You know those writers who whine about having to “cut” words from their story? Those writers who can push out thousands of words without any drama? Writers who claim they find it hard to work within word count “parameters?”
I am not one of those writers.
I have always had to “flesh” out my novel during the revision phase. Floods of words do not spring from my pen.
It’s sort of like getting blood from a rock.
I’m Karen and I’m an underwriter.
Honestly, I think I was born this way because if I had to choose, I would rather have to cut words then add them.
There are two main reasons why I underwrite: over editing and perfectionism.
Excessive editing can turn a paragraph into a five-word sentence if left unchecked. And really why am I editing when I’m supposed to be writing draft? This is why I love writing with pen and paper now. When editing on the computer, the backspace and delete key can become your mortal enemies.
Perfectionism is another thing that puts a monkey wrench in my program. I get so caught up in how something sounds or if the grammar is right that I end up not writing as much as I should. “Free-writing” has helped me a lot. So what if it’s a hot mess? Out of those five pages, I could salvage something instead of just writing a paragraph and getting discouraged and stopping — all because it isn’t “perfect.”
So are you an “underwriter” too? What have you done to help you with this “issue”?
Overwriters, how do you go through the process of figuring out what to keep and what to toss? What are some disadvantages with your *cough* issue?
I am an underwriter but edit very little while I write the first draft. I usually end up having to go through and add sensory details and more specific details. I usually end up adding wordcount during revision. But I’m not a perfectionist while I write. I’ll write the best I can and come back to it later.
I’m an underwriter too. I think it’s because I’m so eager to get to the end of the story and see if what happens is what I planned for. Often it doesn’t, since stories take on a life of their own. Once I know the basic plot line, I can chill out and add all the juicy details during revision.
Laura: I want to be you when I grow up. :) Lately I’ve been having major excessive editing anxiety. Using the pen and paper have helped me a lot.
Serenissima: Yes, I’m like you. Once I get the basic plot, I can flesh it out during the revision phase(s). This is what I’m doing now. But for the new scene(s) that I’m having to write, I find that I still underwrite.
Oh well, it’s a process!
I do think I’m an underwriter when it comes to words, as I also excessively edit as I go along — rewriting until a paragraph becomes a sentence. But in terms of scenes, I overwrite with too many needless scenes that need to be cut.
For the first issue, I’ve also found notebook and pen helpful — I can’t hit “backspace” at will then. :)
I’m usually an underwriter, and often need to go back and add details. The novel I’m writing now is going to be too long for its genre for the first time ever! So I’ll have the experience of doing more cutting, but I’ll probably still have to add detail.
Andrea: How cool that you may have to cut! I’ve never had this happen to me. Ha. But you’re right, just because you’re cutting, you’ll still probably have to add in details.
So no overwriters among us huh? Oh well.
I am an overwriter!! I hardly ever edit while I free write, which is probably my problem when writing a story then have a hard time cutting the irrelevant out! I guess knowing that I am a “work in progress” helps and encourages me to work on the craft of writing and word cutting.
Hey Saba!
So you are an overwriter? I was thinking maybe you all were like unicorns or something. Ha.
I guess overwriting has its disadvantages too — but for me, it’s like torture getting words on paper sometimes.