I always enjoy my second drafts. I'm nano-ing right now, which means first drafting. And I can't wait to revise. While my beginnings are usually rough, by the time I hit page 70, it's flowing. Okay, yes, that means I have a lot of work ahead of me.
But what it really means is that I have a skeleton beginning. That is how I write. My first draft is the bare bones, a slight expansion of the outline. For me, the first draft is the hardest part. Once I have that structure up, I can breathe a sigh of relief. The easy part is the insulation, the brick-laying, the roofing. I can expand. (Don't ask me about accessorizing. Again, not a strong point of mine.)
The second draft can have many purposes. For some people, it's strictly clean up. For some people, they are actually cutting. For me, it's adding. I can safely expect my manuscript to grow between 10-20k in the second and third drafts. I have the tendency to be sparse. To think my reader already understood that, or that I explained something enough. It's only when I read back over it that I go, "Huh? What happened there? We're missing something."
Ah, but I love those moments. When I realize I need a new paragraph. A new page. A new scene.
I just sent over (maybe) the final edits to Altercation, my sequel to Perilous. It is very different from the first book. The first novel took place over a course of six weeks. While it still had moments of being fast-paced, there was also a lot of general day descriptions.
Not this one. This whole novel happens in about two weeks. Which means each moment, each day, each hour must be described. There is something HAPPENING at all times. And since I have two major POVs (and one minor one), I can't spend too much time away from either one.
When I introduced the second POV, I didn't realize it was going to become major. But it has. I now find myself needing to introduce this character more, and in the beginning. I'm not sure how yet. More scenes.
I love it. It's refreshing to watch the novel grow.
Don't forget to enter my Christmas contest and get a chance to win Talli's new book!
Nano wordcount: 10,484
9 comments:
Wow - that's such an interesting way to write drafts!
I think my second draft (if I EVER friggin' get there) will be mostly cutting with a small amount of adding, where it's needed.
But I really like your way - you really get to see it grow and flush out and develop. That's really cool :)
I'm glad you're loving the process woman. Keep up the good work.
Mary Mary, are you done with Disney World?? How was it?
I'm with you on the accessorizing. I think it takes a lifetime of practice for that to come easily.
Awesome! I've never done anything but one POV before. I'm boring what can I say?
I'm totally the same as you! If anyone reads any of my stuff, they almost always say, "Wait, what happened there?" or, "Why did he say that." It's cause I'm always assuming the reader knows things that I haven't actually said. I hate revising, but it's the only way. P.S. I'm a new follower, but your blog is awesome.
Well, hello, TR! Thanks for stopping by. I'm sure glad you're enjoying the blog!
I always expand a lot in second drafts too. My NaNo novel last year finished up at 61K, but the finished book is 78K.
Altercation sounds awesome! I can't wait to read it.
Post a Comment