How to Write a Novel: Write fast, cycle through, or write slow
Authors write in different ways, and there are different approaches to first drafts. Here are some options to consider.
Option 1: Write fast and rough
Write your first draft as fast as you can. Clear your schedule and produce words daily, or at least every couple of days, to keep your momentum going. This way, you stay in the world of the story. Everything is fresh in your mind, and you will be encouraged at how fast your manuscript grows.
Don’t edit what you write as you go. Just get the words on the page.
Some writers call this a sprint. You can find authors on Twitter using #writerssprint if you want to join other people writing at the same time. Others call it binge writing, a term I like as it has that slightly naughty implication of ignoring everything else to focus on something you really enjoy!
This method might mean you have to do more in edits later, but to use the Michelangelo David metaphor, at least you will have your block of marble. You can shape it into a finished manuscript in the editorial process.
This is how some authors write a draft so quickly. They get their butts in the chair and set aside significant blocks of time.
Nora Roberts is a multi-award-winning, multi-bestselling author of over 200 novels across romance, fantasy, crime as J.D. Robb, and other genres. She is one of the best-loved and wealthiest authors in the world, and she is a prolific creator.
Nora explains how she writes on her blog:
“I write every day… In the normal course of events, I work six to eight hours a day… I’m usually in work mode by 8. Sometimes before, sometimes later, that’s just usual. I work. Stare into space, wonder WTF should happen next, look stuff up, and somehow by around 3 (sometimes earlier, sometimes later) I’ve actually written a decent chunk… Routine is my god.”
Nora is a discovery writer. She doesn’t outline, and she writes four or five books a year. Her blog is full of no-nonsense writing advice, so definitely check it out for more of her writing tips.
Many authors who write fast in the indie community are outliners and know what they want to achieve before they sit down to write or dictate. You will have to find the method that works best for you, but the main thing is to set aside bigger chunks of time to write. You cannot write a first draft quickly if you only have two hours a week to spare.
“If your goal is to become a faster writer, the single most efficient change you can make isn’t actually upping your daily word count, but eliminating the days where you are not writing.”
—Rachel Aaron, 2,000 to 10,000
Option 2: Write fast, cycle through
Another way is to write your words fast but then circle back each session, rereading and lightly editing what you wrote in the days before. This works well with dictation and also makes the editing process easier.
At the start of your writing session, circle back over the last scene and lightly edit, perhaps altering dialogue or adding depth, and then continue writing into new words for the session.
Your first draft will be tighter than the purely writing fast method above. In fact, some authors who write this way finish with a clean draft on the first pass.
Dean Wesley Smith explains this in Writing into the Dark.
“I climb inside a character’s head and get the emotions of the character about the setting around the character, and I type for two or three pages.
500 to 700 words or so.
And I come to a halt.
Every time, without fail. This is now a dug-in habit.
I instantly jump out of the timeline of the story and cycle back to the first word and start through the story again.
Sometimes I add in stuff, sometimes I take out, sometimes I just reread, scanning forward, fixing any mistakes I see…
When I get back to the white space, I have some speed up and I power onward, usually another 500 or so words until I stop.
Then I cycle back again to the beginning and do the same thing.”
If you try this cycling method and find yourself stuck on editing, obsessing over typos and finding perfect metaphors, or getting depressed by how bad it is, then skip cycling and go back to the simple fast-drafting option above.
Option 3: Write slow
Some authors like to write more slowly and focus on making each sentence and paragraph and chapter the best it can be before moving forward.
This incorporates some form of editing into the writing process and results in fewer words per day, but perhaps more polished words in total, so the book will need less work in the editorial process. It can also be effective if you have an outline, as you already know what the book will be, so you can focus on expanding that outline into a full manuscript.
But beware. If you engage the critical editor’s brain too early, you may pull your story apart before it’s even come to life. It might bring up issues of perfectionism and you may end up writing so slowly that you don’t ever finish. If this happens, go back to the first option of getting that first draft done as fast as possible.
Questions:
• Which of these methods suits you the best? Have you tried other options?
Resources:
• “Here’s how I work,” Nora Roberts’s blog — fallintothestory.com/heres-how-i-work/
• Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline — Dean Wesley Smith
• 2,000 to 10,000: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love — Rachel Aaron
• 5,000 Words Per Hour: Write Faster, Write Smarter — Chris Fox
