Seven Sensible Steps to Success As A Writer
Step 6 (continued): Drafting. And Re-Drafting

Most afternoons my habit is to go over the work I’ve written that morning, doing the first of many editing passes.

I’ll chop and change as seems necessary. It’s surprising how the sentences, that seemed so sprightly in the dawn, can often droop in the late sunshine.

Of course, they can also seem much better again a few days later – and thus I find it important to print out each version of my changes on the reverse of used sheets of paper. Another option is to write them in pencil on an earlier draft. It doesn't really matter so long as you have a record of them.

It often happens, when I come to the second or third .........

Seven Sensible Steps to Success As A Writer

#37 Re-vision

Like any other work of the creative imagination, a book must have its own inner form and coherence, layers of interpretation and sustained metaphor, if it is to speak truthfully to the reader.

I find it important to go over the work constantly. The words checked for meaning and repetition. The development and cadences of the paragraphs looked at with a critical eye for harmony and substance – exactly as one approaches music, or an artist examines a painting.

One very useful tool in this respect is to read the text out loud to help pick up inconsistencies, errors or gaps in the narrative that may need to be filled with a little more information.

Or too much ......

Seven Sensible Steps to Success As a Writer
Step 6. Writing. And Rewriting.

To continue the gardening metaphor, a flourishing manuscript needs to be carefully cultivated. The words have to be weeded. The sentences pruned like a fruit tree.