Does the edit-as-you-go method work? Or does it not? Is it the best method out there, or the worst? If it does work, for whom does it and for whom it doesn’t?
It works, yes. But only for a few people. There are many people for whom it does not work. What they do:
1. While writing a scene or chapter, they’ll stop suddenly and read what they have written. And they’ll make a hundred changes to that scene alone.
2. The next day they’ll make a thousand changes (exaggeration) to the whole text of their work as of yet. When they are finally done, they’ll take a breather.
3. But then they’ll discover one thing which all writers must know immediately in my opinion, with all due respect to those who don’t know it: Your novel will never get perfect. Never, ever. You will always find something to edit. A sentence, a verb, a tense, anything. Heck, a novel is usually 80,000 words long—a standard. Imagine how much you can edit in that! And so, in my opinion, you have to find an end somewhere. And even if you do reach this stage, please remember that it usually comes after writing a novel, not in between. If you decide to edit everything you have written yet, the end will never come. You will get bogged down in editing. Your creative juices will stop flowing — and imagine what comes next?
Writer’s block. Yes. So if it were myself, I’d not rather use the “Edit As You Go” method if what I did was this. I’d use the “Detailed Planner” method: more about this method of writing in the next post. The “Detailed Planner” method works for some people, although not me. So if it works for you, then use it! Remember that there is not just one correct method to write a story, just as there’s no limit to what a plot offers a story. A single plot might make a hundred stories, sometimes a thousand or more.
Bottom line: The “Edit As You Go” method, if not used properly, can seriously hamper your writing. Whether it is your friend or enemy rests entirely with you. If it’s an enemy, I’d advise you to use the “Detailed Planner” method, which explained in a short story means making a detailed synopsis of your story so you can’t find anything to edit later. This method of writing works as well.
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