Thread: polish current chapters, or keep moving through book?

I recently started writing my first book, and i am trying to figure out if it would be best to polish off the chapters i currently have, or continue working my way through the book, and come back later to finish things off. any tips or ideas? thank you!

Keep moving, always keep moving -You would never polish a table until you'd finished making it....

My suggestion is keep moving toward the book, get all those chapters out of your head, all those scenes, and then go back, edit and fix anything that might be wrong. That's what I do. Personally if I let me get stuck editing, I feel I'm never going to finish the first, second or third draft of the MS. Currently, the story I'm writing is experimentational, not meant for publication, yet, to be trapped in my hard drive and my flash drive for time indefinite, so I don't have to worry about that when it comes to my current work, right now, but the best thing to do is to get the draft done first and then go back and tweak.

Keep Moving Forward! - YouTube

I usually write at night. The first thing I do in the morning is to run through what I wrote the night before, but only for thirty minutes before continuing that night.

I'm having a similar issue. I think it depends on how much you've written, and where're you're at in your mind. If you know where everything is going, then go there; write more! If you have a mental block and are unsure how to proceed, read over and improve what you've got, so that you can get some ideas while being productive.

I always 'polish' (edit/revise) as I go. When I finish a chapter, it's ready for my betas. I look at their comments, edit/revise, and then it's done - on to the next. I've thought about waiting until it was complete and the very thought bores me to tears - not to mention that I have to have things 'settled' so I know what can and will happen in the next chapter.

You have to figure out what works best for you. Try different ways until you do, and then realize that the next book may need a completely different method.

As others have said, it depends on how you write. In general, I'd recommend pushing through to the end, then fixing things up afterwards. You will never, ever get a book to the point where you decide "this is absolutely perfect and I can't improve on it anymore." If you focus on polishing chapters instead of getting everything on paper, you'll never reach the end of your your book. Write first and finish first; if it's garbage, it doesn't matter - you're going to be editing anyway! At least you'll have something to work with.

Now, my own approach to writing involves heavy planning beforehand, so my chapters tend to be fairly polished once they're written. You could argue that I'm "polishing first." However, I never stop pushing ahead. I never decide, "Okay, instead of writing today, I'm going to edit the stuff I've done already." No, any additional changes are done here and there as I reread my story in passing.

I expect to go over my entire novel once its done, but until then, I simply write. I'd advise anyone else to do the same.

You can't really do any substantial editing until you see the finished product and how all the parts work together. So editing as you go seems like it could potentially be a waste of time.

As with all 'procedures' involved in writing it is what works best for you. If you think you might want to rewrite chapter by chapter, try it. You'll find out soon enough if works for you or not. Some successful writers rewrite as they go, others do not. There is no 'best' way. I write in full drafts with the major rewrites happening between the first and second draft. After that the content is set, any future drafts are for minor tweaks and proofing.

I write short-short fiction so my information is from my perspective of other writers in my writing group.

Forward. You'll get new ideas as you go and want to put them in earlier parts. Don't. Wait till it's done and you know all your new ideas. Otherwise, what I've seen happen is writers get bored or stuck somewhere.

Thanks for all of the info everyone, i really appreciate it!

I'll have to disagree with a couple people here. First, polishing as you go does not mean you will never finish. I have. Second, there is little difference in the time wasted writing garbage which then needs to be heavily edited, and editing as you go and being done with it. Third, getting new ideas for what happened earlier is always going to happen, regardless of how you write it. You'll get those long after the book is finished. As I stated, what happens next depends on what I've already written - if I get some new idea, it either has to fit the current story or it gets put in the 'new story' file.

The only thing you have to remember is to try different methods and see what works for you. There is no 'right way' or 'best way' or 'wrong way' or any way except what works for you. If anyone tells you you have to do anything in a prescribed way or you won't be successful, stop listening to them. The only rules are in grammar - the rest are merely suggestions based on what worked for this one or that.

Originally Posted by shadowwalker

Second, there is little difference in the time wasted writing garbage which then needs to be heavily edited, and editing as you go and being done with it.

So, what happens when the story takes an unexpected turn in chapter 23, a new direction that you actually like, and you find that your chapter 2, the one so lovingly edited and 'perfected', doesn't fit within the broader scope of the story?

Originally Posted by johnM

So, what happens when the story takes an unexpected turn in chapter 23, a new direction that you actually like, and you find that your chapter 2, the one so lovingly edited and 'perfected', doesn't fit within the broader scope of the story?

Exactly what I said above - if it doesn't fit with the current story, it goes into the next. What do you do when you've completed a full story and decide to change Chapter 2 because of a wonderful new idea?

The method doesn't matter one whit as long as it works for that writer.