People have asked what my writing methodology is. It’s often tempting to be snarky and say, “I just make stuff up. Why, what have you heard?”
But it’s an important question, so I should give it a fair answer. Here goes.
First, I come up with the idea. That’s the easy part for me because I thrive on storytelling, and love to see the story behind the story.
Second, I write a crappy draft. It’s all the details and jokes and insights and stories I can gush onto the page. I don’t worry about grammar or formatting or even contradicting myself. Trust me, it really is crap, and far too long.
Third, I study the crappy draft for the real story in the story. Writing is processing for me, so the thoughts are often cluttered. Reviewing the crappy draft allows me to spot the real story I want to share.
Fourth, I cut all but the salient points (mostly). This is painful because there will be great stuff that just doesn’t fit the message.
Fifth, I sit on it for a bit and do nothing. If it’s an important project, this might be days or weeks. If it’s less important it might only be an hour.
Sixth, I revisit the writing and make changes. And then done. ✅
At this point it can go one of two directions. If it’s a simple email or blog post (like this) then I just hit send/publish and am done. But if it’s more important — like an article for publication, a devotion email that goes out to thousands, or an actual book — then I have a co-writer take a look. My co-writer is David, who lives in a cellar. I only let him out to feed his dog, Lucy.
The co-writer will fix mistakes, of course, but more importantly will shift ideas around, add ideas, develop descriptions, or point out weaknesses in the writing.
Then I go back and redo it with the input. Then the co-writer looks again, then I finalize it. At that point it goes to someone (usually my assistant Anne) who has an eagle eye for missing commas and hyphens. She suggests edits, I accept most and deny a few, then it’s ready for publication.
My point isn’t that my system is a good one, but you can see how important collaboration is in the writing. Oh wait, that’s the REAL story here. Hmmm.
Just thought you’d be curious! Hope this gives a better answer than my snarky attitude would suggest.