cstross, 2 months ago

#writersCoffeeClub 4/8: Do you think of your books as having a particular length?

The expected length is specified in the contract! And 80% of the time I have a contract before I start writing. (There's a +/- 10% margin in the contract, and I usually exceed the target length by 10-15%, but I'm aware of the production constraints on book length and know not to go 50% over! Or under.)

pretensesoup, 2 months ago

@cstross do you think of yourself as a "write a long first draft and then cut it" writer, or more "write a short draft and add stuff"?

cstross, 2 months ago

@pretensesoup I don't generally write in drafts—each day starts by editing the previous day's work (which usually grows a bit) so by the time the MS is finished it's already polished. If I have to go back and revise, usually it's to add stuff (having to cut is an admission I screwed up badly).