Join the newsletter

Subscribe to get our latest content by email.
    Built with ConvertKit

    Second Draft

    I'm in the midst of my second draft. Some writers, when working on revision, will approach it by dealing with a particular issue—plot, characters, settings–and go through the entire draft, focusing on this one thing. That's not me. Here's what I do with my friend, Scrivener.

    My first draft is now compiled in one document. At that point, I create a new digital index card for the beginning, the prologue. I copy and paste that part of the story in a document attached to that card. For me, it seems important to separate the pieces again to focus on the work. Then I read and revise, knowing that I can be ruthless because the original is still in the first draft copy of my manuscript. I work on it until it feels that it's time to move on to the next chapter. Oftentimes, right after I make the index card for the next chapter and move that material over, I think of something that I want to change in the preceding chapter. Then I assess the importance of the change. Do I need to work it out before I can move on? Most of the time, that answer is no. Instead I create a digital index card that follows the chapter that I want to change, and I title it, “Add to Chapter ___” and write down the notes I have or a question I need to work out. Sometimes the question will reveal a tweak that needs to occur earlier. I will then create a digital card for that chapter as well. In this way, when I start the third draft, I already have notes about things that I want to do.

    I find this process to be a roller-coaster. There are days when I look at things, and I'm pleased. But there are days when I very much feel my limitations as a writer. It feels so clumsy and awkward, and it gives me another opportunity to try to be forgiving with myself, to work it to the best I can at that moment, and to know that I will other opportunities to return, but right now, it's time to move forward. Working on drafts is a great way to grapple with issues of perfectionism. (I have them. Do you?)

    It also feels important to me to work on the draft each day and to listen even when I'm not sitting down to write. The other day, when I was folding clothes, I thought, “The ending isn't right.” This is the second time I've thought that. I had come up with a solution, but it turned out not to be the right one after all. But at the moment, T-shirt in hand, I dreamed up what it should be, and when I get to the ending, that's what I'm going to write (unless more is revealed). I have created my digital index card on my board, spelling it out. I wrote that card right then because you can always go back to folding clothes, and I've learned that I need to jot down these thoughts as soon as I can.

    The ending has felt slippery to me this time. I'm planning this as a series of books, three, I think, and so it's that matter of knowing where one story should end and the next begin. It's a process, sometimes frustrating, sometimes really fun. The challenge for me is to approach it with curiosity and interest and wonder, to be patient, to listen, to show up.

    Greetings from the Other Side

    Happy New Year!

    I thought I would first write about taking breaks, since that is what I just did. I took time off from the blog over the holidays in order to conquer a mountain of work. (In addition to writing, I run my own business, VoType Editorial and Transcription Services. This year, many of my clients had projects they needed me to finish by the end of the year.)

    I also finished a first draft of a manuscript the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In On Writing, Stephen King recommends setting aside first drafts for several months before picking them up again. I couldn't bear to wait that long. Two weeks is my limit.

    During that time, I still worked on my writing. I spent at least fifteen minutes a day brainstorming on other projects. I read books and watched films that I thought would inspire me in my work ahead on my draft. At the end of the fourteen days, I printed my draft and read it. My first conclusion? The conclusion does not work.

    Do you know those lines that you fall in love with and then you realize later that it's perhaps flip, perhaps private humor that others might not find so hilarious? The end of my first draft left the reader hanging. Sure, I plan to write a sequel. However, I do not possess the patience where I could wait until both books were done before I released them out to the world. So I needed to dream up a new ending.

    It seemed clear to me what it should be. I had tackled enough of my mountain of work that I felt comfortable working on my writing every day again, for fifteen minutes to an hour. So I set to work. It was extremely painful. Fifteen minutes seemed like an eternity. I knew exactly what I wanted to write. It just seemed very difficult to put it on a page. I told myself that I was rusty. After I would wrote for a few days in a row, I would loosen up again. But that didn't happen.

    Then one day I sat down to write, and I realized what now seems obvious. What I thought was the ending was actually the beginning of the second book. Once I realized that, the true ending presented itself in my head, and this time, it was easy to write down.

    In the days that followed, I started again from the beginning of the manuscript, reimagining and revising as I go. I am still in that process. How long will I be here? I think I will finish this iteration some time in February, and then I will have to set it aside once again. Will it then be time for readers? Will I need to go through it again? Right now I'm not sure. It's not time to know.

    This week, I also returned to the blog. I expected to post something earlier in the week. I tried. For one post, I couldn't make the technology work. I wanted to attach a video to accompany what I wrote, and the file was too big to post, and the text really needed the video. So that had to be scrapped. Everything else I wrote I didn't like. My voice didn't sound right. Perhaps my blog muse is ticked off. I really can't blame her. I did abandon her over the holidays. I understood why I did. When I'm in a place with much work and tight deadlines, I have to stay in a very focused “get it done” mode which is at complete odds the “I want to explore some ideas, and I have no idea how long it will take” journey of writing blog posts. Now, things remain busy with my day job. I'm back, but I'm going to just post once a week this year instead of my original intent of twice-a-week postings. It has felt rough to return, but I'm glad to be here. I will try to stay true.

    The Process of Writing and Producing a Book

    I have to start with a very important caveat. I'm an indy writer. What I'm about to describe is the process that I go through in that world. And, as always, this is my particular method of madness. Feel free to tweak, change, or reject completely.

    Somehow, some way, I'm always working on my writing, but that can take on very different forms, depending on where I am in the timeline. In a nutshell, I would say that you can divide the process of creating and producing a book into the following phases: brainstorming, writing, revising, receiving feedback, revising, proofing, and producing.

    Even though brainstorming is first on the list, I'm going to start with writing. Bear with me. Hopefully, it will all make sense in the end. As stated in previous posts, I write in my bedroom for an hour a day. I first write scenes in my notebook, using mind mapping, then I write it linearly by hand, then I type it, revising as I go. If I feel good about what I've done, I move on. If I don't, I figure out what I don't like. I often ask the question, “What does my protagonist want?” If the scene doesn't address that question, I either discard it or reposition it so that it relates to that question in some way.

    Once a first draft is completed, I set it aside for at least a week, and I will read books in that genre to inspire/educate me. Then I will revise the entire draft at least once. At that point it goes to beta readers. I use only one or two people who I really trust. I make sure that they can read it and send their impressions back to me within a certain time. Once I hear their feedback, I revise again.

    The draft then goes to the developmental editor. This is a very important gateway. The developmental editor will let me know if there is anything that is fundamentally wrong with the story. Once I get her feedback, I revise again, and I send it to the copy editor who corrects grammatical errors. I approve those corrections and send it to the proofreader who checks for mistakes in the text. I make those changes and contact my book designer.

    First I pay my book designer to read my book. I want her to know as much as she can about the story before I hear any of her book design ideas. Then I approve her cover design, and she produces the book, which then goes into the Kindle Unlimited program on Amazon. I request a proof copy from CreateSpace, Amazon's current paperbook publishing outlet, and I read the book again to look for errors. I let my book designer know if there are any more corrections that need to be made, and that's it. The book is released out into the world.

    During this time, I'm also brainstorming. When the beta readers, developmental editor, copy editor, proofreader, and book designer are working on my book, I am thinking about my next project. I'm writing down ideas that pop up in my head. I'm researching through reading books and watching movies. I'm actively daydreaming. By the time the book is released, I have a project set to go, and I'm generally ready to start outlining the story or I might even be on track to write scenes.

    So that's my timeline. I hope there are ways that this will help you on your journey. It's a reminder to me that writing is a seasonal process. There are distinct phases where you do different things. Happy trails!