My Drafting/Editing Process

My first draft is just me writing like crazy until I get to the point that I say: It's done!

My second draft is when I have my word processor spell-check and grammar check, which gets out most, though not all of those mistakes in about a half an hour.

Than I put it aside of a week or a month or even 3 months, and start writing my next book.

For my third draft, I open up the file and sit down and read the whole thing straight through. While I'm reading, I am making changes, checking facts, deleting irrelevant things, adding stuff I'd forgotten to put in, etc.

For my fourth draft, I print the whole thing, up with 1" margins on all sides, and double spaces. This is when the "real" editing begins, as I sit down with a red Sharpie in hand and start making changes, deleting whole paragraphs, rearranging stuff in different orders, correcting all the spelling and grammar errors that the spell checker missed (like no/know or were/where or there/their). I also check for passive voice and make changes to correct it. I end up with papers all over the room, all bleeding in red ink. This can take 3 or 6 or more months.

For my fifth (and usually last) draft, I take the stake of red marked papers, and than make all of those changes on the word processor file. The last thing I do, is to run it through the spell checker once again, just in case of any types.

The whole thing takes from 3 to 8 months.


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Do Animals Go To Heaven?
The Year 2012
Poison vs. Motley Crue
Hayley Williams (Paramore)
Do You believe in aliens & UFOs?



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