Tony Perrottet: I guess I belong to the logorrhea school of writing: I start off with very long, sprawling first drafts, written quite quickly, putting in almost all of the information I have on hand and any idea that comes into my head. Then I let the section sit for a while --- a week or more is ideal. I find that I often can't see the narrative, or the connections between apparently disparate details, until I get everything I have down on paper. The subsequent process of editing and reworking takes longer than the initial writing, as I whittle down and condense the pages, and put them into a more logical (or creative) order. Often the best start to a section or chapter lies buried deep in the mass of words.
Mona Golabek: I wrote and then went back to edit.
Emma Sweeney: I revise a lot. First I write as much as I can, then I revise whatever it is I have written.
Maria Rosa Menocal: I write straight through a chapter (or whatever the natural division is) and then go back and rewrite, having a sense of how a discrete piece of writing needs to work before attempting to refine it.
Lynn Schooler: I hammer away at every sentence until it seems right, then do the same with each paragraph and page. One of my earlier professions was that of shipwright, or boat builder, which is a trade that requires every step be finished as accurately and completely as possible before proceeding to the next. The habit has never left me, and I can't imagine hurrying through something as complex and demanding as writing a book with the idea of going back later and fixing all the things that were left incomplete or done wrong.
