Easy Writer
Putting Pen to Paper
It seems to be a truism that the real task of writing begins with the editing phase; indeed, apparently many writers slave over two, three, four, or more drafts before they're happy with the final product. Yet this is not my experience at all: almost everything I publish is a first draft. It's true that usually I think about a topic, often for quite a while, before putting pen to paper; with my forthcoming book about Aristotle I've even gone so far as to make lists of the points to cover in each chapter before sitting down to write. However, for me the composing itself flows quickly and easily. Instead of seeing the task of writing as removing the cruft, I prefer not to generate any cruft in the first place, which strikes me as much more straightforward. Am I a freak of nature or am I missing something essential? Then again, I don't consider myself to be a writer, so maybe it doesn't matter if I'm doing it all wrong...
Paul Johnson wrote the same way, I believe. When people marveled at his many huge books, he said that he didn't see the problem. You gather your facts, you outline, then you write. I can't do it. For me, every paragraph is a poem. As Oscar Wilde said: In the morning I took out a comma; in the afternoon I put it back in.
Whether you're a "freak of nature" or not, Peter, I don't know. Thinking carefully first, planning, and creating an outline of organized points is definitely key to setting yourself up for a smoother writing flow. For brief Sustack pieces (about 1,000 words) or even standard academic essays (5,000-8,000 words), one solid draft, one light revision, and then copyediting is usually sufficient for me.
However, as you know, I'm writing a book (about 80,000 words), which I'm finding is a different beast. There is a level of complexity and interconnectedness between chapters that's more challenging for me to unsnarl and smooth out. I'm in the middle of my second revision (draft three), and I'm grateful for all the wonderful feedback I've received (from generous people like you!) that will make this better than versions 1 and 2. :o)