I'm forcing myself not to in the hopes that I will keep my inner editor at bay. However, I keep adding notes to check on details that I may already have written (for consistency sake).
Where do you folks fall on this argument? Tips? Tricks? I'm all ears....well, not really. But now you have a mental picture, don't you? ;oP
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"I just wrote a book, but don't go out and buy it yet, because I don't think it's finished yet." - Lawrence Welk
38,565 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 07 00
Here's what I do. I try really hard not to go back and add stuff unless it's a major scene that is needed to make what I am currently writing make any sense. I do, however, keep a hany notebook with me and write down anything minor that I need to go back and look at and edit. That way it's out of my head and my inner editor stays in the closet eating cookies.
----------"Be the change you want to see in the world" - M. Gandhi
40,148 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 07 02
No, because right now it If did I'd delete the file and start something else! Or possibly just go to the pub to drown my sorrows. :D
35,862 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 07 03
No. I do let my mom read what I've written, but I myself don't read it until I'm done. If I were to read it, I'd be afraid that I'd start editing and mess up my flow.
----------NaNoWriMo '08 - Laughter is the Best Medicine - 50165 - Won!
NaNoWriMo '09 - Painting the Roses Red - xxxxx - Hopeful!
41,711 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 07 06
Not while I'm writing I don't. If I did I would never get anywhere. I'd either tear my hair out and then have to wear a bag over my head(which would make it hard to see and therefore hard to write) or I would just stop writing and weep the rest of the month.
----------8,122 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 07 19
No, I know that if I read what I've written then I'll spend too much time editing and thinking of what else to add. So far it's been really hard not reading everything I've written, but I know it will mess up my flow.
30,010 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 07 24
I do read what I've written, but I do it with my inner editor locked in a closet, bound and gagged. I read it to get a better handle on where I am story wise and where the characters are, also with how the wording is flowing. I don't edit any of it, unless I notice a misspelled word or something phrased weirdly.
I don't think I could write without reading what I've written. I rarely stop writing at the end of a chapter. I don't stop in the middle of a thought, though. If that makes sense.
----------65,614 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 07 29
I'm forcing myself not to as I know if I start to read it, my inner editor will run out of his cage kicking and screaming, and will edit everything and completely destroy any hopes of me writing any more.
I do however read the last paragraph/sentence before continuing writing to remind myself where I was up to so I can carry on.
When I was writing in the library at uni I changed to font into one that was small and loopy, and hard to read - 1 so that other people couldn't see what I was writing, and 2 to stop me reading back through it, which I knew I could do if I wasn't careful as I was in a different environment to that which I normally write in so could have lapsed.
----------Cups of tea while writing: 28
Cups of coffee while writing: 28
Hours of sleep since start: 165
Most words in a day: 7,245 (19 Nov)
Reached 50k on the 19th, finished my story at 65.3k on the 23rd.
43,350 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 08 04
I only read my words if I'm picking up the pencil after a break. Even then, I only read the last couple of sentences to remind myself what was happening in the scene.
Then again, sometimes I'll accidentally end up reading my stuff. I'm handwriting, and I count every word. It's only natural to read some of it.
----------"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."
~Jack London
155,129 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 08 13
Last year I was really, really good about not reading anything that came before unless absolutely necessary (what was so-and-so's eye-color again??). This year, I've failed miserable - I keep going back to amuse myself with stuff I've written before, after I'm done writing for the day (or am in need of procrastination). That's bad of me, I know. I'm trying to do better. :P
----------Remember this November by making a scrapbook about NaNo!
My blog: http://yesiaminsane.wordpress.com/
6,688 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 08 26
As I start writing each day, I read over what I wrote the day before, with one condition: I can only add to it, not take away. It helps not only to keep a clear idea of where I'm going (since I never bothered to make an outline), but also to keep me motivated, because usually I see it and think, "Oh, okay, it's not quite as bad as it sounded coming out of my head in the first place."
