Post by Germany on Aug 16, 2010 23:12:13 GMT -5
Note: I pulled this off another site, just in case anyone was morbidly curious as to what my writing process looked like. When I'm not in the middle of a move/life upheaval, and when I'm not having internet woes, this is why same-day replies rarely happen with me.
This is why it takes me longer than most people to get a post out. It’s not that I type slowly — I’ve timed myself a couple of times, and I average about 65 wpm when I have a document in front of me, which isn’t bad for someone who never learned to touch-type.
No, the problem is that I am by far my own worst critic. I’m constantly judging what I write, editing and rewording things. A typical-sized post for me — about 600-1,000 words most days — takes me anywhere from 3 to 4 hours from start to finish on average. This is why I restrict myself to one character on one board, and why I never enter more than 3 threads at once. I love to write, but I also like having a life off the computer.
Here is a transcript of a typical 4-hour post for me. “mi” stands for “minutes in”. Naturally the order and specifics of what I’m doing at each time-interval varies greatly from post to post, but in general the warm-up and 0-5 interval always occur, and usually around an hour or so in and near the end is where most of the actual uninterrupted writing gets done. Some days are better than others.
Warm-up: Re-read the post(s) I am responding to, bolding or otherwise highlighting the parts I want to keep in mind for my reply. This particular flavor of warm-up is skipped where I am the first poster and substituted with a “research history” step, when necessary ( this usually involves Wikipedia, although I DO double-check my facts against other sources if something seems sketchy/off or just to get more information ).
0-5 mi: Stare at the glowing display of a blank white sheet in front of me. It looks so empty. Ponder how I’m going to start my post.
7-8 mi: I need a cup of coffee. I still have yet to type a word.
9-20 mi: Writing, interrupted with adding and deleting words.
21-30 mi: I decide I don’t like the way I worded the third sentence. I experiment with a couple of different wordings, and ultimately delete all of them. Finally, I decide that the first wording — with a minor alteration, of course — was alright after all.
31-33 mi: This word either doesn’t adequately convey what I want to say, or else doesn’t do as good a job as I am sure another word would. I consult Thesaurus.com and choose a better word.
34-35 mi: Get another cup of coffee.
36-37 mi: Proofread. Decide that I like what I have so far.
38-60 mi: Writing, interrupted with adding and deleting words.
61-66 mi: I take a brief break to collect my thoughts and plan the next paragraphs. While I wait, I re-read what I have so far to try to coax the muse back out of hiding. Was I on crack when I wrote Paragraph 4?!
67-68 mi: Do I want to delete Paragraph 4? Maybe if I just move it earlier or later in the flow of the post….
69-69 mi: I delete Paragraph 4.
70-80 mi: Writing.
81-84 mi: This word either doesn’t adequately convey what I want to say, or else doesn’t do as good a job as I am sure another word would. I consult Thesaurus.com and choose a better word.
85-90 mi: Writing.
91-93 mi: Do I really want to use (insert word here) in this context? Does it make my sentence more fluid, or just clunky?
93-148 mi: I’m on a roll! Lots of writing with very little alteration.
149-160 mi: Quick proofreading. Entire sentences may be added or deleted, depending on my mood. There is a very good chance that I will go back and reword at least one expression.
161-174 mi: Short break to use the bathroom, and perhaps grab a meal or a snack.
175-178 mi: I decide I want Paragraph 4 in after all. It’s a good thing I saved it to my “just-in-case” file earlier. It ends up in a different place than I had originally intended, probably with a little rewording.
179-184 mi: Check a fact on the internet. Is this a plausible scenario?
185-215 mi: Writing, interrupted with adding and deleting words. Almost done!
216-219 mi: This word either doesn’t adequately convey what I want to say, or else doesn’t do as good a job as I am sure another word would. I consult Thesaurus.com and choose a better word.
220-235 mi: I’m done! I do a quick proofreading, although I really needn’t bother because I’ve been editing the whole thing all along. I probably won’t reword anything at this point. This is also where I add the coding for the post.
236-240: Posting. All done!
After the post: Proofread one last time, to make sure there are no glaring errors with the coding or anything else.
I am fully aware that most of the things I change probably don’t need it, and that the wording I ultimately end up settling on probably is equal to, rather than superior to, the wording I replaced. I know that a lot of this is probably related to the mild case of OCD I have which causes me to make my bed the same particular way each day, wash my hands a bit more often and a bit longer than I probably need to, and fold and arrange the towels so that they are all symmetrically stacked from largest to smallest with the closed ends facing outward.
