My Stages of Writing and Editing

What are the different stages of writing and editing that my manuscripts go through before they’re finally published? That’s a great question. I discussed in a podcast titled, First Drafts, many of the processes I use when writing a first draft before editing takes me into secondary and tertiary drafts. One of the first things I do is get a good idea of the type of story I’m looking to write. This initial phase normally takes between several days to up to two weeks or more. It depends on how fully developed the story is in my mind from the start. So, I form the basic idea of the plot and compile a minimal number of characters which may include the protagonist, a friend, a sidekick, a romantic interest, and a villain. What I’m doing in this phase is fleshing out the viability of the story. Is it a good story? Can it go somewhere? Does the general idea of the story have enough substance for me to stretch it into a full length novel? Once I’ve determined that there’s enough for me to continue, then I move on to the next phase in my writing process.

This phase is where I do most of my research. It is usually a lengthy and slow process which takes up to a month to complete. I try to be as thorough and detailed as I can. I describe in a podcast titled, Research, how I go through this process. I will highlight a few core aspects here. One of the tools I use for research, as I imagine you could guess, is the Internet. I spend time searching people, places, and events.

The next tool I use is artificial intelligence. While there are a good handful of AI tools, I tend to favor ChatGPT, as I feel that it responds to my query prompts with the most realistic and human like responses. I use ChatGPT and the Internet to gather information and also test out theories as to whether or not my thought thread is logical or even physically possible?

The last tool I use is one of the most important ones. Humans. I ask friends, colleagues, business associates, and professionals in their field about the research I’m conducting. For instance, I am not a molecular engineer, but if I were writing a story that dealt with splitting atoms, then I would want to go to the most respected sources I could find. I contact academia professionals at universities and also professionals and curators at museums for their input. I use them as a professional sounding board to ensure that my theories and thought threads are sound.

Once my research has been completed, I begin writing my story. Because most of my stories follow a three-act structure, which include an inciting incident, a key event, a first plot point, a first pinch point, a midpoint, a second pinch point, a third plot point, and then a false climax, a twist, and a climax, I tend to solidify those events in my mind as best as possible. Those major and minor plot points are the first things I write for my story. Now, keep in mind, I may not have those completely fleshed out, but at least I have the general idea of what I’m working toward. I use these major and minor points as anchors to work toward while writing my book.

As I discussed in my podcast titled, How to Start Writing, much of my writing comes out organically. By that I mean that I don’t always start at the very beginning and work toward the end. Many times I start somewhere in the middle and get a strong idea of where the story is headed and then circle back to chapter one. The writing process is different for every author, but this is what works for me.

When I’m finally done with my first draft, I put the story on a shelf for three or maybe four months and let it sit. I might pick up a previously written story and begin editing it or I might start work on a brand new story. If I’m tired of writing for the moment, I might pick up a book from the library and spend some time relaxing and reading. I find that this is an important step in my writing process as this downtime gives me time to look at the shelved story objectively when I return back to that initial draft.

I use a number of different software programs to write my stories. As you may know from previous podcasts or blogs, I use my mobile phone for much of my note taking. But the software I use to complete my stories is a small collection including: Scrivener, Microsoft Word, and Hemmingway Editor.

Thank you for joining me as I explored my writing journey. Continue reviewing my blogs and don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter where I share writing topics, behind-the-scene details, and members-only content. Remember to go over to my media page to watch my podcasts and learn additional content or view them on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok. Like and subscribe for more content.