You and the Miracle of Your Third Draft

Some call the first draft the vomit phase.

Others may see it as something like this:

In any case, the first goal is getting the words on the page, day by day. In good time, we meet that goal. And whatever hell we went through is soon to be forgotten when we start the second draft.

Do all writers go through such back-breaking work? Not all, but many. Perhaps even most. Here's a look at the great Nabokov conquering a second draft:

The work's as exhausting as digging a ditch with a teaspoon instead of a shovel. Simply clearing the vomit or shit off each page is enough to make a writer weep, howl at the moon or cry 'Never again!'

And the worst of it is this: no matter how greatly we improve the first draft, we're still nowhere near completion of a finished, professional work. Yes, we've pruned and edited, polished and filled in some blanks. And we've begun to see the outline of our book. But it's still just a sack of potential

The third draft, however, gives us the chance for a wonderful break from ditch-digging and drudgery. Now we get to put on our Architect hats. We can forget about Pretty or Perfect for now. Time to think of our narrative's structure...and where the structure may need reinforcements.

Here are some of the issues I'm tackling in the third draft of my WIP:
1) My book's divided into five acts. Are they roughly the same length and is my pacing on the mark?
2) My book contains shifts of POV. Do my two lead characters get close to the same stage time? And have I made it clear enough to readers at a glance to identify who's 'on' now?
3) Have my mystery's clues been fairly and effectively placed?
4) Have my characters done the detecting they should have done at all key points?
5) Have I brought my setting to life, buckshot-style, with just enough details as needed?
6) Have I succeeded on two fronts: launching a new spin-off series from my Boss MacTavin mysteries...and not giving readers the backstory blues?
7) Though this is a standalone series, is it completely consistent with the Boss MacTavin universe?
8) Can I do anything else to reinforce the novel's theme? Colors, imagery, weather, etc.


Now, with the clearance work you've done, is the perfectly natural time for such things. When they've been tackled, you're prepared for the delicate refinements of your fourth and final drafts.

If you don't believe in miracles, give this one a try.

Never Second Guess Your Instincts

As I wrote my new book, Caesar's Ghost, some parts cried for the present tense and some cried for the past. I just followed my instincts while writing. But then, as I went through the subsequent drafts, the Brutal Old Bastard (BOB) of my inner editor began to carp and criticize. Why here, not there, in the present? Why there, not here, in the past?

Now, I knew BOB was right on the money about not jumping tenses in a single paragraph--a source of confusion for readers. And I could understand BOB's preference for consistency: dream sequences or diary entries, for example, in the present tense. BOB might even be okay with all action scenes in the present--lending the scenes more urgency.

But, through the rewrites, BOB kept attempting to gain total control. Some scenes resisted--almost violently--my efforts to change tenses. My fingers would not hit the keys that would have changed the scenes. And it was time to let BOB know that he wasn't running the show, just helping to produce it. In fact, when given full control, BOB tends to trip on the feet of his rules.

I reached a compromise solution. I'd change any part from present to past tense--unless my fingers screamed in protest. And I'd devise a subtle way of highlighting my segues from the past to present tense. 

Many of BOB's rules are sound, while others are the barks of another century's harridans. 

Readers and viewers are fluent in the language of mixed time lines:

So I listend to BOB, with all due respect...but I followed my heart and my fingers.

What Happens When You Scan a Book?

You face a huge cleanup and proofing adventure if you're scanning an old book for conversion into ebook form. And you must be prepared. Those of us who wrote some of our books before we had computers have had to deal with the issues and can tell you a few tales.

I'll limit this blog to the proofing adventures I had with MonsterTime: formerly Mastery, published in 1991. At 125,000 words, it was my longest novel. And, lacking the time and equipment, I paid my formatter to scan it. This turned out to to be a smart decision, since Yvonne Betancourt also performed an extensive preliminary cleanup job.

In the scanning process, as I'd been warned by other writers, all kinds of crazy things happen. And Yvonne took care of the obvious things: freaky line breaks, appearances of nonsense signs like
# # % & @@@ & .

The text had also included typographical stunts: attempting to capture, for instance, the sound of a hyena's whoop. And Yvonne had lovingly preserved these bits. Well, you might wonder sensibly, what was left for me to do. The devil's own work is the answer.



Throughout the entire text the number 1 had converted to I. At the start of any word, the letter f  had converted to H. Quote marks were randomly reversed. Periods appeared in the middle of words. Random letters were italicized. And, though I was working from memory, every now and then I knew that words had got lost in the scanning. Once, I was so confused by one paragraph that I knew it was missing a sentence or two. In places, the paragraphing itself seemed confused.

All that said, you'll note that I did call this an adventure rather than an ordeal. Since I was also doing a major rewrite as I went, I welcomed the chance to rethink the novel--without using the paperback original as my safety net. I had the rare opportunity to look freshly at each word--rethinking the sense while I looked for mistakes.

The entire process has taken me three months. And I don't regret one day. The 25th Anny Edition of the book that had been Mastery is 10,000 words shorter--and far better, I think, in all ways.

Two last Kelley Wilde horror novels remain to be rewritten. They too will have to be scanned. No complaints. But I'll tell you, honestly, I'll wait a year till beginning the next! Meanwhile, I celebrate next Month's release of: