When I went to a writer’s conference in October of last year, I was told that the second draft is for moving mountains. Well, I not only moved a mountain, I moved an entire continent. I am fairly certain I re-imagined my book my nearly 80-85%. It’s basically to the point where it’s just the names and inciting event are the same.
In October, I had made the decision to give up on my book. Now, looking at what I have done over the last 100 days – I am so very happy I did not. I now have a working beginning, middle, and end. My character changes over time from the events she goes through. I have a backstory now! I have imagery! I have characterization! It is so much fun seeing how much this draft has changed. It is almost as interesting as knowing I really have no control over what I write since my characters seem to take over when I start writing.
As celebration, I have printed the book out at Staples and binded with a coil – giving it a cover to keep it safe from spills and my cat – or both. The reason I do this is one – it makes me happy. And two, I hand edit my story before I edit on the computer. I find writing in margins and in between lines to be so much more helpful than staring at my computer. Also, I like flipping through the pages to see how many words are on the pages.
I start my line edit tomorrow after work. I will probably end up adding a few things to scenes I want to correct – however – I think the plot that is there is the plot that will stay (crosses fingers). I am also going to start thinking about book two because I have it set up to keep moving. So, in reality, I am not actually complete and I am just fooling myself.
I will hopefully have the line edit done by April 5th when I go to Muse and the Marketplace in Boston. There, I have time to meet with an agent. It is nice have a goal on the horizon to kick me into high gear.
To Keep Learning, Always 