The 6 Stages of Writing
August 16, 2006 by Arvind
The Writing Process involves 6 basic stages, which are not separate as they often flow into one another in our experience. Or depending on how you write you might engage in certain stages simultaneously. Here are the stages:
1. Pre-writing. It’s like hatching an egg from conception, incubation to hatching the plot
2. Writing. The actual work that requires creativity and discipline. Putting pen to paper or fingertips to keyboard.
3. Revising. This is the craftsmanship side of writing. You’re not just completing something according to basic standards but to your own satisfaction. Writing is after all an art. It’s the same care you would put into creating a model ship or plane.
4. Editing. Putting the last touches on your work to make sure it flows well like adding any missing pieces or removing parts that don’t fit.
5. Publishing. This is the part that many writers dislike because it’s the business side of things. You take it all in stride from the 1st rejection letter to the 100th. We decided to go with a publisher we knew instead of going through this process of waiting and hoping. When you do get a “yes” then you can congratulate yourself for your persistence and do a little dance in celebration.
6. Promotion. Your publisher depending on size and budget will often handle many aspects of promotion, such as shelf space in bookstores, distributors, media kit and many other important details. Still as an author you need to be available for book launches, book signings, and other public and media appearances. This allows you to interact with your audience and receive valuable feedback from them.
What was your favourite stage in this process? Why?
Each stage is special in its own way. So it’s difficult to choose just one but I liked the prewriting and writing stages the most. Why?
The prewriting stage is where you’re developing your ideas for your project. At this phase, Debby and I were involved in brainstorming, creating an outline, story charts, character profiles, and developing our voice and themes. Since we wrote in collaboration, we divided the project by the chapters in our outline based on our interest. I found developing a project highly satisfying with the dynamic exchange of ideas and lively discussions with my co-author.
The writing stage was both a challenge due to time constraints and discipline that it required and a wonderful opportunity to work with your muse. When I felt inspired and ideas were coursing through my mind, I felt that I was most alive at those moments. Both Debby and I found, writing to be a “charged” phenomenon, where we had currents of thoughts after which our minds required periods of rest. Remarkably even when you aren’t writing, you’re often thinking of it. The characters, setting, plot; everything becomes very palpable and real for you as a writer. The imaginative and creative side at this stage made it a treasured experience.
Do you have a favourite stage and why do you like it the most?
I found that writing “Nexus” with my co-author to be a most amazing experience; the writing process brought many aspects of my being to life in a highly energized way.
The creation of the initial plot outline and character profiles was created from logic, analysis, integration of true life experiences that we had, as well as coming from inspiration, higher guidance, and a mysterious flow that seemed to have a creative life of its own.
The plot outline and character profiles were written down on paper, and were most useful as a resource that kept us on track, since the entire story was written over a time frame of about four years, and we had much living, life and work to attend to when not writing. At times we would journey off onto creative tangents from the original plot line, yet this seemed to work out well too, and readily integrated into our initial ideas. We always had the plot outline and character profiles to refer back to when needed.
Initially I was unsure if it was possible for me to write an entire novel when I was already busy with working full time operating a small business. Interestingly, I found that by setting aside one half of a day (on the weekend) per week that was scheduled as my writing time, I would easily devote myself to writing at this point and whenever inspired just continue on writing for as long as was needed. What seemed like an insurmountable task became a writer’s lifestyle that I managed with surprising ease.
When writing I often lost track of time and continued on with my inspirations and soon an entire manuscript was ready to be edited. I really appreaciated the collaborative efforts of writing a novel together with my co-author since we seemed to replace one another’s weaknesses with our own strengths. Ultimately this made for the making of a much more high quality novel.
To aspiring writers out there I would like to say that you don’t have to wait until you have years of free time to write your novel. Just set aside a ‘writing appointment’ for yourself each week, and never miss an appointment! You’ll be surprised how making a committment to writing your novel quickly brings the writing process into an unending flow of inspirations.
[...] In The 6 Stages of Writing, I had clarified the components of the Writing Process and a follow up post, discussed these stages as interrelated not separate stages. The first stage of the writing process begins with pre-writing. So this will be the first of a series of posts, which will look at each stage in greater depth. For a definition of each stage you can read my previous posts on this topic. Pre-writing involves a number of strategies aimed at exploring your topic. Debbie and I found the use of an outline to be most useful. So we will begin looking at this strategy first. [...]