In July 2018, I undertook a small experiment and wrote a short story while readers “watched.”

Naturally it wasn’t quite like that. I wrote and published the story on Medium.com, so nobody was actually looking over my shoulder. Instead, I inserted comments as I wrote, indicating some of my thought processes and points at which I took breaks. The result was “Zoe,” one of my most popular Medium stories to date, not bad for a first draft. Two weeks later, I published the final version, which contained substantial edits. You can read both versions here:

I like to think the story proved popular because it’s good, but a lot of writers found it valuable in another sense: they got to see some of my thought processes. The experiment proved so successful that I repeated it in more detail. The result was “The Test.”

“The Test” was presented in three versions, a first draft, a revised draft, and a final draft. The first draft included notes written while writing. The revised draft included notes about what I revised and why. The final draft was the completed story without commentary. If you’re interested in seeing how a story evolves, “The Test” provides a deeper look. You can read all versions here:

If you’re interested in the writing process, I hope you enjoy these experiments and find them valuable. And if not, I hope you enjoy the final versions. Thank you for reading!