The Next Project – The Climb #565

Wednesday 9^th September 2020

I’ve pretty much decided the next project I will work on when I return home after caring for my frazzled friend for the past couple of weeks.  I’m hoping that after a couple weeks away from the writing routine I should return refreshed and energised.

It’s another rewrite rather than any first draft, and whilst it would be nice to do something fresh, I’ve done enough rewriting the last couple of years that the prospect doesn’t daunt me.  At least this one is only a second draft.

Luckily for me, I’ve already outlined the rewrite.  I did this a couple of months ago when trying to keep myself busy.  So in theory, a lot of the hard prep work has been done.

I still don’t want to dive head first into it.  I’m not sure whether this is fear presenting itself as procrastination or whether there’s some genuine deeper meaning to this, but I need to get my head into the novel first.

I vaguely remember some of my concerns from the first draft – it was a little too dark, the focus needed to be changed – but I need to really spend a couple of days letting those points sink in.  I can only describe it as the story being a sauce and me the meat that needs to marinade in it.

It’s these story principles I really need to keep in mind as I redraft.  The new outline very much took theme into consideration and this playing a major part in the early stages of story development is something new to me this year.  I usually write, and then figure out theme as an afterthought.

I’m very aware that the outline may change.  I want to avoid this if I can, but I figure, given how much rewriting I’ve done over the last few years, any changes could be easily incorporated in a 3^rd draft.

I’d like to get my writing process to a stage where I know a novel will take me x number of drafts before it goes to an editor, with each draft working on a specific aspect:  a structural draft, a character draft, a copyedit draft.   Obviously there are then further revisions after this.  I know some writers do this before sending to their agent and / or editor but I’m not sure whether I’m one of those writers or not.

It’s this discovery I really enjoy.  There’s always something new to learn about writing, every project a new and unique challenge.  This is how we grow as writers.