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Originally Posted by HarryT
Fair point. Perhaps it is something which differs from person to person.
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I think it does and age makes a difference. So does the speed of the idea. When I wrote technical documents, it was a slower and more thought out process. When I write fiction, sometimes I get up at 3 in the morning and I'm jotting down phrases I want to use, dialogue that I always think is HILARIOUS at 3 in the morning and full paragraphs interspersed with "put descriptions here."
I have learned to take as much time as possible, even when "jotting" to get things spelled right and as close as possible to the real thing. It saves time later. But as I age, I'll find that the next morning, I might actually have written "week" instead of "weak." Do I know the difference? Even on auto-pilot? Absolutely. COMPLETELY. But apparently at 3 in the morning (or maybe even in the passion of 3 in the afternoon) my brain fired some incorrect cylinders or my fingers had to type without the help of my brain.
As for storyline and grammar, it's become my opinion that very few writers can hit 100 percent without other eyeballs on it. I literally read though my novels at least a 100 times. Part of the problem is that I read through my novels At Least a 100 times. I make changes. Sometimes a white Mustang is going to be in two places at once. I know I moved it, but somehow forgot to take it from the other place where it was originally needed. A second set of eyeballs? Priceless. And not every editor will catch that sort of thing either. Some people read for word choice and excel at it. Some are grammar police. Some have a great feel for the story and characters and can tell you when you're stepping too obviously to the side for the sake of the story.
The average reader is all of those editors and none of them. As writers we have to cover a lot of bases. And just like in trad publishing, I think we learn and grow. I don't think my first books are as strong as later books. I learned. I got more eyeballs on the novels. I keep learning. With every book I swear I've hit my peak. There IS NO MORE TO GIVE. Then with the next book, I hope to find that magical plot twist that is even more clever than the last...