Now, this is my favorite part of writing. The second draft. Oh my, yes, yes, I do love me some second draft with all its errors and Times New Roman 12 and half-baked ideas and WTFdidImeanbythat and the all of it.
Because now! Now, I get to return to each sentence with a clearer understanding of my story, of the characters, of all the nitty-gritty and plot points and turns that I need to make. It is not pretty work, this second draft. No, second-drafting is not the Tai Chi of writing with all the grace notes and wit and stunning prose. No, second-drafting is sweaty, lifting tractor tires, bloody hands, endorphins running through your body kind of writing. Ooh-wee.
So, in the last Life of a Chapter, I shared pristine pages of prose transcribed from the handwritten version. My next step was to read the manuscript all the way through and make notes on the page. No correcting or adding, but adding 'Describe more' or possible directions to take. This is also where I notice all the 'I shook my head', 'she sighed' and 'he shook his head' wackness. This stuff I circle and underline to return to later with more clever actions and descriptions that first drafts don't allow.
So what's changed? The chapter number, for one. And I learned that Juliet Hill kept a diary -- this will play an integral part in the way I tell the story.
Ready? Here we go (remember to click on each page to enlarge):
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Stayed tune for the next episode of Life of a Chapter! It's about to get ugly up in here.
No comments:
Post a Comment