When I started out I figured I'd write my story in one go, then I'd proofread it to check for spelling and grammar errors and then I'd be done. That was quite a while ago.
One thing I've found lately is that I'm really looking forward to starting on my second draft. Not because that means my first draft is done, but because I can fix all the things I didn't get right the first time. The more I write, the more I get to know my characters and my setting. There are things that seem obvious now that I had no clue about when I started.
What I'm looking forward to is being able to rewrite scenes and conversations early on in a way that will hint at things to come later. By tweaking incidents and occurrences in the start of the story I can make later events seem more natural and make more sense.
I've heard several times that "writing is rewriting", but it's not until just recently that I've finally started to understand what it really means and it actually makes me really happy (and yet I might still be wrong - time will tell).
I guess this isn't so much a question as just a sharing of this "revelation", but I hope maybe it can serve as some slight encouragement to others still slaving away on the first draft of their first story; things will clear up as you move along, if you keep at it you will eventually learn.
On the other hand, it would be cool if someone less new to the game would share their experiences on this matter. How much do you change (have you changed) the early parts of the story because of things you've discovered in later parts?
One thing I've found lately is that I'm really looking forward to starting on my second draft. Not because that means my first draft is done, but because I can fix all the things I didn't get right the first time. The more I write, the more I get to know my characters and my setting. There are things that seem obvious now that I had no clue about when I started.
What I'm looking forward to is being able to rewrite scenes and conversations early on in a way that will hint at things to come later. By tweaking incidents and occurrences in the start of the story I can make later events seem more natural and make more sense.
I've heard several times that "writing is rewriting", but it's not until just recently that I've finally started to understand what it really means and it actually makes me really happy (and yet I might still be wrong - time will tell).
I guess this isn't so much a question as just a sharing of this "revelation", but I hope maybe it can serve as some slight encouragement to others still slaving away on the first draft of their first story; things will clear up as you move along, if you keep at it you will eventually learn.
On the other hand, it would be cool if someone less new to the game would share their experiences on this matter. How much do you change (have you changed) the early parts of the story because of things you've discovered in later parts?