How many steps are there in the writing process?

Answer 1

If you are looking for specific steps, do not bother. Each successful writer seems to use a slightly different technique. Fiction and non fiction writers however use totally different techniques.

Non fiction writers create the outline. They recreate it in far more detail. Then they fill in the details. They frequently spend more time on the outline than on the text itself.

Fiction writers each have their own technique. When Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind, she wrote it backwards. She wrote the last chapter first, then the next to the last chapter and so forth.

All fiction writers constantly revise. TK Rowling revised the first page of Harry Potter 15 times. Katherine Revised her novel Christy, 49 times.

Jack London would revise his material using colored pencils. He would use a different color each day.

Finally, the manuscript is typed and sent to the editor or agent. The editor suggests changes. With many novels, the editor removes the first 4 chapters! Then the editor creates galley proofs. Then the editor creates page proofs. Then the editor creates the book. So most of the writing process occurs in the revising process.

Of course, everything begins with the idea. One woman used the story board technique. She put pictures around her room in the order she wanted the story to go. Another woman went to the Holy Land. As she went from site to site, she imagined what one historical figure was saying to another.

Put yourself in the dangerous place. Imagine you are Jane trying to hide from the man who just escaped death row for rape and murder. You are Bill with one bullet in your gun. If you do not hit the charging grizzly in his heart he will eat you.

A good writer puts you in the scene.