Write Fast Now! Editing Hell Later?

We are rapidly approaching the time of year when writers around the world embark on one writing challenge or another, with the most common writing challenges focusing on writing a minimum of 50,000 words within 30 days. Some of these challenges will extend to the idea of editing and publishing, extending the challenge out to 90 days. But the idea is still to write a lot of words, completing a long-form story within a short period of time.

To some writers, the whole challenge is a daunting task. But for many people who have never written before, embarking on the challenge can be freeing, as it encourages you to turn off the inner critic and just write! However, for many writers who have been writing for a while (myself included), such a challenge forces us to examine our writing habits—and sometimes, reset our routines.

Every year, I share my thoughts about how aiming for a high word count shouldn't be your ultimate goal. In my opinion, the challenge to write 50,000 words in a month is not really about writing those 50,000 words. It's more about developing writing habits that will carry you through into your future writing career.

With that in mind, we need to address certain practices that will help you write fast now but avoid the editing hell later.

The Original Challenge

The 50,000-words-in-a-month challenge first started with NaNoWriMo back in 1999. The NaNoWriMo organization has now collapsed, but the idea remains, with other organizations hosting variants of the original challenge.

Regardless of how the original challenge is modified, it normally comes with a word-count goal. And the prizes are normally discounts to various writer-related software and services. And the tactics to meet such a challenge are often met with the same responses.

Writers barf those manuscripts onto paper, writing everything that comes to mind, even if it has no relevance to where a story is going. And to get those word counts up, many writers never use contractions (even though contractions are an important part of dialogue within fiction). Typos take pride and place, and repeated words fill the page. And one never deletes a section, but rather just duplicates it and rewrites with enhancements. Editing, regardless its form, is often treated as a no-no… all for the sake of high word counts.

The way in which many writers (die-hard NaNoWriMo fans) approach these word-count challenges does help you to get the story down on paper quickly. And if you're working on that all-important first draft, then the world at large will never see the manuscript you have created.

However, as you develop your writing skills, you will find that certain practices that stem from the die-hard-NaNoWriMo approach leads to more work in the long run, creating editing hell later.

So, let's take a look at some tactics that I now employ when writing those first drafts that avoids the editing hell.

1) Keep an outtakes file on hand.

There will be scenes that start to play out in one direction, but as you write them, you just know that they either aren't working or are the things made of fluff-n-stuff.

Everything that you write has value, even if it's just to inform you of the world that your imagination is creating, but for editing purposes, that scene needs to be flagged as remove.

You have two choices: either highlight it, so you can easily find it to remove later, or remove it right away and put it into an outtakes file.

For those using Scrivener, this is easily done by creating a folder in your main manuscript folder called Outtakes—and stuff that unwanted scene in there. This means the removed scene will still be readily available when you want to compile for word counts, but it will be easily moved out of your manuscript folder.

For those working in Word (or a similar program), you'll want a separate file.

Having an outtakes file or folder is a good practice to have anyway. All those scenes were written for a reason: you needed to write them so you would understand your world. However, those little outtakes might come back into your writing at some other point, forming the basis of scenes in other books… or other stories altogether. Or you can use them as teasers for your published works (a bit like the added extras on movie DVDs). I often share those outtake scenes with my newsletter subscribers.

2) Write the off-screen scenes if you need to.

There will be scenes where the main character is hearing only half of a conversation (like overhearing a person on the phone). Sometimes, to write those scenes, we need to write the other half of the conversation from the perspective of someone on the other end of the line.

There will also be those moments when you struggle to see how a scene needs to play out, but by shifting the scene to the perspective of another character, suddenly the little details come to the foreground.

You might need to edit and rewrite that scene later, but until the full manuscript is written, you often don't know what perspective will work best for your story. Maybe you actually were writing a multi-POV story but didn't know it. Or maybe you started writing one character's story but were actually writing another's.

If you need to, write the scene directly into your outtakes file/folder, so you don't need to remove it from your main manuscript later.

Don't be afraid to add the odd line from another character's perspective in that initial draft. It happens. Just move on.

This practice helps with the editing hell, because you fully understand the setting and the characters. It might be iceberg stuff (the things that your readers will never see), but as the writer, you need to understand ALL of it. This is a vital component to developmental editing (the aspect of editing that I specialize in).

3) If you don't know what narrative you would like to use for a story, use third person in that initial draft.

Often new writers will turn to using first person because they incorrectly believe that it's more intimate (or it's what we have to do). However, unless you are comfortable with working in deep perspectives, you will likely fail to hit the nuances necessary for first-person narratives.

Working in third person is always a safer option. You can work to deepen the perspective later, but third person is more forgiving to things like head-hopping (where POV suddenly changes to another character without warning) and to light perspectives.

Changing a manuscript from light-perspective, first-person narratives to third person is a long and cumbersome process. Best to avoid it if you can. Yes, changing a manuscript from third person to first person can be convoluted, but when done with purpose, with the depth of perception already built into the narrative, the transition can be quick.

SIDE NOTE: For certain genres, the norm is first-person narratives, particularly within the YA category. Be familiar with what is expected for the manuscript you are writing, but also be prepared to defy the norm if it works better for your brain to actually write it.

4) SHOW the story.

There will be heaps out there on the internet about the merits of show vs tell, and finding that balance between the two is not an easy task. Even writers who have written for years still struggle with this balance. Hence why there are a significant number of articles out there about the topic.

