Finishing a first draft of a new book is truly a great feeling, but for me it tends to be overshadowed by the knowledge that this book is not, in fact, done. It probably needs a lot of work. I use first drafts to mess around and answer every "What if" that pops into my head. So my first drafts are often nonsensical and basically unreadable unless you're me –– and even then sometimes I read what I have and I'm like, "What the hell does this mean? What were you thinking here?"
Past me does not like Future me very much.
Anyway, yeah, finishing a first draft is great except it probably sucks, so no, it is not time for a break to work on something else, it's time to make that draft not suck!
Disclaimer as I did for my post about plotting: The revision process I use is what works specifically for me. You might find it helpful and relatable, you might not. I'm not trying to teach you how to edit a book. I'm just sharing what I do, in case that's of any interest to anyone. Again, like with so many things in writing, there's no one way to do it.
I usually say I hate drafting and love revising. However. I am currently in the throes of revision on one of my books, and I take back that previous statement. I hate revising. I wish I was drafting right now. Writing a new draft of a new book is GREAT and FUN because it doesn't have to make sense and it doesn't have to be pretty. I can do whatever the hell I want because I know I'm going to come back and fix things later and make them work.
That's the hard part. Making it work. And making it pretty.
An average novel I write will usually go through at least three rounds of revisions before I'm satisfied with it. After I finish a first draft, I give myself a little pat on the back and take a moment to be like "Wow! I wrote a new book!" And then we get to work.
First I read what I have. Maybe I take some notes if things jump out at me. But I try to just read the draft without thinking about what could be different. Chances are, I've totally forgotten about some scenes or dialogue or plot reveals that I threw in there and then never came back to. I swear I write in a vacuum sometimes; I cannot remember things from one chapter to the next. So that's what the read-through is for. I gather my thoughts, get a sense of what's working and what's not. I make a list of goals for the next draft, using the things I noticed from my read-through. What are the draft's strengths? What's working, and what's weak? What needs more?
Then I read it again. This time, I take notes for each chapter. I outline each chapter with what happens in it, and then note what I could change/cut/add. Sometimes I do this on index cards, but I normally like to save those for later, cleaner drafts to help with pacing.
Once I have all my notes together and have a plan for what needs to change, it's time to dive in! This might add to the reasons why I'm a chaotic writer, but I actually create new documents for each new draft. This is why I like Scrivener: it can carry my folders upon folders of drafts lmao. Anyway, I create a new folder for Draft 2, pull up a clean document for chapter one, and then place my old chapter and my new chapter side-by-side. And I rewrite everything. I don't copy and paste. I retype it all, because that encourages my brain to change things and reword sentences to make them prettier. Sometimes I end up veering away from the original draft for a scene or two, and that's okay! At this point, my first draft is more of a road map than anything. I don't want Draft 2 to be an exact copy of Draft 1, because Draft 1 sucks!
So I continue this way, adding and cutting and switching things around until I get to the end. At this point, I probably have a good sense of whether I need a second round of revisions or even another total rewrite. As I've written more and more books, I've noticed that I've gotten better about making the first draft marginally less sucky so that I don't need a hundred rewrites. Outlining, as much as I hate it, has helped a ton with this. So chances are, unless I have a revelation that requires me to rework half the plot, I probably won't start from scratch again. A third draft would involve minor changes, rewording, rearranging scenes, and fleshing out the characters and world. Most of these things happen along the way anyway, but while Draft 1 is to get the concept down and Draft 2 is to solidify the plot, Draft 3 is to put meat on the bones. Draft 3 is when we make it ~pretty~ instead of just functional.
If all goes well, three drafts is usually sufficient for me to be satisfied. At this point I've been obsessing over this book for a few months, so now I'm ready to give it a break and work on something else. Or maybe write the sequel. While the book is marinating, I will probably think of something that I don't like or that should be different or that I could add. Then we return to it and do this all over again.
Three drafts is definitely not a lot. This is the absolute minimum I will do for a book that I am really invested in, but a lot of times, I'll end up with many, MANY more drafts of books that give me particular troubles. I do not actually know how many drafts The Oracle Stone had before it was The Oracle Stone. It had at least four of the version it is now. My current wip, THE DEMON MAGE, has had 8 versions and 10 drafts (though not all of them are complete; some are false starts). That book has been super hard to write, so that's a particularly troublesome example. Meanwhile, one of my marinating wips, TRUTHSEEKER, might be satisfactory after a second draft because I have a clear vision of what to fix. It really all depends on the plot and how well it works out for me, and I never know going into a project just how much it's going to fight me.
This process is frustrating at times, but if I manage to make it through all these steps and revisions, it really proves my dedication to the book. I would not do this if I wasn't 100% in love with the story. Hell, most of the time I won't get through a first draft at all if I'm not invested. It's funny how some stories just instantly click, as if I was always meant to find them and write them.
On that note...
What I'm writing: Still working on revisions for THE DEMON MAGE. I am... sort of almost done. I'm well into the second half, approaching Act 3 and the climax, but it's still slow-going since I am reworking a lot of the plot. Not really changing, just... fleshing out. Since this book's plot and pacing has given me so many struggles, I realized that it ended up being really plot-heavy at the cost of the characters' personalities and voice. So I'm keeping that in mind as I work through this draft, and trying to make the writing prettier as I go. It's fun (mostly) and I do love this book a lot, but I'm mostly looking forward to getting to the end so I can read it one more time and then start querying again.
What I'm reading: I'm halfway through Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo, which I'm supposed to have finished tomorrow for my Grishaverse book club, so it looks like I'll be spending most of this afternoon reading lol. I'm also still getting through Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, and I just started Ravage the Dark by Tara Sim because I couldn't stand to wait any longer. So yes, three books simultaneously once again, but that's my life for ya.
And one short announcement before I go! Next week, March 22-26, the ebook version of THE ORACLE STONE will be FREE on Kindle! Yes, free! As in, totally free, zero dollars! If you haven't had a chance to grab a copy yet, now's the time to do it!
And don't forget, if you snagged a paperback copy of THE ORACLE STONE and you'd like to receive some book-themed goodies such as stickers, bookmarks, and/or character cards (all illustrated by me), submit your receipt to this form and goodies will come your way!
My fantasy debut, THE ORACLE STONE, is available now on Amazon!
That's all for this week! See y'all next Friday!
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