Friday, April 9, 2010

Is There a WRITE Way?

When you have a chapter, blog post, long email (and for me, a newspaper column) to write, how do you go about tackling it?
I use a three step process.

Step one: I just have to get the words in my head DOWN.

No punctuation or spelling is paid attention to in this step(in other words: chicken scratch). The goal is get the words/thoughts out of my head.

It's kind of embarassing, but my blog post, column or chapter pretty much looks something like this:

he inched towardsd hershe could feel the breat hon her face.....andthendf
dfjasofjkseopijksdk *goobly gobbly gook*fldfjeuoajlasmfaosjf

It doesnt matter if anyone else can read it. I know what I was trying to say!

************

Step two: I go back to fix my sentences using proper punctuation and grammar.

He inched towards her. She felt his hot breath on her face.

************

Step Three: I jazz the writing up even more.

Her stomach lept into her throat, as he inched towards her. He was so close now, she could feel his hot breath on her cheek.

Pretty or not, THAT is HOW I ROLL!

How about YOU?


HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!


(chickenfw.zip)

21 comments:

All Women Stalker said...

I am loving the goobly gobbly gook part. Haha. That is pretty much how I do it, too. Usually, I give myself a few hours between steps 2 and 3. If there is no deadline to beat. But usually, there always is.

Stina said...

I try and write it all down as it comes out. If I get stuck at the end of a sentence as I try to figure out the next one, I might accidentally edit the last one.

Have a great weekend, Christine!

Pamela Gold said...

Same... I gotta get it all out of my head in one hot mess or I'll forget it. I edit for a long time. Kind of freakishly so! I read, read, and reread what I've got before I hit "Publish", darn it, my perfectionist ways!

I've seen some really bad writing. I've seen some really good writing with some really bad grammar. I hate it when people don't go back and read what they wrote before allowing it to cross my eyes. I'm not saying I'm awesome or anything, but that I take the time to make sure what I write also LOOKS nice.

So excited... I'm going to order my necklace from you RIGHT NOW! HOOOOOOORAH!

Maddy said...

There's no rhyme or reason to my writing. I just write it down the way I want it the first time. Then I go back and catch several errors and update a million times. I must revise my posts like 20 times before I publish. And sometimes, a typo manages to sneak in still :)

Maureen said...

Wish I can write that good! :D Since English isn't my first language, I tend to go on and on and on making my posts sometimes seems way too long. I need to learn to write it shorter with more punch LOL.

Happy SITS Friday :)

Clara said...

Girl, I roll almost like you do, except I leave step 2 for last.

Unknown said...

Oh I just write it down as it comes into my head, then read it over to check for mistakes or unnecessary words. My AP English teacher in high school once said to write your idea using as few words as possible and I've always thought about that. I don't always follow it but It's always in my head as I write.

Have a great weekend Christina!

Anonymous said...

Thats actually great advice..which I need to take haha Im one of those people who stare at the computer trying to write a post as is..and im never satisfied..but this is actually organized

Writing Without Periods! said...

How I roll, eh write: I think of something, write it, then fix it.
Love this blog post.
Mary

Cafe Fashionista said...

I just plunge right in. Getting every word down as quickly as possible so as not to lose my train of thought! :)

Sharlene T. said...

I empty my head and use Naturally Speaking to dictate and then cut and paste to my blog after editing. I try to keep it conversational but that doesn't always work. It doesn't matter how many times I check it, I'll find something wrong the minute I publish.

But, at least, I'm not going crazy over a less-than-perfect blog, anymore. It's all a work in progress.

lisa and laura said...

When I'm working on a manuscript I tend to word vomit. And then I just send it to Laura. Then she edits and sends it back to me so I re-edit after she's edited. But we're weird.

For the blog I word vomit and then edit and then send to Laura. And then I pretty much keep making tweaks every time I read it. I'm a compulsive editor when it comes to blog posts.

Callie Forester said...

I'm going with what you said. Just get it all down in one fell swoop. Then I go back and edit endlessly--especially for the book.

When I'm leaving comments I do the same thing--but there's almost always that one stupid mistake I don't catch-and once you hit that post button you can't go back, which is really irritating. Then you're just stuck on someone's blog looking like an idiot. I hate that! lol...

Anyway, I was writing all the blogs I follow to let them know I'm having a contest on my site.
The prize is a $20.00 gift certificate to the bookstore and a critique of your first chapter (we have testimonials on the site about our critiques if anyone is interested) All you have to do is write a paragraph to go with this sentence, "Her lips burned..."It's over tomorrow night at midnight so come enter!! Thanks :)

Sturgmom said...

I don't consider myself a "writer" but as a blogger, my system is similar to yours. Sometimes I have sentences/phrases/ideas that I want to use, so I have to get those jotted down before I forget. Then I go in and add details and edit edit edit.

That's usually why I don't post very regularly. It takes me too long to get things written exactly how I want them! You should see the number of "draft" blog posts I have saved, most of which will never see the light of the web.

Unknown said...

You must be significantly more patient than I am. I have to do all that as I'm writing. If I know something is bad, I can't seem to move on until I fix it. I have a feeling your way takes less time. lol!

Debby@Just Breathe said...

That is very interesting. I don't know if I could do that. I write my post and pray I haven't spelled anything wrong. I spell check and re-read it about six times before I post it. I do change some of the wording as I go along. I try to get it right the first time.

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

I just let it flow and fix the grammar later!

Stephanie said...

HA! :)
My process is very much the same. Most of the time, my first draft is even written by hand. (hangs head in old fashioned shame)
But it works for me!

Lourie said...

The world of texting is a wonderful thing. Words like to, too, and two can all be summed up as 2. It's one way I get it done quickly.

Claudya Martinez said...

I like the way you roll.

McVal said...

I was able to understand the gobblety gook part just fine! Why'd you change it?