Slowly, slowly
By Juliet Marillier | July 1, 2010 |
I’ve been reading a lot of expert advice lately, both here and elsewhere, about writing your first draft quickly and not allowing yourself to become stalled too early by niceties of style, structure or character. Get the rough and ready bones of the book down, people say, then worry about polishing them and giving them flesh and fine clothing. It makes perfect sense. So why don’t I work that way, and why am I unlikely to try it?
The thing is, one size doesn’t fit all where writing a novel is concerned. Firstly, we’re split into planners and pantsers, plus everything in between. Neither approach is ‘correct’ – they are simply different, and each can lead to a brilliant and original piece of writing. Secondly, we’re divided on our editing and polishing methods. Some novelists will write that quick and dirty first draft followed by three, five, ten other drafts; some, like me, will really only produce one draft, but will polish and refine it as they write. My gut feeling is that planners tend to be ‘one main draft’ writers, while pantsers are more at home with the multi-draft method, starting with that rough first draft.
I’m a planner. I need to know where I’m going and how I’ll get there. I work out the whole novel in some detail before I begin on chapter one. Once I start writing, I stop every three chapters or so and revise everything written to date. Not just the new bit, all of it. That means by the time I reach page 500 and write The End, a good part of the novel has been edited and revised multiple times. I can’t identify anything as belonging to a particular draft, because the process is continuous and organic.
When I complete that last page, I do a complete read-through and final polish, concentrating on the later chapters. I may send the ms to a few critiquing buddies for feedback. After that it goes to my editor. When I get her report I do a round of edits based on that. Then, with luck, it’s all done.
Of course, no book plan is set in stone. Characters spring surprises, or I find I dislike some element of the plot, or I discover an error in my research. I’m not so hung up on the plan that I won’t change it if it’s not working. But the structural framework I set in place before I start writing remains the same.
Yes, this is a slow method, and not recommended for new writers. I don’t like throwing away words. I hate deleting long passages. I like to be reasonably sure that what I put on the page is good writing, something that won’t require massive editorial pruning down the track. Did I mention that I dislike editing my work?
I know this method won’t suit most people, and that’s fine. I just felt I had to put my hand up on behalf of other folk like me, who see that good advice about quick and dirty first drafts and wonder why they just can’t work that way. On balance, I should think that if you can manage a quick first draft, that is the way to go. But the other way is equally valid and can lead to an equally good book.
My posts for Writer Unboxed often deal with process, and may come across as mundane and businesslike. I earn my living as a novelist, so I view writing as a job like any other job. That doesn’t prevent me from loving what I do, from the serendipitous moment when the seed of a new story comes to me, to the time when I hear a reader praise the finished novel. Believe me, slow writers still feel the magic.
Photo credit: © Irakite | Dreamstime.com
Juliet Marillier has written twenty-four novels for adults and young adults and two collections of short fiction. Her works of historical fantasy have been published around the world and have won numerous awards. Juliet’s most recent series was Warrior Bards, of which the third and final book, A Song of Flight, was published in 2021. Her collection of reimagined fairy tales, Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness, had its trade release in 2022. Mother Thorn is illustrated by Kathleen Jennings and published by Serenity Press.
Juliet is currently working on a two-book fantasy series. The first book in this duology, The Amber Owl, will be published by New Dawn in February 2025.
When not writing, Juliet looks after a small crew of rescue dogs.
Thank you for your advise. I am a novice writer in every sense of the word. Working on my first novel more years than I want to admit. I tend to edit as I go along like you but you mentioned that you didn’t recommend this style for new writers. That advise probably confirms why I haven’t gotten far these several years. I think I will try the “bare bones” style that may be the answer. Thank you once again for your informative article.
Thank you for this post. My method falls somewhere in between the planner and pantser (plantser?) and, as I work to get an agent to take notice of me, I get a lot out of this type of article. Mundane and business like? Maybe. But right on target.
Like Anne, I fall somewhere between plotter and pantser. And like you, Juliet, I tend to revise as I go and work slowly–with lots of musing all the way through. The skeletal outline I keep (which is sometimes missing significant bones!) changes as I have revelations about the characters and plot points.
This post has helped me to realize that maybe I should have more faith in this (still developing) process of mine. Thank you!
Great post. I especially liked that final paragraph. :)
I honestly don’t know how to categorize myself anymore. I feel like I’m a little bit plotter and a little bit pantser, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. I finished my YA novel in a fast and furious two months, but it’s taken me the same amount of time just to figure out what direction to take the short story I’m working on. Haven’t even written it yet, simply jotting down ideas from time to time. Every project seems to have its own unique needs, despite the fact that they all have the same author.
