I just finished my final, final, final revision of my novel, The Letters (pictured above), so I’m pausing to reflect on the somewhat odd labyrinthian path it took into being (and just so you know, most novels, like most people, take an odd labyrinthian path into being).
I SO appreciated reading this blog post! Today I needed the reminder that MANY drafts go into writing a book. I felt great connection to the description of a “final, final, final” revision. I’m on a second draft of collection of memoir stories. I spent months after the first draft doing research which in itself felt like a draft even though I’ve yet to include that information in my stories. Then I spent a lot of time reorganizing the stories in charts, redefining takeaways, noting giving circumstances and conflicts and rearranging index cards. So, I feel like I’m on a third or fourth draft. A second draft doesn’t feel like it adequately describes how hard I’m working. “Second” feels like “just barely got here”, I’m “new to the room” with all the wisdom one has when they “wait a second”. Second doesn’t reflect that for a story to make my first draft, I revised it several—Nay! Many, many, many-many—times. A “second draft” feels like telling an acquaintance someone I’ve been sleeping with for months is “a possibility”. … So, thank you for the description of writing your novel. If anyone asks, I’m on my second, second, second draft.
They really do. I love and hate that:-)
Great post. It really captures the way novels, well, insist on themselves. Good luck with it!
I SO appreciated reading this blog post! Today I needed the reminder that MANY drafts go into writing a book. I felt great connection to the description of a “final, final, final” revision. I’m on a second draft of collection of memoir stories. I spent months after the first draft doing research which in itself felt like a draft even though I’ve yet to include that information in my stories. Then I spent a lot of time reorganizing the stories in charts, redefining takeaways, noting giving circumstances and conflicts and rearranging index cards. So, I feel like I’m on a third or fourth draft. A second draft doesn’t feel like it adequately describes how hard I’m working. “Second” feels like “just barely got here”, I’m “new to the room” with all the wisdom one has when they “wait a second”. Second doesn’t reflect that for a story to make my first draft, I revised it several—Nay! Many, many, many-many—times. A “second draft” feels like telling an acquaintance someone I’ve been sleeping with for months is “a possibility”. … So, thank you for the description of writing your novel. If anyone asks, I’m on my second, second, second draft.