How I edit

(A version of this was posted to my Tumblr ) 

Finish the rough draft or “skeleton” draft. I don’t call this draft the first draft; it’s still too raw. 

Read through everything. Highlight in blue what needs major work. 

Go back and rewrite “blued out” scenes. Highlight finished edits in red. (This is so I can see what changes I've made before I print a copy.)

Convert all text to black. Print copy. 

Read out loud. 

Repeat steps if necessary. 

Now I have a “first” draft. This is by no means a final draft, but it’s one I can take to a writing workshop without too much embarrassment.

If writing is supposed to be some magical journey, I haven't been there yet. When I was younger, I read Mihály Csíkszentmihályi's book Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. I'm still waiting for "flow" to happen, but for now I've accepted that this is the way I write: piecemeal, crabwalking my way through blocks of text until I have something resembling a story.