A few thoughts on the writing and revision process

Open notebook with blank graph paper and a green edge. Notebook is on wooden table with pencils, rulers, erasers and a cup of black coffee at the top of it. On the right side is a potted plant with green foliage overspilling the pot, trailing across the desk and curling over the paper. Image by LUM3N at Pixabay.

Every writer has a different creative process. This is especially true at the drafting stage of writing. It’s important to remember that there’s not a right or wrong here, there’s only what helps you write your story and what doesn’t.

Some writers simply write to discover the story, and that’s okay. Other writers may intricately plan their story ahead of time, deciding on the genre, story arc, etc. before putting a word on the page. Even with all of this careful planning, however, their stories may go off in other directions, or their carefully laid plans might not be realised on the page. That’s okay too. Even authors with some experience under their belts occasionally step out of genre unintentionally.

But once you’ve finished writing your first draft you need to make some decisions. Ideally these decisions will be made after having taken some time away from your manuscript and returning to it with fresh (or fresher) eyes.

What kind of story have you actually written? You might think you’ve written a romance, or a thriller, because that’s what you wanted to write, but the story on the page may not meet the expectations of that genre. (I’ll talk more about genre expectations in a future post.)

If you haven’t actually written a story in the genre you thought you did, then how do you feel about that? It might be that the story has evolved as you’ve written it and that the story arc you’ve crafted now suits your vision better. If so, then you’ll need to figure out where this story fits so that you can work out who the intended audience is. You may still need to tweak aspects of the story to suit the new genre. Or not, depending on your intentions for the work.

Or it might be that you’re not happy with the way the story has turned out and you want to revise it so that it does suit your intended genre.

Neither answer is right or wrong, they’re just different approaches.

If you’d like to talk through your approach towards revising your first draft, then coaching can help. This doesn't have to be over the phone or videocall, though it can be. To learn more about my coaching services, you can visit my coaching page. Alternatively, just get in touch. You can either do this via the contact button below, or email me at: kendraroseolson@gmail.com.

I look forward to hearing about your creative process.