How did Fitzgerald write The Great Gatsby without Autocrit.
Just curious
Just curious
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RIGHT?! My first mental connection was to an autoclave...actually, that analogy sort of works...I'm glad somebody defined it, coz as a nurse-it sounded like something from a series of lab orders..."yeah, get me a CBC, Chem 7, PT/INR, an autocrit,
H & H and a UA"...
It is a useful tool, but I feel the reports are too analytically, especially the sentence variation. Kinda takes the creative out of creative process and leaves just a process (if that makes since)
Two things:The revision process is difficult for me. I don't always know if I like the way I have written a story. I need a reader. When I first started this, I was able to show anyone. But now, I have several pieces that no one will see. I'd feel exposed.
It is weird, I know
Two things:
First, never throw old drafts away. If you're not sure about the new draft, you'll want it to fall back on. Or even if you just want a reminder about some part of your story, you'll be glad you still have it.
Second, you need to be more confident about your writing. Don't depend on a reader to tell you if it's any good or not. Let the story tell you that.
As far as having pieces nobody will ever see, you'll have to get over that. It's an editor's job to read your work. And, hopefully, one day people will pay you for the privilege.
Oh yikes.I'll add another: back everything up. TWICE. I once lost two years work when I lost a flash drive--the back up--when my computer crashed--the first up . I was in revisions at the time, and it set me back 6 months. Thank god a couple of my pre-readers had saved copies, one of the original draft and one of revisions made at that '6 mos earlier' point. The drafts between the original and that one were just lost entirely. Not a fun thing at all.
Oh yikes.
I lost a whole draft of a book once. That's why I back everything up onto an external drive. And I email each major draft revision to myself. That way, no matter what happens at my house, there's a draft tucked away in email.
Not paranoid at all. Before the advent of email, a poor man's proof of copyright was to snail mail himself a copy of the book and never open it. That way, the postmark proves when it was sent, to prove that the book was written before that, obviously.Wise woman! I did learn that--lol. Plus, it establishes provenance, if there's ever a question of plagarism due to timing. An IP lawyer actually suggested that a writer should mail him/herself a printed copy of each draft and not open the envelope. The postmark would establish when the draft was finished. A bit paranoid, I know, but a friend had an entire book stolen and published by another person. She had a hell of a time establishing that it was her own story.