Polish First or Just Post?

[Freeman]

hey guys, quick question for y’all who’ve been at this longer than me

so i’ve got the bones of my story down, like the characters, arcs, twists—all that good stuff is in place. but i know that when i actually start writing it, it’s gonna be rough. like really rough. i’m okay with that, but at the same time, i want to eventually get it to a place where i’m actually proud of it

my plan right now is to fully polish vol 1 before i even think about posting it. i know that might take a while between volumes, but i don’t wanna just throw something out there half-baked, you know?

but then again, i’ve heard people say that over-polishing can hurt more than help, or that it just wastes time and kills momentum. so now i’m kinda torn. do you polish a lot? or do you just outline and write, fix things as you go?

also, just to throw this out there, i’m not really a pure pantser or a hardcore outliner. i’m still figuring out what works for me, but outlining seems to be working okay so far

curious to hear how you guys approach it—do you polish heavily before posting, or just go for it and let things evolve naturally?

[HarryM]

If you haven't written The Thing at all yet, I'd do a different exercise, first. Before writing the big, multi-volume Thing, come up with a much MUCH smaller thing set in that same world and see what that does for you. Put in some hard parameters like page-length (I don't know if this is a comic or novel) or a finish-by deadline, and see how long it takes. What you'll discover is no matter how much pre-prep you do, the second you start putting it down on paper your mind is going to wander. Plans are going to evolve, new avenues of exploration are going to open up. It's fun, but it can be a creature that's hard to keep in its cage, too. The bigger the story, the bigger that creature. Big creatures are hard to tame. If you can't tame it, you'll never get it to do what you want, and that's so annoying!

Giving yourself some small, hard parameters is going to force you to put on your Editor's Cap, which is crucial if you don't have someone else going over your work with you.

Polishing or not-polishing a work you haven't started yet is overthinking it. You gotta do the act first and see how it comes out. How long does it take you?* What clip can you comfortably work at? Can you do it habitually? Do you even like the act of doing it? That'll help you figure out what kind of buffer you need. Once you start posting Consistency is going to be your greatest ally in getting eyes on your work. Like, years of consistency.

*Time isn't just the act of doing it, either. It's always helpful to write, then let it sit, and then look it over with fresh eyes week(s) later. The longer the better, honestly. How do you account for that in your scheduling? You should make that work for you, too.

The smaller the story the better chance you'll have at Finishing it. Writing a story fully, from beginning to end, will be very illuminating for you. Maybe one of your side-characters goes to a shop. Something happens to said-character on the way or the way back. How interesting can you make that? Can you write it in a dozen pages? How fun can you make that for yourself?

I'll leave it there. See how fast this simple tip got away from me? Start small!!!

Now get to it!

[Freeman]

So you mean I should put my main story aside for now and write a short one to practice? That actually sounds like really good advice, and I’m totally willing to try it!

The thing I’m wondering about is, after I practice and go back to the big story, is polishing and rewriting still a thing? I know that in traditional publishing, writers usually do multiple drafts to improve the story, fix plot holes they didn’t see at first, and add foreshadowing and other details.

But I’m not sure how that works on platforms like Tapas, Royal Road, or Webnovel. Do writers still do several drafts before posting? Or do they write and post as they go?

For example, Lord of the Mysteries is one of the best web novels out there. Do you think a story that well-connected and carefully built was written in just one draft?

[jwabeasley]

I do comics rather than novels, but I completed three full chapters of my comic before going live. Effort-wise I think that translates to ~72 short novel chapters.

That helped me a lot, because my first (unreleased) attempt at the comic taught me a lot about what Etherwood should look like and what my production pipeline should look like. Where I wound up at the end of that run was far from where I started, and I'm grateful that I didn't lock myself in by doing a public release.

Many creators are unsatisfied with their openings and end up redoing them. Each time they do, it puts their main story on hold and often makes their readers lose interest. It's hard enough to write a story, much less do public re-writing while still working through the middle of a story.

Since it's a novel, I say write a whole rough draft from start to natural finish. By the time you reach the end, you will almost certainly want to rewrite the opening to reflect how things developed by the end. So revise it then. Give the whole thing a once-over and send it to an editor. Make any necessary edits. At that point, you have a whole manuscript ready to go and you can do a public release however you like, putting your full attention on advertising and planning what you'll do next.

I also agree with @HarryM - the most critical step is to write a project from start to finish. Before the current run of Etherwood, I did a test page showing interaction between the lead characters, and I followed it up with a couple more. A small, more easily completed project is a great way to build momentum and skills for writing larger projects.

[vapidink]

Excellent advice from Harry. As far as online novels, most people are posting as they write with very little editing. Personally, I don't edit past looking for typos unless I'm getting paid, lol. All my works are first drafts except for anything I'm planning on querying, but I would definitely recommend at least building up a good amount of buffer before posting. Lord of Mysteries looks like a premium title which means the platform likely offers editing services to the author.

[Freeman]

Yeah, this is exactly the answer I was looking for! So basically, you can’t just go from an outline and start publishing—because you really don’t know how the story will look once it’s actually written down.

Like you said, the best approach is to write the whole story from start to finish first, then go back to polish, edit, and fix things up. Only after that should you start publishing. That makes a lot more sense now. Thanks!

