WIP Wednesday - What Kind of a Writer are You?

Non-fiction update: Edits with my developmental editor are complete and I am now working with a fabulous line editor. A few revisions led to a much needed new Chapter 1 :D Things are looking good!

As to my question for the day, we talk a lot about being a pantser or outliner, but I've been thinking about another kind of writer lately.

My crit group started up again recently, and this time, I didn't have a finished project to post. So I've been writing as I go along, sometimes finishing my required pages the day I'm supposed to post.

Now, I knew this about myself before, but it's really been driven home lately - I am a layer writer.

My first draft is generally nothing but getting the actual blow by blow scene down. She did this, he said that, they went here, she said something else. It's flat but it gets the basic scene done. Then I go back and add some emotion to it. Give the characters reactions, feelings. Then I'll usually go back and add more action or motivation or anything else that's missing.

I try to do all this on the first try, of course. But invariably, I usually end up with a flat, bare bones scene that needs a few more layers to really make it work.

I can tell when I've had the time to go back over my weekly post several times, because the comments I get from my awesome crit partners on the emotions and tension and action in the scene are generally better than when I posted at the last second.

And when I post for my second crit group, after I've revised several times incorporating awesome main CPs' corrections and suggestions and added layer upon layer, I can really tell a difference.

I have improved a bit over the years. And if I go slowly and think about every line before I write it, I can get some of those layers in there the first time around. But when I do this, my projects have a tendency to fizzle out. I lose interest in them. Because I'm spending too much time trying to get them perfect the first time around.

If I just word vomit the scene and worry about adding the layers once I have the basic structure set, I have a much better completion rate. And I enjoy writing the story more as well.

How about you? Do you layer with each revision or can you get it all out with the first draft? (and I envy you if you can!) :D

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