A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and the multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life.
-- Saul Bellow (1915-2005) Canadian writer
As you all know, I have been hard at work on the WIP. Last night I reached the point where I said, I think this draft is done.
Finally.
Now it's time for the real work to begin.
Some writers say the hard part of writing a book is writing the first draft. For me? That's the easy part. I can put ideas on paper with the best of them. Give me an idea and I can usually run with it (the GP does for me that a lot, especially when she's medicated). It's getting the thing into some semblance of order that I have trouble with. Plot holes. Undeveloped characters. Unresolved issues. Those things, that's what's hardest for me. Hence my problem with having so many "unfinished projects". But see, I'm working on that.
I'm going to go through this manuscript one more time, from beginning to end, and edit where necessary based on the comments from the BMWs. Then I'm going to turn it loose to J.T., my wonderful critique partner. After that, I get it back and work on more edits based on her additional comments.
It's a process.
Music of the Moment: Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
Lovely stuff. Soothing and inspiring. Enough for me to get some work done.
Read a book. It's good for you.
=) JB
1 comment:
You know, I'm with you. The real work begins after the first draft is done. It's like those optical illusions, where you have to look inside your work to find the story within the story and go back and tweak. I've had whole characters emerge, others disappear, in a rewrite.
Theoretically, that's when it gets much better, though.
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