Your painstaking attention to detail doesn’t really make for slow writing, Juliet. You’ve been known to turn out three books in two years, while some Pantsers I know can take three years to write one book. Many Pantsers tend to write a monster first up, and then they set about carving away the bits they don’t want, rather as a sculptor chooses his block of stone and then carves away the bits that don’t belong. Even then, Pantsers still have to do at least one editing pass.
I get the impression that with practice, many Pantsers learn to do a bit of planning, even if it’s only in their heads, and they also develop an intuitive skill for plotting so that the climaxes naturally fall in the right places, whereas in their early efforts they only get the plot right after a lot of carving and readjusting. But who is to say which way works best? It’s one of those Different Strokes things, I guess!
I’m glad I’m not alone in the continuous cycle of revising as I move forward. Sometimes I will leave some plot threads tangled in my previous chapters, and only refine what I wanted to use them for once I get ahead of them a ways. It’s helpful for me to go back and revise with their renewed purpose still fresh in my mind!
Ditto what Therese said. And ditto what Lydia said, lol. (I’m so original today, eh?)
“Every project seems to have its own unique needs, despite the fact that they all have the same author.”
I think that’s what’s true more than anything else. A writer may produce 10 novels a certain way, but then suddenly the 11th may be completely different. And that’s okay.
So I’m glad that you pointed out that “fast and furious” is not the only way to go, because you’re right, we certainly hear that a lot*.
(*I think in large part because so many greener writers become paralyzed with fear, or their Internal Editor mucks them down so severely, that we just want to encourage them to move along. Nothing has to be perfect the first time around, whether you go fast or slow.)
Ooh, Kristan, you are so right about fear and how it can be muse molasses. (I’ve been planning a post on fear.) Maybe realizing you’re writing slowly — or not writing at all — out of fear is the first step to battling it back.
I feel like you, Kristan, I want to write DITTO for all the comments!
I think what all writers are looking for, beginning and otherwise, is a process to trust in. Something to hang on to when the going gets tough. The challenge is trusting OURSELVES to get us there. The process can change on you at any time. That being said, I would kill for a tried and true process!!!! ;)
I write everything by hand first. Then I type it up. My creative process just doesn’t flow when I’m staring at a computer screen (plus I get too tempted to go on the Internet). However, usually I’ll write a scene, then type it up and write extra…I don’t know how to explain it. It’s also a very slow process. Thanks for your essay defending slow writers. :)
Juliet-Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It gives me hope to hear that a successful novelist like you, approaches her craft the same way as a novice like me.
I have been working on my first novel for about two years and every time I read the usual advice about writing a fast first draft I wonder what secret skill others have that I don’t, because I just can’t do it. When I try to churn out the words at a faster pace, I seem to just get crap on the page that only leads to more crap on the page. And, if I can’t go back and refine those pages before moving on, I feel like I am just piling you-know-what on top of you-know-what.
I liken what I do, to building a house with bricks–each row needs to be carefully laid and allowed to set, before the next row can be put down. In the end, the final structure is sure and sound with just a few tweaks needed to pass inspection. The fast first draft feels like building a house with mud and sticks and then going back to shore it up after it is all finished–not likely to lead to a solid final product; at least not for me.
So thank you for affirming my process. We fledgling writers need all the help we can get.
Sheree
I wrote fast and furious first drafts for my first two manuscripts, and spent a lot of time revising in multiple drafts. For my current work in progress, I’m writing super slow, and I think the work is better for it. Although I can say now that I did need to write those first couple of novels quickly to keep that internal editor and all that fear at bay. Now that I’m more confident in my writing, I feel like I can take the time to linger and fuss and not let it stall my progress too much. Although I miss having that milestone of “first draft completed!” so quickly within reach.
What fantastic comments – I’m so glad this meant something to you. I did suspect there were some fellow tortoises out there.
‘Muse molasses’ – what a great term, Therese!
This is a great post, whether you follow Juliet’s method or not. I think a key point to take from it is that everyone develops their own method, their own version of what works for them. There’s a ton of advice out there–thank goodness–because when we’re starting out, none of us knows what the heck we’re doing and even later, when we do, there are still so many points when we get stuck and need guidance. So we read books and blogs and gather suggestions and try different strategies and eventually…we figure out what works for us.
Hey, wow, it almost sounds like I know what I’m doing there. That’s pretty funny. Um, Juliet, I think I’d better study your approach again…
Thanks for writing this post. A word vomit first draft is very hard for me to do too though I wish I could.
:-) I am a very slow writer and so far my process has been to painstakingly revise as I go. What’s interesting is that I am not a planner. I usually only have a very vague notion of the arc in the novel, which is why there is so much revision as I write. And then there is still editing when I am done with the first draft. I am so impressed and jealous when I read that people are spitting out 20K a week, that they write novels in 2 months, but I guess it’s just not for me…
Another tortoise- an Australian species, but still a tortoise. Just had to comment that I was SO glad to read this- this is exactly how I work. Plan everything at the start; go through and plan/plot even more closely before commencing each chapter; go back regularly and revise/reshape what I’ve done- I can’t even more forward from a sentence that doesn’t scan right until I’m satisfied that it does. I know a lot of writers don’t work like this, but it works for me. I’m half way through my third novel, with one published (came out in the US last week) and one in press- out 2011… it’s slow and ploddy but it works for me. So glad to hear that it works for others too.
