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First draft almost complete, what next?


Kellie Gator
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So I'm reaching a point that feels kinda surreal at the moment. I've been working on a sci-fi novel (with anthros, of course) that's almost complete. Or at least the first draft. It's taken a long time but I'm almost getting some kind of closure with this.

However, this is just the first draft, so changes will be made. But... re-writing stuff feels like kind of a pain in the butt but maybe it doesn't need to be. So I want some help or advice, what do I keep in mind when writing more drafts, what should I be doing?

Not very descriptive, I'm afraid... I'd share some of my writing's but the novel is currently in Swedish and translating it would take a lot of work.

Looking forward to input from y'all on this.

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I'm currently editing my second novel, but it's kind of a hard thing to talk about in a way. The process is very much tied into the thing you're editing itself. Here are a few things to consider though:

1 Your first few chapters might be in a slightly different writing style than your later ones. Sometimes you just drift, or you were learning and things changed, or who knows. As soon as you finish your last chapter, immediately go back and reread your first one. You might not do anything to the content, but it's a good thing to just look and make sure your first words and your last words sound like they belong in the same book.

This was a HUGE problem for my first novel, and I wound up heavily editing/rewriting my first fifty or so pages. I started with third-person subjective and ended the book with third-person limited, meaning all of that subjective had to go. It was best to do that right away than later, I figured.

2 The point of editing, in my experience, is less about rewriting and more about cutting. Most books are too damn long, and God knows mine always are on the first go around. The number I've heard is "cut ten percent," so enter your first round of drafting with the goal to maybe cut half that. You can cut more as you continue to draft. This might include whole plot threads (does for my second book), but mostly it'll just be overly wordy descriptions or small events that don't do anything to the story.

Keep in mind that some people write very lean and actually need to add more as they go, and you could be one of them. You'll know when you start.

3 Start a Bible for you book. Keep notes as you go, including character bios and chapter summaries. Keep notes of ongoing plot threads, when they start, when they end, and if you want, highlight/comment all over the place.

I'll be honest, these Bibles haven't been the biggest of help in the past, but I've gone back to them enough to know I need to have them. Sometimes you forget, and when it comes to figuring out where your book might be too long, seeing chapter by chapter summaries helps.

4 Make goals that you can keep. I do a chapter a night. The chapter might be really long (today's was a bit over 20 pages and then reduced to about 18), or it might be really short (cut one four page chapter into three yesterday). You might spend a half hour one night, and that's fine. No need to jump into the next chapter. Let things go as they go.

The goals you set are, of course, up to you.

5 Take time off before you edit. The headspace you'll be in when you write "THE END" probably won't be the right one you want to have when you start cutting, rewriting, and reworking. I try to take at least a month break before editing, though on my current project, I put it away for two months.

6 It isn't as bad as you think it will be. It can be a pain in the ass, and it certainly won't be more fun than writing the book, but watching it come together into something you're really happy with is pretty awesome. Even if you go in with the idea that the sky really is falling, you'll soon figure out that you can put it back up in the air.

Edited by Conker
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2 The point of editing, in my experience, is less about rewriting and more about cutting. Most books are too damn long, and God knows mine always are on the first go around. The number I've heard is "cut ten percent," so enter your first round of drafting with the goal to maybe cut half that. You can cut more as you continue to draft. This might include whole plot threads (does for my second book), but mostly it'll just be overly wordy descriptions or small events that don't do anything to the story.

Keep in mind that some people write very lean and actually need to add more as they go, and you could be one of them. You'll know when you start.

3 Start a Bible for you book. Keep notes as you go, including character bios and chapter summaries. Keep notes of ongoing plot threads, when they start, when they end, and if you want, highlight/comment all over the place.

4 Make goals that you can keep. I do a chapter a night. The chapter might be really long (today's was a bit over 20 pages and then reduced to about 18), or it might be really short (cut one four page chapter into three yesterday). You might spend a half hour one night, and that's fine. No need to jump into the next chapter. Let things go as they go.

The goals you set are, of course, up to you

Thanks a bunch for your post, Conker. :3

When it comes to editing, maybe some parts will be longer, I dunno. My book is pretty short and I'm not aiming for anything over 150 pages. I also worry that I might be writing too much dialogue and too little of everything else, I dunno. It's just the way I write, it's sorta like watching a documentary or being there in the same "room" as the character so I don't wanna write about character backstory or how they feel in the middle of the action.

As for the bible, is it acceptable to have in your head or something? 'cause that's where I keep post info but I guess maybe it's worth writing some bible eventually, I dunno.

As for the goals, I more or less just write when I feel like it but right now I want to write but I'm struggling with writer's block because it feels like it's too early to end the novel and that something needs to happen before the final climax and epilogue (I'm currently on page 87).

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Bookmarking this.

Thank you so much Conker. I'm not writing a novel personally, though I am writing a historical timeline for my lil' headworld. See it as a sort of history book. It's a different beast (not to mention that I'm a terrible, terrible writer) but your points are still helpful despite me operating in a different field. What I do is writing dates and the events happening on 'em, organizing the whole thing in points. The structure is simple but I tend to digress often, going further into detail, sometimes superficially others deeply. This timeline is undergoing constant changes as I add and remove stuff. I must be at like the 4th or 5th edition now! When I find the time and energy I enjoy working on this written work of mine. As a drawer I do find writing a welcome, refreshing change

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Thanks a bunch for your post, Conker. :3

When it comes to editing, maybe some parts will be longer, I dunno. My book is pretty short and I'm not aiming for anything over 150 pages. I also worry that I might be writing too much dialogue and too little of everything else, I dunno. It's just the way I write, it's sorta like watching a documentary or being there in the same "room" as the character so I don't wanna write about character backstory or how they feel in the middle of the action.

As for the bible, is it acceptable to have in your head or something? 'cause that's where I keep post info but I guess maybe it's worth writing some bible eventually, I dunno.

As for the goals, I more or less just write when I feel like it but right now I want to write but I'm struggling with writer's block because it feels like it's too early to end the novel and that something needs to happen before the final climax and epilogue (I'm currently on page 87).

You're welcome!

For shorter pieces of fiction, it really becomes a tossup on what to do. My last novella wound up going through some major cuts, but I also added to it as well. It really does depend on how you write. I've met a few people that usually add a lot more content as they go because they write too lean their first time through.

As for too much dialogue, I guess I wouldn't really worry about it, at least for now. Some books are really heavy with it while others aren't. My current novel probably doesn't have enough, but the main character is just someone who doesn't talk much. Can't help that.

Your bible can be wherever you want. Hell, for my last novella, I didn't bother with one. As a general rule of thumb, I find that they can be useful. The one I have right now is very detailed, and I'm finding that pretty helpful as I jump back and forth between chapters to see where things aren't lining up properly. However, I hardly used the one I made for my first book other than to cross reference a few side characters to make sure I had their descriptions right. Someone wound up changing names halfway through the book for some silly reason.

Writer's block is a bitch. My only advice there is to not let it win. I had it kinda badly with the current project (I talk about it too much I'm sorry D:), and the best I could do was try and write every night anyways. Wound up deleting most of what I had written the next day and starting over, but putting words down is better than not putting words down. Remember, its' a first draft. They aren't just allowed to be a mess, they're supposed to be.

 

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