Question for fellow authors

[Ainz_Sama_1234]

How do you guys write?

Do you guys write the whole chapter, and make all the lines and the synonyms, the romance, the meanings, all the things at the same time while writing the novel

Or

You guys just write whatever comes to your mind and then after the chapter is done, you open the page once again and start reading it again and changing all the lines, making them more readable, more relatable, more experienced, and changing words to more attractive words.

Tell me which one do you do?

 

[SailusGebel]

Write the whole chapter and make a bunch of placeholders with notes whenever I stumble. Then edit the whole chapter, add details, and descriptions, rewrite where necessary, and trim unnecessary stuff.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

I write whatever comes to mind then I edit it to fix any issues I see. Let it sit for a day. Look at it again and edit it before sending it out.

 

[TheOneWho]

the 2nd one

 

[RedHunter2296]

I usually have a document with all the crucial points of the story. In each chapter, I propose a goal, introduce a new place, explain something, introduce a new character, and mention their day-to-day life and how they relate to each other.

Before writing a chapter I write in another document an idea of how the chapter will more or less develop. Something like:

The main character arrives at a cafeteria

He describes the place and pays attention to the restaurant owner because he likes to work there.

His girlfriend arrives at the restaurant, the protagonist is surprised because he did not expect the dress she was wearing.

They both order something to eat and start talking about their studies.

The owner of the restaurant and delivers the food, mistaking them for a married couple.

Then they finish talking and go to the train station to visit a friend.

After I have the important points I start to write in more detail each point or idea that I had before, I put more filler but always looking at what is the next important point for the story to develop and make way for it to happen. Maybe things change during the writing, maybe they go-to karaoke instead, but still, there will be a structure and a clear progression of the development.

 

[Nyctoria]

Carefully.

 

[Sebas_Guzman]

I write the whole book first. Most times I start in the middle or at other critical scenes and then build around them. While doing this, I keep in mind that I want 2000 word segments if I'm doing a web serial. Once the book's first draft is done, I go back, do the editing, slot in any transition type scenes, strengthen any themes that recur, add the foreshadowing and then once the whole thing is done, I start uploading. The uploads are pretty much the third revision and I catch any last minute errors.

 

[georgelee5786]

You guys just write whatever comes to your mind and then after the chapter is done, you open the page once again and start reading it again and changing all the lines, making them more readable, more relatable, more experienced, and changing words to more attractive words.

I do this but without rereading the chapter because I'm not invested enough in my 'story' to do all that.

 

[J_Chemist]

I just send it and go with the flow.

 

[apexaltra]

I write and edit one chapter at a time. My process is typically as follows:

Draft 0: Outline general scenes and things I want to happen

Draft 1: Write scenes in whatever order I want, in however much detail I want. Some scenes will have detailed paragraphs, others will be entirely dialogue, some will just be placeholders like [fight scene here]

Draft 2: Flesh out all the scenes. Add more detail and better dialogue, make sure character actions are believable, rewrite anything with janky wording.

Draft 3: Flesh out and rewrite more. Make sure that they have coherent beginnings/ends which tie into the scenes before/after them. Make sure that the tone for each scene is good, and that character development and worldbuilding for the chapter is covered.

Draft 4: More tweaks. All scenes should be complete by this point.

Then I send to my editor which is optional

Draft 5: Go over my editor's comments and, again, rewrite anything that feels off. Touch up the grammar. Make sure that I'm not accidentally repeating certain words or phrases. Do some last minute word replacement, breaking-up or joining of sentences, etc.

And that's about it. At any point I can also add or remove scenes, or move them around. The outline isn't set in stone.

After that, I break the chapter up into pages which will get posted individually (since the format of my serial is different than a typical webnovel- my chapters are ~7-14k or more, but pages are much shorter, for reference.) Because of this, later scenes can take a long time to see the light of day and I can end up with draft 6 or 7 for those lol.

 

[CautiousTitan]

Back when I used to write for Merchant/SQA, I already had the story in my head. All I needed to do was put it on the paper. However, when you start unloading all of the ideas for the next chapter, or perhaps even the first chapter if it's a new series, you tend to realize better ideas, word choice, character actions, etc.

So in my case, I would always find myself reading the chapter as I write it. I would remove and add scenes based on what I felt seemed right for the occasion. It's very much a mix of pantser and planner only because I used to always think about my stories all the time in the back of my head and already went through numerous iterations before finally sitting on my laptop and typing it.

Also, it's good to finish a chapter, take a break, and then come back to it hours later to see if you are still content with how the chapter came together. With a pair of fresh eyes, basically

 

[BlackKnightX]

The second for me. I don’t really care about pretty sentences. Just keep it as friendly and genuine as possible.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

I write 3 times what I need and throw out the useless stuff.

 

[K5Rakitan]

I write in a paper notebook, let it sit for a long time, type it while editing, let it sit for a month, and edit again before publishing.
At least . . . I do that when I don't have a womb goblin sucking my nipples multiple times a day.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

I start with an idea. Then I decide on my characters and write a few sentences describing them and what I want them to accomplish. From there I write down events that must happen in the story. After that I write a very basic rough outline without any fluff. Sentences like ’Tom goes to the store gets in fight with John.’ When that’s done I’ll actually work on the finished product adding in descriptive words, dialog, thoughts and generally making it nice, and after that is just editing.

 

[ProjCRys]

How do you guys write?

Do you guys write the whole chapter, and make all the lines and the synonyms, the romance, the meanings, all the things at the same time while writing the novel

Or

You guys just write whatever comes to your mind and then after the chapter is done, you open the page once again and start reading it again and changing all the lines, making them more readable, more relatable, more experienced, and changing words to more attractive words.

Tell me which one do you do?

I write the what scenes I would add in a chapter in 1-2 sentences each then I'll write out the details

 

[HappyVainGlory]

How do you guys write?

Do you guys write the whole chapter, and make all the lines and the synonyms, the romance, the meanings, all the things at the same time while writing the novel

Or

You guys just write whatever comes to your mind and then after the chapter is done, you open the page once again and start reading it again and changing all the lines, making them more readable, more relatable, more experienced, and changing words to more attractive words.

Tell me which one do you do?

You guys edit?

 

[Shugurana]

Write what comes in my minds, stop when it got stuck
Usually I got a sudden insight later when I was doing something else then edit my works do not try to force yourself to write if you have no motivation

 

[SoulCube]

Straight up I just be writing, I outline a plot for the next ~15-25 chapters, outside of like a major plot which I have constructed beforehand, and just write along those lines. Sometimes it bites me sometimes it doesn't

Reborn! A Thief's Greed

 

[Pujimaki]

2nd