Prewriting is one of the most important stages of the writing process, aside from proofreading. Unfortunately, many beginning (and some advanced) writers don’t spend enough time on these activities, making writing more difficult than necessary.
Prewriting involves all the activities necessary to prepare the first draft, starting with the first glimpse of a book idea, all the way to a complete outline. The prewriting process (at least as I’ve experienced it) has several steps, each with a few techniques that make the step easier.
So why not start writing after the first flash of an idea?
Only in movies does a writer do that. Remember Chevy Chase in Fun farm (1988)? He had what he thought was a great idea for a novel. He sat down at the typewriter, wrote “Chapter 1” and stared at the typewriter, not understanding its first sentence. He hadn’t done his prescribing. He eventually figured it out and produced (in my opinion, based on the thickness of the manuscript and his wife’s reaction) an insignificant attempt at a novel, more of a novel than anything else.
Chase’s character eventually abandons the novel and becomes a sports writer. I wonder, as a writer and teacher, if he gave up because he didn’t understand the writing process, or if he just wasn’t cut out as a novelist. He seems happy as a sports writer, so the movie has a happy ending.
Prewriting is a vital part of the writing process. In rough sequence within the prewriting process, some of the benefits of prewriting are as follows:
* Prewriting can be a lot of fun. Everything is possible at this point. You have your wonderful book idea, still fuzzy and vague but with great possibilities. Your ideas can be free, even idiotic. No matter. Just keep brainstorming, playing with ideas, gathering resources and notes, doing all the activities necessary to finish this stage of the writing process.
The only restriction at this point (unless you are more self-imposed) is your need or requirement to stick to the original vision of the book, but even that restriction is false. Your original idea will rarely match the finished product. I know it is difficult to read, but that has been my experience. Of course, my books are usually better, more complicated than the original idea. The vagueness of the vision allows you to start working on the idea, so that you can create the book you are meant to write.
Deviations and weird ideas can often lead to gemstones for your book, be it with content, organization, or whatever. At this point, your book can go in many directions. Explore them all until you find the one that looks right for you. “Ah ha! That’s what I’m going to write.”
2. You can find out the true purpose of the book by playing with alternatives until you find the one that is right for you and the reader. What benefits are you looking for as a writer? What benefits do you hope to bring to the reader? Make sure your book addresses these purposes.
3. You can get more information about your readers (aka target market, audience). This scan is part of your research on your competition. You probably know a lot about them because you were one of them, having been a beginner at one time. Or you may be targeting a different audience, in which case, you have some work to do.
In your exploration of your readers, you can play with additional audiences that you may want to target. Address different age groups, education levels, or levels of proficiency with the topic. Do you want to write for adults who are beginners in their field or for professionals? Think of all the possibilities for all these variables. You may find that the alternatives present other book projects that you can tackle, once this first book is finished. Heck, build an entire industry or franchise from your book idea, targeting each book to a different audience.
4. You can plan the book to best meet the needs of your readers. You can play with different organizing strategies for the entire book and for each chapter. You have the opportunity to think about the different characteristics of the chapters. You can even play around with the cover design.
5. You can do preliminary research, as much as you need to finish the first draft, or at least as much as you think you need right now.
If you are passionate about your topic (that’s the most important thing), then reading more about it should be a pleasure. Remember that you will eventually have to write your own book, so don’t get lost in the research.
Give yourself a research time limit, after which you will add research questions to your Research Question List, to be asked during the review.
6. You can easily evaluate new ideas that come to mind (and they will). Does the idea fit your current vision of the book? If you use the idea, will this new idea drastically change the book? Is that change good or bad? If good, where does the idea fit into your current outline or vision for the book?
7. At the end of the process, you will have a complete outline of the book (if you use my process). With that outline, you can see the entire project at a glance. Spread the outline across your desk and examine your creation. With this scheme, you will be able to detect:
– inadequate organization of ideas,
– gaps in ideas and content,
– if you have a book or two
– if a chapter will become a monster, it must be reduced to its size right now, before you start writing it. (This result is also true for redaction, but you’ll get to it later.)
8. Prewriting makes writing your first draft easier because you know what you want to write in each writing session.
9. Prewriting increases your confidence in yourself as a writer and in your book idea. You will be able to determine if the project has merit and if you will be able to finish the project and write that book.
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The only caveat about prewriting is that you can get so fascinated by this stage (it really is fun), that you don’t actually go beyond it to create the first draft and then (oh no) the revision. Writers tend to spend too much time here and never leave.
Allow about 25% of your project schedule to be done in advance. This is the moment that works for me. If you have extensive research to do (which you shouldn’t, at least not for a book early in your career), allow more time, say 30 to 35% of the time. But then go ahead and write the first draft.
Prewriting is the first stage of writing for any nonfiction work, an important stage because it allows your time with the rest of the project to be easier than if you were stumbling in the dark.
Good luck with your book.