Is it a bad idea to write and edit chapter by chapter?
I am beginning to write original novels after writing fanfictions and posting them online for about six years. My usual process is: write chapter, edit chapter, post chapter, repeat. This means that once I reach the end, there is very little editing left to do (I think!) because each chapter is edited as I write it. At the end I do an overall edit of the story as a whole, but it's often a very short phase. I usually have a good outline before I begin and the stories aren't very complicated, so I've never had any consistency issues using this method and have never had to rewrite the entire thing. My works vary in length, some novel-length (90,000 - 150,000 words) and some more like novellas (~30,000 words). So far this technique has worked fine for both.
However, I'm avoiding this technique for the new stories I'm writing because I think that it would improve my writing to have a more obvious editing phase and draft/rewrite process. I also think it's potentially disastrous if huge edits are needed at the end because I'll end up being too attached to the bits that need to be scrapped.
I'd like to find some middle ground, but not sure if I should just scrap this method entirely. In an attempt to break the habit, I completed NanoWrimo last year, but now the rewrite process seems so colossal that I just can't bear to go back to it.
I was wondering if this edit-as-you-go method is a common way to write (from reading other questions and answers on here, it doesn't seem to be)? Is it definitely to be avoided, and why?
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/27918. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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A story is an experience, but it is an experience in which all the threads of that experience point at something, like the pattern the iron filings assume around the head of a magnet.
If you have a very strong sense of how the magnetic fields of your story align, then I think you are in a position to write each chapter and immediately edit it to tweak its alignment to the pattern that is clearly in your head.
But if you as yet have only a vague idea of how the overall magnetic field of your story is shaped, then I suspect there will be little value in tweaking each chapter as you write it. You won't have any strong sense of what you are aligning it to.
This distinction is not the plotter/pantser distinction that Thomas describes. Someone in search of the magnetic field of their story could search for it by exploring the terrain in detail by writing chapters or they could do it by attempting to make a map of the terrain in the form of an outline. Either way, they are searching for the magnetic field.
I find that in some pieces of writing (and I think this applies to fiction and nonfiction alike) the magnetic field of the piece is clear to me from the start, and for other pieces it may take many drafts before I find it. Thus I think a chapter by chapter edit may make sense for one piece, where the magnetic field is clear, and make no sense at all when it is not. When it is not, it makes more sense to hack away at the writing -- or even to switch back and forth from outlining to writing -- until you start to feel the pull of the magnetic field.
So I don't think this is inherently about the habits of different writers, I think it is about the nature of different ideas.
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I was wondering if this edit-as-you-go method is a common way to write (from reading other questions and answers on here, it doesn't seem to be)? Is it definitely to be avoided, and why?
I write fanfic (and originals) too and I also edit in a similar way. It's true: it's not common. In fact, I feel pretty lonely in my approach. But it works for me, so I'm not thinking of abandoning it anytime soon.
Likewise, if you feel comfortable with that approach, don't change it (which doesn't mean you can't try a different approach to see if you're even more comfortable with it). Do try to perfect your approach though.
Let me present my approach so you can see whether you identify yourself with it and whether it can give you ideas to perfect your own.
I'm a perfectionist and I cannot move on to the next chapter until I feel that what I have has the right tone, that the plot is moving in a tight rhythm and that the characters are behaving and evolving realistically. I don't know if that's why you edit chapter by chapter but, for me, if I don't go over the chapter and look for potential problems and fix them, the idea that I might be writing the new chapter in a wrong direction actually brings on a writer's block.
When I write fanfiction, I do not upload any chapters until the entire story is written, though. That way I can always go back and further adjust little problems I hadn't yet noticed and, if need be, I can even decide to scrap an entire chapter. Moreover, as new ideas develop, I can go back and add foreshadowing (eg. I decide later on a character has a nervous tick, so I can go back and add the gesture in previous chapters).
My advise is for you to keep the approach of 'write chapter' > 'edit chapter', but as you move on to new chapters do not think you can't go back and further edit them. The first edit is usually making sure the foundation for the next chapter is as stable as possible by getting rid of big problems. A later edit is usually getting rid of small problems.
I also advise you to get a thick skin: you do need to be able to scrap unnecessary events if they do not advance the story or if they aren't natural developements (it may be cute for the shy girl to explode and passionately say everything she's thinking to her crush only to revert to type the next day but... is that really likely? Perhaps the explosion should be toned down to a one sentence slip that leaves her embarrassed to death). Keep them on a 'scrapped folder' (I used to do it all the time) so that you don't have to agonise over destroying something you enjoy reading. In time, it becomes easier and we start saving less of the scrapped material.
