over 600). In fact, I’m seeing this month as the chance to rough out a few stories that I can polish up later.

I’ve done Nanowrimo but really I’m not ready to write anything that length. When I get back to novels, if I do, I think I’ll try and plan a bit more than I used to.

[fairyhedgehogParticipant]

Oops, I didn’t see this was KidLit. Sorry. I shouldn’t be in here.

[Amy RussellParticipant]

That’s OK, fairyhedgehog!

[Kristen RuddParticipant]

I find that if I don’t plan at least a little bit, that what I write is crap. Most of last year’s Nano novel is crap. I like the story idea, but I didn’t have direction and therefore, that thing needs a lot of editing.

For this, I plan to write at night, so I’ve got all day to think about my story. That said, the story I wrote yesterday didn’t go the way I thought and had planned. Nature of the beast, I guess.

[AnyMousseMember]

I jump right into stories and let them take me places. I have never been much of a planner and I cannot count the number of times I have started a story and it went in a completely opposite direction from when I started.

[Kathrine RoidMember]

I have to outline, or I end up with a wonderful beginning and nothing else. In the past I have not been a great outliner. This is another area in which I hope Story A Day will stretch me (we need a “recovering pansters” group. . .).

I am a firm believer in drafts. No editing-as-you-go nonsense. To truly polish a story and make it gleam, you must see it as a whole. In fact, I shall unofficially declare June to be Edit A Day month. If all goes as planned (ha!) after this month I’ll have pick up the little stories I’ve left alone for a month and give them a little TLC, one a day, throughout June. Hopefully a few will be destined for publication.

[Michal KarniParticipant]

Kathrine Roid said: I have to outline, or I end up with a wonderful beginning and nothing else.
This appears to be my problem. I can run on and on but I don’t seem to get anywhere.
I’m looking on the internet when I’m not working on my Castle (duh) in Castleville, for ideas about making it more structured. It being getting a frame work to build a story on rather than just get a prompt. I hope I am making some kind of sense here. I feel stuck today, like even if I just sit down and write, I wouldn’t end up with a story, just a ramble.
I think I mostly like to write words but I haven’t really got a clue what I want to say. Or maybe I’m afraid to say it sometimes.
Okay, that’s all. I’m going to work on some kind of writing even if it never sees the light of day again.

[Author]

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