In the midst of my revisions, I’ve been reading a great craft book, A Writer’s Guide to Fiction by Elizabeth Lyon.
In the book the author talks about two particular writing methods:
Hot writing. The method of getting the first draft done as quickly as possible. Not stopping a.k.a NaNoWriMo. Overcoming the fear of the blank screen by creating words without revision.
Meticulous writing. Careful writing. Revision-heavy. Several revisions of a page before writing the next page. Polishing every word until it gleams. Slower pace but less revision.
While both have their advantages of getting a novel done, they also have disadvantages.
Hot Writing may net a lot of words, but for some writers, the act of polishing and revising a whole novel can be too overwhelming. This is why many NaNoWriMo novels stay under the bed.
Meticulous writing may result in a lack of freshness because of over-writing or over-revising. Plus the quest for perfection can prolong completing a novel for months or even years.
I’ve tried both and I’ve discovered that I really can’t do hot writing for a whole novel. While I do get a good draft, I usually end up trashing almost two- thirds of it and revising the rest. And with meticulous writing, it sparks my perfectionist bent and I can easily get caught up revising a chapter or a scene. Plus I’ve learned the hard way that until I’ve completed the novel, that polished chapter may still change or get cut out completely.
So for me what’s been working for this novel is a hybrid of the two. Hot write a scene and then revise. For my list of new scenes I’ve identified, I may even hot write several of them and then revise.
It’s still a work in progress.
Which one works best for you to complete a novel? Hot writing or meticulous writing? Or do you do a mixture of the two?
Hot Writing
July 26, 2010 Read Comments
Karen, one of the disadvantages for me of being too meticulous was that it was hard to figure out where to fix it when it had problems, because the writing sounded so polished. I am trying to write my first drafts a lot faster, but I go back and revise a little each day before I launch into writing the new part.
I plot pretty carefully before I write. And when I’m writing a revise a little but not a ton, b/c while macro editing some scenes might change or be deleted, so why spend the time revising? I’m middle of the road. During the first draft, I write about 5K a week give or take. Slow and steady.
Andrea: Yes, this is what happened to me. Since I write in scenes, I try and get the scene down first but go back and revise — but even then when I hit a block, I stop and keep moving, knowing the I can always come back during another revision round.
Laura: I also learned the hard way that macro editing can be a waste of time because during the revision, the scene *always* changes (at least for me). Sometimes, it gets cut out completely and that time I spent obsessing over the structure could have been use to maybe hot write some other scenes.
I’m a bit of a combination. I do write pretty much straight through, but I often go back and edit and I do a lot of prethinking before that draft gets on paper too.
Not surprisingly, Book Twin, I’m also a hybrid of the two. I crank out a scene and then rework it before continuing on. Then, when I have a full draft, I go back and do more meticulous revisions. Then I revise some more, and some more, and some more…
I know exactly what you mean with the two different types of writing. I think I do better with hot writing, because I think I produce some pretty good stuff during NaNoWriMo – I may need to restructure a lot of it and clean it up, but it’s worth it. Also, I find when I’m trying to polish up or re-write a chapter, and it’s just not satisfying me, I find if I start with a blank page and re-write it in the “hot writing” fashion, I’ll get new ideas and a few good sentences that can really help that languishing chapter.
I’ve tried to hot-write, but I can’t. My over-active inner-editor won’t let me. We’ve reached a compromise. I write a chapter, and then I edit before I move on to the next. It seems to work for me – for now.
I’m going to try this hot writing for the first chapter because I’m currently frozen with indecision regrading the overall plot. It’s bad. Like I’m Lindsay Lohan and someone pours me a shot of whiskey to my left and vodka to the right.
Honestly, I’ve allowed an inability to see the entire story before beginning the first page to stop me for writing for about 6 months now.
Or should I see the entire plot before starting?
Geez. I feel like Hamlet. Can’t even decide what pair of white socks I want to wear…at least I have my website. Sweet, sweet 200-600 word columns–you’ll never leave me.
theBrad (verla tag)
Jemi: I think that’s the key for hot writing. All the planning and thinking must be done ahead in order to really take advantage of it.
Anna: Book Twin! Of course it’s not a surprise. But I have to watch it during the revision phase, I get a little OCD sometimes when I’m revising. I have to stop myself.
Margo: This where hot writing has an advantage. When you’re stuck with a chapter or just staring at the blank page, hot writing or what I call “free writing” does the trick to jump-start.
Nora: I think we may be a lot of alike in our approach. I can only take hot writing so far as a scene. I don’t think I could do it for a whole draft. Your approach is also what I do.
Brad: Yep. You need some hot writing! This helped me earlier this year when I just couldn’t get *anything* down. I’ve got some serious inner-editor issues. As for seeing the entire plot, what I’ve learned is that even if you see it, it will always change (at least for me it has). It’s good to have an idea but it doesn’t have to be detailed. The details always change in the end.
Great comments everyone!
Thank you so much for admitting this! I’m the same way and sometimes feel bad that I can’t just regurgitate a first draft. I find if I can at least do a read through from where I wrote at the last session, then that’s enough to quiet my inner perfectionist until I’m done.
Have a great day!
I do a sort of combination of the two. I write a rough draft straight through without revising more than what I call a mini-edit. I hand write everything then put it in the computer the next day, editing a tiny bit as I do so. Aside from that though I wait until the rough draft is done before doing a major edit. Unlike NaNoWriMo, I don’t rush the first draft though.
Karen,
My writing style leans more towards hot writing. Although I am not a novelist, I do find myself writing a lot. For me, purging and getting it all out without boundaries seems to work best. I do have to edit and scale back my text a lot; however, there is nothing like the freedom that comes with that type of mental release. It feels like a natural high.
Heather: I’m trying this approach now and it’s really helping. You can definitely do mini-edit when you do the type-in.
Sherry: Seems like you are the zone when you’re hot writing! That is one of the major benefits of that method. I think you should keep writing and see where it leads you. There may be a hidden Novelista in you! :)
Very interesting! My current wip is the first novel I ever really hot-wrote (can it be past tense? =) ). Now I’m going through the meticulous stage. It’s so depressing how much more slowly I’m moving, but I guess that’s kind of the point.
Anne: Hot writing is very invigorating because you are finding the story and you are in a groove. Meticulous writing is where I believe the craft comes in — the careful writing to make your story stronger.