Remembering

A technique I use when writing a draft, which I’m sure is not unique, is to keep a list of things I need to change when I start editing the book. The reason I do this is because I prefer to keep writing than to go back and edit during the writing process. Most of the things I list are relatively minor and easy to fix. For example, right now I’m writing The Drop: Season Four. I made a note the other day that says, “What about the jackets? Where do they go after the frozen lake?” Yes, I realize that’s cryptic to you. To me, it means I need to insert some info in a few parts on that particular clothing item. Does it require a lot of effort? No. Do I care about jackets? Yes, because the reader will wonder what happened to them. If I don’t like a chapter or more and need to take the book in a different direction, do I wait until the editing process? No. That requires more effort and I tend to do that while drafting. Not that I won’t do it in the editing room if I need to, but in my little world I try to make the draft as complete as possible and use my list to fix the minor imperfections. How long is the list? With a lot of my books, I had probably twenty bullet points at the most. This book has less than five so far. I’ll add more, I’m sure, especially as I start wrapping up plot threads. Keeping the list means I don’t break my flow of writing. That’s how my brain works. Will it work for you?