----------NaNo 2007 - The Spite House Affair: A Spectacular Failure at 13,231 Words
Nano 2008 - Tales from the Strange Quark Pub: An Even More Spectacular Failure
6,111 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 08 27
I'll read the last paragraph after a break to remember where I was going. Other then that, no--that's what revising is for.
59,168 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 08 32
Well, I can touch-type, which means I stare at the screen while typing and read the story as it's forming. That, and I try to write while trying to read it and see how it 'reads' not 'writes'...
But I do often have to check details to make sure I'm not making continuity errors.
----------2009 Entry: "Tabula Rasa Paradox", 58K+
2009 Entry 2: "Layer 9" (working title), just began.
GOAL: To have both finished by the end of NaNoWriMo.
31,747 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 08 32
Yeah, I only read the last paragraph or so to see where I was, but otherwise I don't read my stuff because I tend to criticize my written work harshly.
56,003 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 08 34
I do. I'm able to keep myself from deleting and instead add to what I've already written. Of course, that doesn't help me get closer to the end of my story, but it helps with word count.
----------16,008 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 08 35
Yes, I do read what I have written but only so much, thus I can make the scene I am writing better. Sure, I might add a detail or fix a couple words, and I know I should not be doing that! -laughs- But usually, I'm pretty good and with holding from editing.
----------35,421 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 08 36
I don't do extensive re-reading, but sometimes I have to go back and read a bit to remember where I was planning to go next, or to get my juices flowing... usually I end up editing just a weeee bit ^-^;
----------NaNo 08- Quest for Blood- Fantasy Adventure
NaNo 09- Perilous Tides- Pirate Adventure
"Yo ho ho and a bottle of NaNo-RUM-o!"
16,543 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 09 09
NO, NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!
-----------takes deep, calming breath-
.... No. The moment the Inner Editor glimpses it, failure will be inevitable.
"Each and every one of us still prays, hoping for evidence, looking for clues..."
52,134 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 10 06
I do not go back and read what I've written yet. I can't edit right now, and just reading it might make me discouraged and want to. I feel okay with my story right now, enough to continue on.
----------38,604 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 10 10
I usually do go back and read but not the whole story. Mostly just what I've writen the day before so I can get back in the scene I guess. :)
----------9,074 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 12 33
I do not go back and read. i will in January. I am, however, making notes in brackets of things I may need to research, questions about the plot, ect.
44,325 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 12 45
I read what I've written only because I like what I've done so far. My inner editor approves. However, in previous years that wasn't always the case. I just scrolled really fast to the end of the document then and started to write without thinking about everything that had been written before. It seemed to help.
----------hope is more than a postponed disappointment.
36,517 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 12 45
I'm trying so hard not to back read. I really want to but I know it will mess me up!
----------55,000 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 13 13
I actually go back and read everything i've written. I add things and stuff, but I don't correct things or change it so the grammer looks correct.
----------Does tht help?
Best of luck on your novel!
~Autumn Harper~
8,191 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 13 16
I generally quickly skim over it to recap, but I don't bother reading in any detail.
60,784 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 13 17
No. I know it's bad, and that'll just slow me down. xP
----------http://scarleteyes09.livejournal.com/ <-- My blog. Check it out. (:
31,619 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 13 20
No way! If I read through it, I'll have to delete it and start over.
246,589 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 13 32
some
if i am writing a part and my brain says that does not make sense
i scan back an than put in stuff to connect it so it does.
33,430 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 13 37
Ye Gods, no, I don't read. Not until December. I think if I read what I've written the past five days I'd have an aneurysm. Way too many horrible sentences.
----------21,309 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 14 41
I'm guilty of doing a bit of reading, but only ever a passage at a time. Every day I start a new document so I'm not tempted to go back and read the previous day's work (though sometimes I have to skim it to remember where I left a character).
78,813 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 15 05
Yes, I do. I allow myself to make minor edits as well. It's easier to just do that than to have them bothering me. I have some good chunks of prose that need to be entirely rewritten and I'm not allowing myself to do that until after the fact.