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)
I have experienced both - channeling the near perfect first draft - and spending an afternoon on a 100-word poem. And having written poetry, nonfiction, and fiction for decades, I am now going back through my archives, thinking "What was I thinking", and ruthlessly editing. Not much is withstanding the test of time.
One of my best friends regularly produces pitch perfect fiction in one draft. Somewhere in the past, a jealous creative writing professor (my interpretation) told her something was wrong with her for not editing multiple drafts. That stuck with her for years, damaging her self-confidence. Fortunately, a number of people have since told her that the professor was an idiot, and she is feeling good about her works today.
My first rule of writing for oneself is Have Fun. My first rule of writing for money is Please the Person Writing the Check. Those two goals are not necessarily contradictory. Most of the time I had fun writing for clients, sometimes under very demanding deadlines - radio news required polished product in minutes. And when it wasn't fun, it was satisfying to get a check that cleared the bank and paid for groceries.
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)
I have experienced both - channeling the near perfect first draft - and spending an afternoon on a 100-word poem. And having written poetry, nonfiction, and fiction for decades, I am now going back through my archives, thinking "What was I thinking", and ruthlessly editing. Not much is withstanding the test of time.
One of my best friends regularly produces pitch perfect fiction in one draft. Somewhere in the past, a jealous creative writing professor (my interpretation) told her something was wrong with her for not editing multiple drafts. That stuck with her for years, damaging her self-confidence. Fortunately, a number of people have since told her that the professor was an idiot, and she is feeling good about her works today.
My first rule of writing for oneself is Have Fun. My first rule of writing for money is Please the Person Writing the Check. Those two goals are not necessarily contradictory. Most of the time I had fun writing for clients, sometimes under very demanding deadlines - radio news required polished product in minutes. And when it wasn't fun, it was satisfying to get a check that cleared the bank and paid for groceries.
Putting the pen on paper changes things. I'm sure you've read Why the Brain Prefers Paper.
If you are starting with real physical materials, that could be why you generate less cruft.