However, I just can’t seem to make myself stop. -_-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is why it takes me longer than most people to get a post out. It’s not that I type slowly — I’ve timed myself a couple of times, and I average about 65 wpm when I have a document in front of me, which isn’t bad for someone who never learned to touch-type.
No, the problem is that I am by far my own worst critic. I’m constantly judging what I write, editing and rewording things. A typical-sized post for me — about 600-1,000 words most days — takes me anywhere from 3 to 4 hours from start to finish on average. This is why I restrict myself to one character on one board, and why I never enter more than 3 threads at once. I love to write, but I also like having a life off the computer.
Here is a transcript of a typical 4-hour post for me. “mi” stands for “minutes in”. Naturally the order and specifics of what I’m doing at each time-interval varies greatly from post to post, but in general the warm-up and 0-5 interval always occur, and usually around an hour or so in and near the end is where most of the actual uninterrupted writing gets done. Some days are better than others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Warm-up: Re-read the post(s) I am responding to, bolding or otherwise highlighting the parts I want to keep in mind for my reply. This particular flavor of warm-up is skipped where I am the first poster and substituted with a “research history” step, when necessary ( this usually involves Wikipedia, although I DO double-check my facts against other sources if something seems sketchy/off or just to get more information ).
0-5 mi: Stare at the glowing display of a blank white sheet in front of me. It looks so empty. Ponder how I’m going to start my post.
7-8 mi: I need a cup of coffee. I still have yet to type a word.
9-20 mi: Writing, interrupted with adding and deleting words.
21-30 mi: I decide I don’t like the way I worded the third sentence. I experiment with a couple of different wordings, and ultimately delete all of them. Finally, I decide that the first wording — with a minor alteration, of course — was alright after all.
31-33 mi: This word either doesn’t adequately convey what I want to say, or else doesn’t do as good a job as I am sure another word would. I consult Thesaurus.com and choose a better word.
34-35 mi: Get another cup of coffee.
36-37 mi: Proofread. Decide that I like what I have so far.
38-60 mi: Writing, interrupted with adding and deleting words.
61-66 mi: I take a brief break to collect my thoughts and plan the next paragraphs. While I wait, I re-read what I have so far to try to coax the muse back out of hiding. Was I on crack when I wrote Paragraph 4?!
67-68 mi: Do I want to delete Paragraph 4? Maybe if I just move it earlier or later in the flow of the post….
69-69 mi: I delete Paragraph 4.
70-80 mi: Writing.
81-84 mi: This word either doesn’t adequately convey what I want to say, or else doesn’t do as good a job as I am sure another word would. I consult Thesaurus.com and choose a better word.
85-90 mi: Writing.
91-93 mi: Do I really want to use (insert word here) in this context? Does it make my sentence more fluid, or just clunky?
93-148 mi: I’m on a roll! Lots of writing with very little alteration.
149-160 mi: Quick proofreading. Entire sentences may be added or deleted, depending on my mood. There is a very good chance that I will go back and reword at least one expression.
161-174 mi: Short break to use the bathroom, and perhaps grab a meal or a snack.
175-178 mi: I decide I want Paragraph 4 in after all. It’s a good thing I saved it to my “just-in-case” file earlier. It ends up in a different place than I had originally intended, probably with a little rewording.
179-184 mi: Check a fact on the internet. Is this a plausible scenario?
185-215 mi: Writing, interrupted with adding and deleting words. Almost done!
216-219 mi: This word either doesn’t adequately convey what I want to say, or else doesn’t do as good a job as I am sure another word would. I consult Thesaurus.com and choose a better word.
220-235 mi: I’m done! I do a quick proofreading, although I really needn’t bother because I’ve been editing the whole thing all along. I probably won’t reword anything at this point. This is also where I add the coding for the post.
236-240: Posting. All done!
After the post: Proofread one last time, to make sure there are no glaring errors with the coding or anything else.
I am fully aware that most of the things I change probably don’t need it, and that the wording I ultimately end up settling on probably is equal to, rather than superior to, the wording I replaced. I know that a lot of this is probably related to the mild case of OCD I have which causes me to make my bed the same particular way each day, wash my hands a bit more often and a bit longer than I probably need to, and fold and arrange the towels so that they are all symmetrically stacked from largest to smallest with the closed ends facing outward.
However, I just can’t seem to make myself stop. -_-