Ready for the next part of the writing process?

Step Two – Writing

You have your plan so sit yourself down and begin your draft. Do not pay any mind to grammar, punctuation, spelling or even word count at this stage – that can come later. Don’t even worry if you start going off-topic or if some of your plan doesn’t really fit in very well – just carry on writing.

New writers might just be surprised to realize that even the best professional authors do several drafts before they are anywhere near happy with what they have written. This is normal because no-one, not even the best, can get it right first time.

Some of the things you might find useful when you start on your first draft are:

Setting a minimum of half an hour aside just to concentrate. If you are just doing a few minutes writing here and there, you can't possibly work up any kind of flow.

Find somewhere that you will not be distracted – if you don’t have a quiet room at home, head for the library.

Shut down anything on your computer that is distracting while you write or, if you are hand-writing, switch the television off. Have the radio on if you find it easier to concentrate; it’s not so distracting.

You could end up writing a number of drafts, particularly if you are a fiction writer and subsequent drafts will more than likely blend elements from both this step and the next one, the revising step.

Do keep in mind that writing requires a good deal of energy and concentration. If you are new to this, do not attempt to sit for hours writing without a break. Set a time limit, stick to it and then you can check your Facebook page or your email!

Step Three – Revising

Revision is all about making changes. You could end up removing entire parts of your work, rewriting paragraphs and adding more information which you decide will be needed. Every writer needs to revise their work, even the professionals.

When it comes to adding to your work, consider what else your readers might need to know. If your word count is down, think about where you could expand without writing fluff and filler. At this point, review your original notes again; there might be an idea that you could add now.

What about rearranging what you have written? You may have planned things very well but that doesn’t mean it’s right – there could be sections that need rearranging. Check for flow; it might sound better if you swap a paragraph or two around.

Occasionally, an idea just won't work; you might have gone way over the word count and a paragraph or three need to be removed or maybe that anecdotal story doesn’t really fit.

Last, read through to see if your writing jumps to life on the page. If not, you might need to replace some of what you have written. You might need to use stronger examples in places or entire paragraphs may need to be rewritten.

If you can’t see what does and doesn’t work, ask someone else to read it and get some feedback. If possible, get several people to read it for you and get several opinions.