Hi everyone, I'm back!
The downside to having surgery is pain and having to spend weeks in bed. The upside is that you get a lot of writing done. In fact, I'm happy to announce that Trefury: The Secrets of Callorin is written! At least the next draft of it. I've already plunged into my polishing draft, which means beta readers should get it in their hands in a few months and then the final leg of another book begins. It's exciting.
You think that writing that first book is quite the accomplishment, but to get up and write/finish a second one takes just as much effort. The big difference is the newness of the process is no longer a novelty. I expect it's the same with every subsequent book that you get done.
So I have a nice fat 3-ring binder and a nice fat notebook containing all the inside interviews with characters, the brainstorming sessions, the detailed descriptions, and the story itself. It's not in chapters yet, but separated by scenes thanks to my scene profiles. Remember me talking about those? Can I just say that I wish I'd known about making scene profiles years ago? They were a lot of time and effort, but they really helped me streamline the story and get it down on paper. It was super easy to follow through on object/character/plot threads, to take notes, to make sure I didn't have any gaping plot holes to fill. And the best part is that I can organize my information and notes easily for this next draft.
So what does the polishing draft do? Well, this is where the details come out, dialogue is refined, the plot is trimmed even more, and I make sure I don't have redundancies, tangents, or other no-no's. Basically, at this stage, you want to make the novel your best current effort. And then you give it to other writers to read ... I've blogged several times about that stage.
If you've got a moment, tell me how you are doing. How goes your writing journey? What stage are you at?
The downside to having surgery is pain and having to spend weeks in bed. The upside is that you get a lot of writing done. In fact, I'm happy to announce that Trefury: The Secrets of Callorin is written! At least the next draft of it. I've already plunged into my polishing draft, which means beta readers should get it in their hands in a few months and then the final leg of another book begins. It's exciting.
You think that writing that first book is quite the accomplishment, but to get up and write/finish a second one takes just as much effort. The big difference is the newness of the process is no longer a novelty. I expect it's the same with every subsequent book that you get done.
So I have a nice fat 3-ring binder and a nice fat notebook containing all the inside interviews with characters, the brainstorming sessions, the detailed descriptions, and the story itself. It's not in chapters yet, but separated by scenes thanks to my scene profiles. Remember me talking about those? Can I just say that I wish I'd known about making scene profiles years ago? They were a lot of time and effort, but they really helped me streamline the story and get it down on paper. It was super easy to follow through on object/character/plot threads, to take notes, to make sure I didn't have any gaping plot holes to fill. And the best part is that I can organize my information and notes easily for this next draft.
So what does the polishing draft do? Well, this is where the details come out, dialogue is refined, the plot is trimmed even more, and I make sure I don't have redundancies, tangents, or other no-no's. Basically, at this stage, you want to make the novel your best current effort. And then you give it to other writers to read ... I've blogged several times about that stage.
If you've got a moment, tell me how you are doing. How goes your writing journey? What stage are you at?
