Do you edit or rewrite anything before you're finished with your first draft? I've never really thought about it before, generally I like to edit after a couple of days, but is it better to leave everything until you've finished your first draft?
Do you edit or rewrite anything before you're finished with your first draft? I've never really thought about it before, generally I like to edit after a couple of days, but is it better to leave everything until you've finished your first draft?
David, if an author does not sign post then he/she is doomed to failure. I suggest you take a look at many award winning, best selling authors books. Michael Morpurgo, Sharon Creech, Eve Ibbotson, Geraldine McCaughrean, Anne Fine, Malorie Blackman, Margret Mahy and Joanne Harris are favourite authors of mine. I could name more.They all sign post.
Two things...
1. I HATE stories that are signposted! It's the main reason I can't stand J K Rawling. I want to travel with the story - not be told where I am going before being taken there... If signposting also means that I am told where I have got to - then I would want to strangle the author and i would throw the book in the bin. I have a brain! The author should respect that... As authors we should trust our readers to keep track of the plot... And our plot shouldn't be so difficult that they need a map to follow it...
End of rant... I just do not like signposted stories - not even ones that put a twist in the end - the signposts usually manage to at least suggest that the authornis leading a false trail... GGGRRRRRR!!!!
2. Far mor practically...
Unless writing is very thoroughly planned (as some of us like to do) and we then stick rigidly within the plan - then our plots and characters are likely to develop as the writing progresses... This almost inevitably means that, even if we do not need to heavily edit, we are quite likely to have to (at least) check back and (sometimes) amend.
One particular issue that this relates to is continuity. Just keeping track of what someone is wearing, possibly where they live - in fact a possible whole host of things - can mean that we have to be very careful - and - from time-to-time we have to check back.
One thing that I do try to be disciplined about is keeping a close track of such things in a "personnel file" for each character. It is so much easier to refer to this as I go along than to have to hunt back through to check (for example) whether I said they were left or right handed.
David
Thanks for the advice! It's the only way we really can go isn't it :) but there's no harm in trying on a couple of different shoes to see which ones fit ;)