In that first draft, it's okay to write the stage directions for the characters. Describe your surroundings to the nth degree if you have to. I always recommend trying to restrict the descriptions to just a few sentences, but still put them in. If you struggle to see the little details, or to know what details you should put in, make what notes you can. If you have to embellish those descriptions later, or remove them, that’s okay. However, for the sake of your story, the essence of your settings needs to be present in some form.

Believe it or not, it's actually easier to turn show into tell, than it is to turn that tell into show. To save yourself from editing hell, err on the side of overwriting. And remember to encapsulate all five senses in your show.

BTW, in general, show adds more words than tell.

5) Keep a list of character names and their traits. The same goes for settings.

You don't want to be in a situation where you have multiple characters using the same name, or have your reader become confused with the constant changing eye color (unless this is actually a plot point... umm... Twilight... Gold/black/red hell...). To save your sanity, keep a working list of character/setting names and their traits.

Within Scrivener, keep your character and location sheets within a dedicated folder within your project. This way you can refer to them and add details as you write.

For those working in Word, whatever solution you come up with will require multiple files. Some writers will use spreadsheets. Others will use separate word documents.

6) Use a placeholder character string for details that you don't know when you're writing.

When writing, you will likely come across some random detail that you don't know (like the type of gun that a character might use). Instead of getting caught up in the research rabbit hole, insert some sort of identifiable character string to remind you to fill in the details when editing.

I use xxx or XXX. When I was drafting Dancing in the Purple Rain, the condition that my main character has was called xxxdisease. The drug she was on was called xxxdrug. Occasionally, my side characters get called xxxsnipper or xxxmedic when drafting. The point is that I can search for xxx when editing.

For longer details, I'll use square brackets ([]), adding the requirements for the detail I need to look up within the square brackets. Again, it's something easily searched for, because square brackets are not common within fiction (though they do have their uses within nonfiction).

If I can't work out what a character would actually say in response to a particular situation, I actually write, "Blah blah blah." However, I do have to be careful with that one, because sometimes, my characters actually do say, "Blah blah blah."

Having these placeholders makes searching for them during the initial stages of editing easy. At that point, you have a fully written draft, and you know more about the details that you need to research. Then it's off down rabbit holes we go.

7) Make notes of scenes you don't see.

If you are struggling to write the details of a given scene, make notes about what it is that you do see directly into your manuscript, along with your placeholder character string. With the notes present about what you had intended, you won't be looking at that vacant space, wondering why it was there.

This is a good practice to have if you don't have a lot of time, but you want to get the scene down before you forget it. Yes, you will need to fill it in, but you can do that at a later date, even if it's the next day. If you don't see the full details right away, move on.

(This particular practice is one practice that I developed during my first NaNoWriMo and still use today. It's often the action scenes that I struggle to see in detail, but I'll know the outcomes, and will be able to carry on to the next scene in my story.)

8) Use contractions in your dialogue.

I know that writing "you are" or "can not" adds to your word counts, but unless you're deliberately writing a character that uses formal speech, the lack of contractions in your dialogue WILL become editing hell.

To help you develop what your dialogue should be, say it aloud as you write it. You'll hear the cadences of the speech and will be able to capture it.

9) Re-read your work after a break.

Whenever you have taken a break from your writing, even a toilet break, re-read over the last passage you wrote when you come back.

I'm not saying edit. NO! I'm saying re-read.

If there is anything that stands out as Huh?, correct that section right away. Remove the "the the" and correct the glaring typos.

This light editorial pass is only there to help you remind yourself of where you got up to, and to help you correct the little things that will confuse you to no end when you come to edit properly.

Many NaNoWriMo die-hards will say to leave everything alone and just keep writing, but I disagree. Perhaps I've edited a few too many barf-on-paper stories to know that you need to develop certain practices to help your early drafts become much cleaner sooner. Trust me, it's incredibly annoying to look at a passage and wonder what you were thinking... where you were going with a certain passage. Best to just deal with it at the time you were writing it.

10) Give yourself permission NOT to write.

Believe it or not, many writers struggle with this, especially during writing challenges that focus on word counts. We have a goal to obtain, so we have to keep writing, but sometimes, we just need to take the day to curl up and watch TV or read a good book. Our characters and stories will be there in the back of our minds—brewing. Taking that break often helps recharge the batteries and gets the writing juices flowing again.

You will find countless other blogs talking about looking after yourself while you write (sleep, food, and exercise). These are all good too, and yes, I subscribe to those theories too. But I'm currently focused on avoiding the editing nightmares.

Forcing yourself to write when you just aren't feeling it is a massive editing headache in the making.

11) Constantly remind yourself that no one needs to see that first draft.

Many writers are perfectionists. As such, we can get caught up in making that sentence perfect, writing that perfect chapter. And some of us are compelled to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite the beginning of our stories, all in the effort of having the perfect opening… yet we have yet to finish drafting the ending.

This perfectionism can be crippling.

BUT no one needs to see that first draft except for you. You CAN edit before you share any of your work with others.

BUT you can't edit a blank page.

So, instead of making it perfect, aim to have it written.

Repeat after me: "It doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be written."

Make yourself a sign if you need to. Repeat it to yourself every time you sit down to write. Because that knowledge that you don't need to share what you write with anyone can be the most freeing of all.

You are only competing against yourself.

While these writing challenges often bring a writing community together, at the end of the day, the only one you are competing against is yourself.

You only fail if you say you fail. But you win if you say you win!

Here's hoping that these tips will help you in your future writing sessions when drafting. By using these techniques, you might find yourself writing a better first draft—one that you would love to share with the world AFTER you have properly edited it.