So I was trying to write today and I’m seriously debating just printing out what I have right now and editing it, all 90 pages of what I have, mostly because I’m so confused as to what I have and what I don’t and what goes where that things are taking longer than I like. The major problem is that I wrote about 14,000 words that I completely lost due to the Great USB Fiasco of 2007. Now, I find myself thinking, Wait, I can’t do that because of this…oh wait, I lost that scene, so it hasn’t happened yet. And then I realize that what I’m writing now contradicts something I wrote earlier. I really need to either:

1) Read through what I’ve written and edit or
2) Outline so I have a better idea what’s happened and what should happen.

I feel a little amateurish for allowing myself to get confused. Does anyone else experience this problem? But it leaves me a bit baffled about what to do. Do I cut my production to edit (I usually don’t edit until I have a first draft) or make a brief outline and just keep chugging along? Suggestions are always helpful!

It’s frustrating, and I finally got frustrated enough that I stopped writing the main storyline and wrote a love scene between the two main characters just for fun, even though that isn’t going to happen. I just needed an outlet so I had a little fun — and it was fun! And silly, and wrenchingly romantic. It’s a good sign when I’m invested in my own characters that I write a bit of my own fan fiction, right? Oh, and in case you were wondering, “Stuttering” by Ben’s Brother is a very good background song when writing romantic scenes.

8:03 pm | Category: Writing | |

2 Responses to “Should I edit or should I keep going?” 

ID: 198 January 8th, 2008 at 10:05 pm easywriter says: I have that problem too Himani, I keep going back and re-writing but it bogs me down so the end never comes I get frustrated and stop. But if you are having difficulty moving ahead maybe you should edit what is there then move forward using an outline for the rest. I love romantic scenes by the way.

ID: 204 February 19th, 2008 at 7:12 pm Charlotte Babb says: Finish the draft and then edit. Outlining is not editing. But keep on writing down the story ideas. They know you are workign on them in your head if you write them down with respect in a place where you can find them again.

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