[Freeman]

Yeah, I suppose so, but Lord of the Mysteries felt like god-tier writing right from the start. And from what I understand, Webnovel only invests in you after you prove you can pull in readers on your own.

Honestly, based on what I’ve seen in LOTM, I really doubt that was just one draft, or even just three or four. The level of planning, foreshadowing, and payoff is way too tight for that.

[vapidink]

It's definitely possible there were several drafts. Some authors have projects they work on for years because they're just passionate about it. I have a book that took me about two years to write just because it was a very personal project, but I only did one draft. It was picked up by Wattpad for it's Paid Stories program.

But yeah, I would advice you worry more about getting the story written down first. What you do next really depends on what your goals for this story are. If you're looking to query you're going to do a lot of editing and rewriting. If you're looking to post online you don't really need to do that much and should put a little more energy into marketing.

[Freeman]

Well, I get what you're saying, and I want to be clear. I'm not asking because I want to make a living from this story. No, it's just that I really love it. And when I start something and take it seriously, I feel like I need to do it the right way and give it everything I've got. That includes making sure the story's quality is as strong as I can make it.

Right now, I’ve outlined Volume 1. It’s around 104 chapters. I already know that once I start writing, I’ll expand on it even more. I also have a clear idea of what happens in the rest of the story and how it all ends. Volumes 2 and 3 will be even bigger than Volume 1. Volume 1 is really just the foundation: introducing the characters, the world, and setting the stage.

Anyway, from everything I’ve learned from you gentlemen, the best first step is to practice writing. Short stories, even short scenes. Then start the real work. Write the whole story from start to finish, and then, depending on my goals and how much I love the project, I can decide how many drafts I want to do.

Haha, I'm already wondering how awful my first draft is going to look like, but I guess that’s just part of the process!

[kyupol]

I'd post away...

This was my skill level when I first posted comics online

[HarryM]

Writing some smaller stories will actually help with world-building, too. It's a win-win! You'll learn A LOT about your craft and your voice as a creator. Try to get in a headspace where it's something you want to do and not necessarily something you feel you have to do to get to the "real" thing.

I'm currently reading Manga Theater, by Akira Toriyama. It's a collection of all the one-off (published) comics he did before (and during) his first hit Dr. Slump, which was before his BIG hit, Dragonball. It's over 600 pages long! A lot of it is rough and slapdash and his editor let him know it - but he kept working at it. He definitely never looked back and polished things after the fact. He wasn't able to!

I don't want you to think everything needs a dozen drafts. You have to decide for yourself what-of-that you want the world to see. The culture is different today and I think that's where your question lies, but in my own opinion professional, good-quality work tends to save the early-drafts and sketches for back-matter in a book collection. Or a patreon, I guess, haha.

But if you're a hobbyist, I dunno, don't overthink it. See if you enjoy the act of writing. If you do, see if you can do it habitually. A short story makes that easier. If you want the quick dopamine hit, post it. Then write some more.

[Leyelle]

I definitely polish it as much as I possibly can before posting. I'm a professional author and artist, so everything I create, even the things I don't get paid for, are a reflection of my work and weigh in on whether people will want to hire me for other opportunities

[thepenmonster]

It's not really an either/or. You post what you made, look at what sucked, improve what sucked, apply that to the next one.

[Freeman]

Thanks for your point of view. So basically, you write the whole story from start to finish, then start polishing it, maybe even write a second draft and fix the plot holes.

I have one question though, how much do you actually polish before posting? Do you just write the first draft and start posting while polishing along the way? Or do you polish the story very well first, then start posting while just adding descriptions and small touches as you go?

[Freeman]

I think this approach works well for pantsers, since they write and discover the story as they go. But for an outliner like me, I plan everything ahead, the plot, character beliefs, climaxes, downfalls, and so on.

For me, the part where you really start seeing the problems is after the whole story is written and shared with beta readers. That’s when you can catch plot holes, remove unnecessary parts, and make the story stronger.

I know it’s a big dream, but I want to create something on the level of Lord of the Mysteries, Shadow Slave, or other top-tier stories.

To get there, I need to deliver both consistency and good quality.

[Freeman]

Ok, I’ll start by writing a short story, then post it, get feedback, and improve from there.

This advice actually reminded me of something Brandon Sanderson said, how some writers get famous from their very first book, like Harry Potter, and he wondered how much better those stories might have been if the authors had practiced more before writing their big hit.

[HarryM]

On the one hand, it's hard to argue against someone who literally became the world's first billionaire by writing books. On the other hand, it does kinda seem like the HP books have been withering as they've gotten more in-depth, literary review - of which I'm disregarding the hate she gets for her divisive politics.

Good luck, though! Have fun! It's a lifelong marathon, so enjoy the journey, etc. etc.

[Leyelle]

I write the whole plot outline, synopsis for every episode, then I write several drafts of each chapter and run them past my editor, then I post. I don't have the whole book written in advance tho

[CarltonIsaac]

So you mean I should put my main story aside for now and write a short one to practice? That actually sounds like really good advice, and I’m totally willing to try it!

JRRTolkien published The Hobbit in 1937, and the rest is history.

[skullforceagents]

I’m not Polish, I’m American. So I just post.