I’m more then half way through writing the rough draft of my story, and last week I realized that I have a whole lot of fixing I need to do.  Like start at the beginning and re-work the whole story fixing.  Mostly characterization things to do with my main character, but those are things that will affect the overall feeling and some specifics of what I’ve already done.

Its going to take a while to get them sorted out, and while I was thinking about it I fond myself wondering what was the best way to go about it.  Should I continue to write from where I am, and worry about the massive re-writes until I’m finished with my first draft, or is it a better idea to go back and sort out all of my problems now before I go on?  I’m not sure there is one good answer to that question, I need to figure out which one works the best for me.  Maybe I’ll use a pro / con chart to help me decide, or maybe I should stick to my goal:  Have my rough draft done by the end of October so that I can start the second part in November.

It seems likely that I’ll go that route, because I’m really keen to keep going with this story.  This bit of fiction that I’ve been dreaming about on and off for years, but only this last year managed to get the lions share of it put done in any semblance of order.  Its always been a trilogy for me, always been a progression for my characters to work through and discover themselves.

Re-writes and editing for me normally go hand in hand.  I have a weird system, in which I basically sit down with a copy of what I’ve written, that has been read by a third party and notations have been added regarding flow, clarity, spelling, and grammar.  I use this copy and re-type the whole thing, and make all of the corrections I find on my own, as well as taking in to account the other things that have been noted.

Its a long process, but I think I like it better then some others I’ve tried.  Editing is a necessary evil, and I despise it with a passion.  I’m always looking for something I can do to make it more bearable.

On another note, September wasn’t a very productive month for me, as shown by not only my lack of writing, but my lack of weekly blogs.  I’ve tried the weekly update thing in the past, and I’m not always very good with it.  This is something I’m really trying to stick to this time, because I think it helps keep me on track, and get something significant done each week.  I always struggle with this, but when I do manage to reach my goals, I feel so much better about where I’m headed.