A Self-Editing Checklist for the Exhausted Writer
Tricks for going from first draft to nearly-finished when your mind just wants to be done
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Over the coming weeks, writer Sarah Stankorb offers a window into her process. She says there’s no single, right way to write, but a glimpse at another writer’s tricks can offer insights into one’s own methods.
Finishing a first draft is a brain-emptying venture. Whether by plotter’s outline or zipping through a vomit draft (“pantser” mode), the momentum of fresh words on a page can be hard to match. It’s the activity of creation. If you’re lucky, it carries a sense of being touched by the muse.
Almost always, the result, even if inspired, is a bit of a mess.
Most writers recognize a first edit may be painful, like reviewing one’s junior high school photos. Both represent a period of ample potential squeaking out in uncontrolled combinations that only rarely can be called beautiful. The human form takes time to develop, settle into itself. In the first edit, all the gawky parts lunge forth. It’s easiest then to see what isn’t working, where thoughts don’t string…
