How do you do your writing? It is a question that interests me as there is no common answer (at least not one that has become visible to me yet).
I write in three stages.
- First draft: When in full writing mode (as compared to preparation and planning mode), I aim to write 1,000-1,500 words in a day for 5 days a week and to do this I prefer to write my first pass text while sitting in a café listening to my choice of music and watching the world go by. I allow myself a single coffee with no more than 1 shot of espresso. I find people, noises, sound, light and smells help me write. During this stage I do not allow myself to do any editing or formatting. I mark italic text with an underscore before and after, but nothing else. I do this writing in something like Documents To Go on my Android tablet.
- Light Edit: Later that same day I head to my study back home and I allow myself a one pass read through and light edit. I am not allowed to change anything substantial as I am still too close to the writing and lack perspective. All I do is correct typos, light formatting of italics where required, and filling in any missing sentences or words as I find that some times I miss one or more words in a sentence in my hurry to write them down. I do this stage in Scrivener.
- Review: Last thing I check I have scene ideas to write the following day. Perhaps with a few notes, or at least a brief outline. At this stage I output a .mobi version of the book so far and send it to mine and my wife’s Kindles. She tends to read the day’s pages before she goes to sleep and then gives me feedback the next day.
So that is how I do my writing. So how do you do yours?