I love hearing how other writers go about getting the words out of their heads and onto paper. I hated outlines in school and I find I resist them in writing fiction as well, though with my most recent WIP I’ve been thinking maybe the notecard method might be called for to get my thoughts to line up in a more orderly fashion. So true that one size does not fit all and I’m finding that the same size may not fit for each work of fiction either. Nice post.
I’m a pantser through and through, as I mentioned in a previous blog post of my own, but I try to only write one draft, like Melissa does. I revise as I go. Satima is also right, although in my case I didn’t spend any time learning to keep it all in my head, that’s how I’ve always done it.
I don’t have automatic fed, so here’s my last blog post: https://authorguy.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/got-it-covered/
Totally on board with you. I have a background in screenwriting/playwriting, and I typically plot my novels in a three act structure to begin. I will write “Act 1”, revise revise revise, “Act 2”, etc. On the novel I’m currently on, at the end of Act 2, I realized Act 1 was going in the wrong direction, so I revised that, and so on.
It does get a little tedious, but it helps me to stay motivated.
Thanks for the post. I think it’s important for all writers, new and experienced, to know about different techniques and approaches. We all have our preferred method, but when we get stuck it’s nice to know that there’s a different way to try.
I definitely revise as I go. The thought of having to go back and revise a relative mess, would drive me crazy. I’ve always thought of myself as a pantser, but lately, I’m not entirely sure that’s accurate. I often have a plan in my head-I just don’t write it out–at least formally. I do write myself little notes, snippets, bullet points as necessary.
Thanks for the post. It’s good, once again, to be validated and reaffirmed that there is no one successful way to get that story written.
Juliet, thanks so much for this, what you describe is my process, too, almost exactly. I’m definitely a ‘planner’ and outline each chapter scene by scene before I start to write. And yet every fresh chapter I write teaches me something new about my characters and the journey they’re on, shows me what I did wrong in the previous chapter. So I revise, rewrite, and then move forward again.
Kind of interestingly, I just wrote a short story in which I allowed–well, maybe more so ‘forced’–myself to be a pantser. Just to see how that method worked for me. And it was kind of liberating–and definitely fun to see what surprises popped up along the way. And I’m quite happy with the finished short story. But to write a whole book that way? I think my head would explode.
Thanks for raising your hand for those of us who the fast first draft doesn’t work for. I tried it one November and prefer the slower method. I got burnt out from the speed of writing and then disappointed by the quality of what came out. I ended up with little ‘good writing’.
Like you, I write and edit as I go. It’s helpful for me to reread the previous scene before I start a new one. While reading, I edit. Then after three or four chapters I do a another read through and edit. And now that the first draft is finished I’ve done two edits. I’ll be sending it to my reporter friend for critiquing.
It’s important to remember that everyone’s style is different. You need to find the right method for you.
Oh thank goodness. I’m exactly like you. It might take me longer to write that first draft, but it just means I need less time to revise (although I love revising!). It also gives me the added confidence that my story is decent, something I don’t think I’d have if I just rushed to write the first draft. I prefer at least feeling like I’ve got quality over quantity.
Oh, if we needed any more assurance, I just read TUCK EVERLASTING and at the end there is an interview with the author, Natalie Babbitt, who says:
“As far as drafts are concerned, the way I’ve always worked is different from some of my colleagues who go from A all the way to Z and then start all over again to do their rewriting. That’s a perfectly good way, but I rewrite each sentence when I come to it until it’s just the way I want it.”
And trust me, that method served her well with TUCK EVERLASTING. The prose is beautiful and the story is wonderful.
I usually start in the middle or near the end and work my way around it. Every time I write something, before I move on I read what’s before and what comes after and the read the part I just wrote. I always change a little something. By the time I’m ready to print off the first draft (far from done) the whole thing has been gone over what feels like a thousand times.
It’s SO interesting to see how different everyone’s approaches are.
Great post! I’ve been spending a lot of time on a very detailed outline this time around. Whenever someone asks, “How’s the book?” I’m embarrassed to say I’m still working on the outline and character sketches. I love coming to Writer Unboxed to talk with writers of all stages who understand that this part of the process is different for every person.
Juliet, as always your advice is measured and sound.
I’m a little like you but a bit free-spirited as well. I begin with the idea and a pad of paper. Jot down a rough storyboard. I research as I go in some instances because sometimes my characters spring something on me that I hadn’t foreseen.
