In my first section, I lay out the rules for approaching the process. In this section, I go into the process itself. Everyone is different, and some authors follow very different processes to achieve their outcomes, so expect that your own process may change as you go along.
Discover your approach: Outline vs Discovery
Some authors build an outline first, focusing on the mechanics and structure of their writing, meticulously building their story like an architect. They put the story down, brick by brick, beginning with generalities and refining them onward to the story they envision. Other authors just jump into the writing, not knowing where they are going or what the hell they are doing, and build an outline as they go.
I am of the latter. I do not use any structure up front beyond an idea. But that being said, I do create outlines. I call them METAs. They are work of both love and necessity, coming alive alongside the story. The META is a twin to the story, and just as important. I created my first META by complete accident, when I realized that I needed a way to track the logic of my world. I needed to be able to keep my slang/language, my money systems, my calendars, and every small stupid little aspect of my world logically and internally consistent. Then it grew into including characters: where they were, why they were doing what they were doing, and how they were going about reaching their goals. SUDDENLY, a wild outline appears! But my outline of character, plot, motivations and conflicts, grew alongside my writing itself. As I discovered the story, I discovered the outline. I have heard other authors like Brandon Sanderson in his very strong BYU lecture series on YouTube and Stephen King in his book, On Writing, discuss other approaches that are just as valid (and they are from actual artists that I will never be). But the underlying lesson here is be willing to try anything, and see what works for you.
Discover your tools: Computer, Longhand, Both?
In the great late 80’s Chevy Chase movie, Funny Farm, the two main protagonists are husband and wife heading away from NY to the little town of Redbud. Chevy Chase’s character is a former newspaper sports writer, trying to put his first book down on a typewriter, and his beautiful wife, Madolyn Smith discovers that she is a writer quite by accident, putting her children’s story down on yellow legal pads. I always appreciated the dichotomy of the two approaches, which are underlining the character differences between the two in a great and hilarious movie that I think everyone should watch. Like them, one has to pick their tools to get the magic to happen. One may result in a great children’s book that your husband will try to steal and publish as his own, while his tragic car wreck of a crime novel ends up burning in the fireplace (spoilers, sorry).
My approach is to use plaintext on my computer. That means I do not use Word, or any office application. Oh, I do eventually, but for not my initial effort. Plaintext editors ignore what the hell you are trying to do, and are generally great at staying out of the way. Microsoft Word and their ilk are just an obstruction to me. I don’t want to deal with formatting, or with suggestions on style, or even autocorrect. I want to write. I used Notepad++ for years, and recently moved over to VisualStudio Code (VScode). VScode allows me to have multiple panes open at once, with my story on one side, previous edits/snippets/ideas on another, and my META or notes on a third. Notepad++ does the same, albeit only with two panes, not three, but VScode allows much more flexibility overall, including a massive number of plugins and themes (dark mode is an absolute must). Plus Microsoft will ensure VScode continues to be a great app along the way, supporting coding (which writing is).
Discover your iterations: Editing, Formatting, etc…
Once I get the basic story down to a single text/markdown document, aka the first draft, with my META in hand, I can give it the first read through and fix the glaring errors like logic and pacing issues. I can also do my first bit of voicing, point of view, and character fixes. The result is my second draft.
The second draft is what I would start to share with others. This is the meat and bones of my story overall, and some things will change, including the smaller things like mistakes with grammar and spelling. Hell, sometimes my writing will use entirely the wrong word or I will reuse the same word repetitively. This is when I take my second draft and dump it into an actual Word processor. I use Word to reread the entire thing, fixing the grammar, spelling, and sentence to sentence flow. I think I am a fairly decent self-editor, even though, I know that a paid editor would do a far superior job, but I am poor, and I am not writing to be a paid author, so yeah… I do it.
With different mediums (plaintext vs word doc vs pdf) I can read the same story in different ways. Seeing the line changes, like how the text is rendered differently, helps me identify errors as well. I have even saved my doc as a pdf and loaded it to my Kindle so that I can read through it like an actual reader, making changes on my PC as I go (this is super effective for me). Another method I use is reading it aloud, listening to how it sounds, and making changes in batches. Even posting short stories and such to this website allow me to perform this different medium approach to find the mistakes.
Discover your end point: When do I stop?
This is a gut feel. Sometimes I just know that I am done. Other times, I have edited a single book six to seven times, and I know that if I keep editing, I will just kill myself by paralysis by analysis. I usually go through four full edits or so with my books… one in txt, one in doc, one in pdf (editing the doc), one in an Amazon proof print (editing the doc). Each time I iterate the draft, I save it off in another version, so I have a running history of my versions. This allows me to go back and have them side by side if I need to change something drastic.
Short stories are little bastards. I usually put minimal effort into them when I post here on my site. They are always one pass edits, usually just to cover the stupid mistakes, but invariably, little ones slip through. When I collect them together into a short story collection, I usually make a bunch of significant changes, just like how I edit a larger novel for publication.
Following this process has worked for me, but as I noted, it really depends on the person. You have to find what works for you… and that means discipline. Putting the time into writing, so the process is discovered along the way.