“The First Time Around”

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this opinion archive of mine--a bit too long.

I was on GaiaOnline the other day, the source of most of my rants, and it astounds me that many of the more inexperienced writers think the first thing you put on paper or type is the absolute; they all seem to think you have only one shot at this, and once you’re done, you’re done for good. Day after day, there’s always someone who posts something to the effect of “Everything I write isn’t good” or “Everything I write sucks.” There is a trick to writing, and it isn’t a terribly difficult concept to grasp. The trick to writing is the writing process.

See, the writing process is a series of steps that every writer follows, whether he is aware of it or not. There are six steps in this wonderful process:

1. Prewriting - this is the step where you start your first draft. In this step, you are exclusively writing for yourself and putting your ideas on paper. Here, do not worry about grammar, spelling, and content mistakes. Just write.

2. Drafting - This is where you develop your ideas, where you write for others and clarify your writing through a second draft and/or subsequent drafts.

3. Revision - This is one of the most important steps. Here, you edit content mistakes (i.e., fix plotholes). You do not worry about spelling or grammar mistakes until the next step. Most writers will agree that you will cut at least twenty percent from your first draft, and you will most likely cut more than add.

4. Editing/Proofreading - Fix your spelling and grammar mistakes.

5. Presentation - Self-explanatory. Give it to someone else to read and review.

6. Evaluation - Did your piece get your point across to your readers?

I remember being an amateur writer, constantly worry about whether or not this sounded good and not having finished the drafts; I remember the pain, but now I am a slightly more mature writer. What most newbie writers forget is that a good writer doesn’t skip a step or go out of this order. What you first put on paper will be later subject to change--maybe radical changes. It is important that the revision and proofreading stages should be saved for after you plan and write the first two drafts.

Put your ideas down first and develop them. Then edit the content, spelling, and grammar. This cannot be stressed enough.