Tag: drafts

What High School Taught Me About Writing

Describe something you learned in high school.

  1. Topic sentence
    • Supporting sentence one
    • Supporting sentence two
    • Supporting sentence three
  2. Summary sentence
  3. Repeat for four or five paragraphs
  4. Conclusion

That’s how I learned to write essays in high school, and it carried me through college and graduate school.

Writing is hard. Some of you reading this blog or writing your own may have perchance noticed this fact. Writing requires focus, thoughtfulness and the ability to review your work and make changes as needed. What we bloggers post online are things that we want to write about. That’s challenge enough.

But I’m sure you remember what it’s like to write a high school essay (or, perhaps, you are at the age where you are learning firsthand). It’s work. Worse, it’s homework. It’s something to get done before watching TV or playing video games. It’s an obstacle to leisure. And you’re probably writing about something that doesn’t interest you in any way, shape or form whatsoever.

High school taught me how to get through challenging essays by teaching me how to write them. Topic sentences supported by three or four following statements. Reiterating your point regularly. Outlining – oh, yes, the vital importance of outlining and planning ahead.

Organization, organization, organization. That’s what I learned most about writing in high school English class. Keep all your ducks in a row and know what you’re working towards. Making it up as you go isn’t easy. It’s doable, but it’s so much better to have the shape of things already in mind. Writing by the seat of your pants isn’t as romantic or thrilling as you might think. Well, not all the time, anyway. It never hurts to have a plan first.

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Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

“Hermes is not having the best time. He walks a fine line, and his duty as messenger of Olympus weighs heavily on him. Being a god in the modern age means living in a world that no longer believes in gods. How much can one deity accomplish when no one respects him anymore? And why do his instincts tell him that he, the son of Zeus, is losing favor with his own family?

Tensions abound. The upstart Young Gods play dangerous games using entire cities as their boards. Formless monsters strike from the nighttime shadows, terrorizing hapless mortals. Agents of rival pantheons scheme to thwart Olympus’ designs. In the thick of it all, Hermes does what he does best: trick, lie, and cheat his way to victory.“

Tips on Draft Writing

Drafts are a vital part of any writing project. Very, very, very rarely is any book released on its first draft. You need to pour over your work many times to make sure it’s ready for publication. But, the question often arises: How many drafts should you write? Three? Four? Eleven? How many is enough?

There’s no hard and fast answer. It depends on the author. Different strokes for different writers.

Even so, I’ve come across a few general tips that can help you decide how long to spend in the drafting stage.

  1. Set yourself goals for each draft. Pick one specific thing to improve for each draft you write. Your first draft -the vomit draft, as I like to call it – is just getting your story onto paper. Your second draft, perhaps, can center around developing story and characterization. For the next one, pay attention to grammar and sentence structure. Whatever you choose, each draft sees definite and specific improvement, and you may find yourself not needing to go through as many as you expected.
  2. Don’t expect perfection. You’ll never get there. Drafting is about improvement, not reaching an ideal but unattainable state of “perfection.” Even the greatest writers make mistakes. Focus on refining and polishing. Every time you go through your story, you’re making it better. Each draft builds on the previous one.
  3. Pace yourself. Sometimes, wrapping up one draft and jumping straight into the next isn’t a good idea. Give yourself a few days to let your subconscious mull over things. A little break can be great for your writing as you begin anew rested and with a fresh perspective. You find yourself more easily spotting errors and opportunities.
  4. You have to publish eventually. If you want to release your book to the public, you will have to stop drafting at some point. You have to tell yourself that your story is ready. Remember: Refining and editing is all well and good, but if you never stop, then you will reach a point where you’re doing more harm than good. You lose sight of the whole and get buried in nitpicks that add nothing. A sculptor who never stops chiseling the marble ends up with nothing but gravel in the end.

Some people love the drafting stage, other people don’t. I find it a useful and interesting process. I not only clean up the chaos of my first draft, but also discover new things about my characters, new storytelling techniques, and just plain mature as a writer. However many you find necessary, remember the most important tip of all: Have fun with it!

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.