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A Writer's Tasks

© Phebe A. Durand

to write a ten-page story, ten pages is what you'll write. You might end up with nine or eleven, but not two or twenty. So your approach is focused on what the reader needs, and how you are going to meet their needs.

This sounds too easy, but ... well, it really is easy. It's just that it's so important, but we'll really dig into it when we get there.

Write a Rough Draft

Once you've done your pre-writing (yup, that's the first two things we talked about), it's time to try them out.

It's time to sit down and write.
When you start, just get words on the paper. Don't worry about spelling or punctuation or neatness - it doesn't matter yet. What does matter is that you get plenty of raw material, and start your creative mind working. What you write will be revised later, so just get your ideas and thoughts down before they run away.

When you write your rough draft, try skipping one line between each written line and leave wide margins so that you can jot down your revisions later.

Revise the First Draft

To make it easy... REVISE = LOOK AT AGAIN.

After you've scribbled down all your thoughts and filled your pages with examples, it's time to look at it again with new eyes. Try to put yourself in your reader's shoes and read the writing as if you were them. Have you said enough? Have you used more words than you need to?

Read it through once without touching your pencil. Then, grab a colored pen or pencil and begin jotting down your thoughts in the blank lines and margins as you read it again. You might want to read it aloud, or have someone else read your draft to you. The end result is what you'll re-work in the next step.

Write a Final Draft

This is the piece that you're supposed to be proud of. It's not a final draft until you're able to read it and say, "Yes! I've said what I wanted to say, and said it as well as I can."

Make sure that you type and print the final draft neatly,