An important particularity of my approach is that, as I move on to chapter 8, I'm still going back to re-read chapters 2 and 3 and so on. If I start getting fed up with something, it's because it's not quite right and needs to be fixed. You see, reading an event over and over kills the excitement of 'this is so cool' and then you can see the flaws underneath. This 'second editing' is when I sometimes scrap an entire chapter and make sure that the new version makes a better bridge between the previous and the following one. Or it's when I scrap a few chapters in a row.
Adding this step to your own process may help improving your stories without waiting to get to the last chapter to go back for a massive rewrite. If you rewrite half-way, rather than at the end, you still have that urge to end the story to help you make it through the rewrite. Also, if you find the problem early on, you'll have less to rewrite.
However, you cannot get hung up on re-reading past chapters. You've written chapter 12, you've edited it. Now plan the next chapter and write it. When it's over go back to chapter 8 and read them all in one go till chapter 13. Edit it. Plan the next chapter and write it. And so on till it's all done.
If you start getting doubts about the story, don't get into re-reading it over and over. Stop and make diagrams, plot graphics, evaluate how the characters are growing, verify if plot and subplots are well balanced, make sure the archs are well drawn out, check the timeline, make sure everyone has the right motivation. But do it on the side in order to get away from the written part and identify the problem. Once you've identified it, go back and rewrite what needs to be rewritten to fix it.
I hope I've given you ideas to develop your own method. Good writings!
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27922. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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The only bad ideas are the ones which stop you from finishing the book.
Write and edit if you like. Write halfway and edit. Write the whole thing blindfolded. Write only at night, or only during a full moon. Write in the morning and edit in the evening, or vice-versa. There are no restrictions.
If the thought of editing an entire book at once makes you panic, but editing one chapter at a time is easy, congratulations! You have found the method which works for you. Stick to it.
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Writer Preference
You'll find that a lot of the 'rules' of writing can be boiled down to what works for you. There are different ways to write. When giving advice, writers tend to assume you write the way they do, and offer rules for that method. Those 'rules' might work for them, but not for you. So it always comes down to writer preference.
For example, some writers (in my opinion, most) write on the fly. I call these writers discovery writers, or pantsers (as they write 'by the seat of their pants'). They get a general direction for the story, and then write it out. They wait a week, scrap everything they didn't like, and write it again. Repeat a few times, edit, and you have a novel (disclaimer: highly simplified). These people don't want to edit chapter by chapter, and neither should they. It interrupts the flow of writing. It removes them from the story. That can be disastrous for a writer.
A different kind of writer plans out their novel extensively beforehand. They get a very detailed outline, they develop their characters, they work on the plot, and then they start writing. I call these writers plotters, and it sounds like you might be one to some extent. I am as well. For plotters, it can be a good idea to edit chapter by chapter, making sure everything is fitting where you know it should go. Make sure you included everything in chapter B that you needed. If you find the flow of the story is going somewhere else and you like the direction it's taking, you might want to go back to your outline and see if you should rework some things.
But again, it simply comes down to what works for you.
I will say that you should always go through the whole thing when it's written, at least once. No matter how simple the story, you will find things that need some fine-tuning. Bits of dialogue won't match up, you'll find loose ends you didn't realize were there, and sometimes facts will outright contradict each other.
Plotter vs. Pantser
If you are a plotter (and I suspect you are), then do not assume you need to write the drafts of a pantser. Writing drafts is an automatic part of writing for a lot of people, but plotters are different. When we create an outline and go over and over it, we are creating a very rough draft. The more times we go through it and tweak things, the more we are narrowing down those first few drafts. When we finally start writing, we have a very good idea of where we are headed and how to get there. The most rewriting you will have to do is removing/adding/redoing a few chapters. But not the whole thing.
The reason for this is simple. When a pantser writes, they have only a very general idea of the story. They write to discover the story (hence the term discovery writer). Their first few drafts are there simply to figure out the plot, get familiar with the characters, and determine motivations and such. As a plotter, you've already done this.
All that being said, if you feel you need to rewrite the whole thing, do not hesitate to do so. There is always going to be a difference between how things play out in your head, and how they actually happen on paper. It could very well be that you have to redo the outline, and then rewrite the whole thing. But this is rare.
A final note: you mentioned that you can get too attached to your writing. That is something that you need to overcome. You need to practice looking at your writing objectively, and knowing which parts are genuinely helping the story, and which parts you just want to keep around because you like them. Fearlessly cut what you have to, and fearlessly keep what helps the story.
If it helps, tell yourself that when your novel is published and successful, you can release the cut parts to your avid fans. I do it (the telling, not the releasing that is), and it hasn't failed so far.
Good luck in your endeavors!
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