I also edit at the end of every writing day and again the next morning, as I begin the new writing day. At the end it is revised again, sent to an assessor, revised, read and revised and so on.
I’m a stumpwork embroiderer taught by one of the world’s masters, and she says at the Master classes: ‘This is the way I do it and it works, but if you can find an easier way, a better way that gives you the same result, go for it.’ It seems in your advice that you and she are alike: There are many ways, and all are okay if the end result gives you the perfect piece that you want.
Thanks again.
Juliet, I don’t find this post in the least mundane or businesslike. I find it very heartening.
I would like to be a rapid first-drafter, but I’m not. Further, if one’s working with a critique group, I don’t feel it’s in the least fair to pass on unpolished work. My process — such as I’ve identified it do date — would be more like yours. I’m a pantster with a pretty good idea of where the story is headed, but until I get each step “right”, and the prose polished enough I feel like I have real story behind me, I can’t proceed.
I find if I edit as I write a first draft, the turtle on the top of this post would finish 1000 words before I complete one sentence. However, I really LOVE editing my own work (and, oddly, others). It’s like I’ve come home from a day of shopping with all the ingredients, I just have to put it together in the most appetizing way possible.
I think the biggest thing for new writers (or those trying something new) is taking bits and parts of all the advice out there and find what works for us. Knowing how to edit it a great part of the writing process, no matter when it’s done…
Thank you, Juliet, for this encouraging post. The fact is, there are no rules. Try all the methods of writing that 1st draft, then pick out the elements that suit your style of writing best. Hey presto: your very own method of getting that story down on paper!
Thank you so much for your blog. My natural tendency is to edit sections of my writing before I move forward in the story. I have taken challenge classes where one is encouraged to write fast and furiously, not stopping to edit. I find that approach very alien to my writing style. It is encouraging to know that others out there share this tendency to edit and polish during the initial process.
Like others, I am somewhere between a planner and a pantser. I plan the basic skeleton of the story but much of the writing is an act of discovery which is where the fun and excitement resides.
Thanks for sharing your approach.
[…] I have to admit, I felt reassured upon reading that Tuck Everlasting author Natalie Babbitt works in a similar fashion. (Big thanks to Erin for lending me the book! It was lovely.) Along those same lines, Juliet Marillier posted a nice reminder on Writer Unboxed that slow and steady wins the race. […]
So realistically encouraging!
You have described my writing process to a tee. Thank you! I’m always struggling to tune out other peoples’ advice & the shoulds that lodge in my brain. i.e. I should write the first draft quickly. The first draft, for me, is a long, painstaking process. I edit as I go, because if the first parts of the book aren’t working, it’s hard for me to go on. I go back and back as I progress, and I’m always open to cutting and adding. I just deleted my first three chapters, because it was as if they were from another book. There went my “darlings”!
This is a great post. I teach writing workshops as well as being a writer, and so often participants are looking for The One True Way to write, plan, or revise. It sounds less magical and helpful to have to say that there isn’t One True Way, but it’s true.
Thank you so much for this blog! For years, I’ve felt like something is wrong with me because I write so slowly. I’ve taken online classes and attended conferences, specifically to learn how to write faster, but alwasy revert back to my own method. 1. read and edit pages written previous day. 2. keep plodding along, writing 2-4 pages a day. I average a book a year. My 5th book will be out this month. Slow and steady, that’s my mantra!
It’s true. We all have to figure out what works for us. I’ve tried planning ahead and I’ve tried completing the whole draft as fast as I can.
My best method, so far, seems to be right in the middle. Writing the draft, but outlining it as I go to keep track of where I’m going. I usually have an ending in mind but that about all the beginning outline that I have. Of course, I know a few of the characters in the beginning, but I learn the directions of the story with the characters.
This is almost exactly my process, Juliet. The early stages of a book take me a very long time for this reason, and then I’m combing, combing, combing as I go. Thanks very much for this post.
It’s always good to hear about other processes in writing a first draft and they never do get boring.
A few years back I did just as you say, I wrote a chapter, and then went back to put it just perfect, but the problem was I was never actually satisfied so I just kept revising those few first chapters and never got around to finishing the novel, and that was when I tried the other approach. It works best for me, but I hear a lot of authors actually work just like you do.
[…] was reading an interesting post about different methods of writing by Juliet Marillier earlier today (well worth checking out!). I appreciate authors who realise that ‘one size […]
Thank you. I always thought I was “wrong” in taking a very similar approach to my writing. It’s nice to know that there isn’t a rule about writing “hard and dirty”. I just can’t do it that way.
I actually prefer this method except my way is a little different. I write and I make sure everything flows from one scene to the next and it’s unified with nothing contradicting. Then I’ll go back and add or subtract details. Nextcomes editing which won’t be much since I do the editing as I write. In addition, I just write my stories continually and split into chapters later.