I just realized that Work in Progress comes to WIP
but Revision in Progress comes to RIP.
but Revision in Progress comes to RIP.
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Revision in Progress
- Thread starter skip.knox
- Start date
Demesnedenoir
Vala
Niiiice.
Prince of Spires
Auror
Once you see it, there's no way to unsee it...
Though I actually like revision. Or at least, I like it when I start. By the fourth or fifth pass I'm sick of it and just want to put the book out there.
Though I actually like revision. Or at least, I like it when I start. By the fourth or fifth pass I'm sick of it and just want to put the book out there.
Finchbearer
Inkling
RIP 
To my WIP, maybe it pertains to how it feels to revise.
To my WIP, maybe it pertains to how it feels to revise.
The Dark One
Auror
Fourth or fifth?
I'm probably a tad obsessive but I would do at least 200 editing passes. Oddly enough I never get sick of it until the book is published. Once it's out there I completely lose interest.
Mad Swede
Archmage
And there I am, the sort of writer who gets it down and done on the first pass - admittedly after a lot of prior thought. Perhaps dyslexia has its advantages?
- Thread starter
- #7
Some can do this in one pass. I think Georges Simenon did. Not sure about Isaac Asimov, but I wouldn't be surprised. Hemingway's description of his process sure makes it sound like he wrote in a single pass. Of those who do or did, it'd be interesting to see if there were commonalities between them.
I'd be willing to bet the no-revision writers were more common fifty or a hundred years ago, not least because many wrote for magazines and newspapers, which is to say they had to learn to write to a deadline.
I'd be willing to bet the no-revision writers were more common fifty or a hundred years ago, not least because many wrote for magazines and newspapers, which is to say they had to learn to write to a deadline.
Finchbearer
Inkling
How does your dyslexia impact your writing? Both pros and cons?
FifthView
Vala
...Yes?
- Thread starter
- #11
On the fourth revision I often find I need a fifth.
Demesnedenoir
Vala
I don't tend to do a revision as I define it. I make corrections and minor changes, perhaps adding elements here and there, but it's NOT the type of revision that a lot of authors do. I couldn't do what Malik does, for instance, without going nuts. Rewrites would put me in my grave.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
The revising process ends?
The Dark One
Auror
I think it was Hemingway who said: there's no such thing as a good first draft.
Or words to that effect...
Insolent Lad
Maester
I think the introduction of the typewriter changed the process for many writers. It's hard to revise as one goes when using one—at least harder than when writing with a pen. Then along came the word processor and made revision very simple. I was never able to compose at the typewriter and pretty much made a direct transition from pen to computer.
And then we can look at Stendahl who dictated his work aloud to a secretary, apparently straight from head to mouth, and with not much revision. I can't imagine being able to do that.
And then we can look at Stendahl who dictated his work aloud to a secretary, apparently straight from head to mouth, and with not much revision. I can't imagine being able to do that.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
I do often think of past writers and wonder how they did it. I dont think I could type a whole page error free, and on a type-writer, to have to go back and correct it? Seems an impossible task to me. I am glad it is not something I have to wrestle with. I have enough trouble fixing errors with today's stuff.
Mad Swede
Archmage
Well, my dyslexia is severe. So there's no way I can outline, write character sheets or do revisions. I can't easily edit, and I can't proof read. Writing is hard work for me, so there is a limit to how much I can write each day without getting too tired. What that means in practice is that what I write has to be right first time - and this is a discipline I learnt in the army and later developed as a staff officer. This all means I have to think through what I am going to write before I write it, so I suspect that what other authors do in the way of outlining etc I do in my head.
To help me write I have some very specialised (and expensive) software on my PC, software which is adapted for the way in which my dyslexia shows itself in my writing. Whilst this software picks up most of the errors in my text it doesn't get them all (no software can) and you'll sometimes see this in what I write in these forums.
I can't write my books without an editor. I need a close and long term working relationship with my editor, since she has to know how I write to be able to do her job effectively - and it is a relationship which requires a lot of mutual trust. This was why my publisher told me to select my editor - they needed (and need) the relationship to work, otherwise deadlines don't get met. I also have to trust my publisher when it comes to proof reading, since I can't do that myself.
Prince of Spires
Auror
For what it's worth Mad Swede , if you hadn't told me you were dyslexic, I wouldn't have known from your writing here.
Yes. I just can't do more than that. Besides, after that, I just make things different, not better.
Like Demesnedenoir doing extensive rewrites sounds like hell to me. My brain just refuses to function if I have to write something I know I've already written before. I can edit a piece, but write it again just differently just doesn't work.
The Dark One
Auror
I guess I just love living in the story so polishing from the inside is a form of pleasure.
