It depends.
So many things factor into it. I know many writers who have the best first drafts: clean, consise, great pacing, lovely emotion, blah, blah, blah. Most of those authors are multi-published, so it could be that they've gotten their writing process down perfectly. I also know of writers who puke out their first drafts, send to their agents or editors who suggest revisions, they do said revisions and the 'second draft' is pretty much book ready.
Other writers puke out the first draft, layering the emotion, description, characterization during the subsequent X number of drafts. Blake Snyder had a blog about this.
So when is a story done?
When it is. It could take one draft or ninty-nine. It needs to be as perfect as possible before you start pimping it.
I had hoped to be finished with draft #2 by today. Uh, it ain't happin', people. I'm about half way through MOGG and will be the first to acknowledge this story will need to go through numerous drafts to get it to the point that I think it has the potential to become.
Will I make my Delacorte deadline at the end of the month. Probably, but without input from my beta readers--unless they are super duper fast readers and I wrote a damn good book that doesn't need input . . . ye-eah, ri-ight.
I may spout a lot of bull, but I really don't believe it no matter what I tend to say.
All I can ask is that my readers hang on. I'm working hard and I hope you'll help me when it becomes crunch time!
Write on!
Showing posts with label MOGG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MOGG. Show all posts
6/15/09
Draft #2
Okay, this week I'm getting serious about my second draft of MOGG. So far I've made it to page 16. Not a good thing. The first 30 pages will be the roughest and take the longest as I have to change the mom's POV to the daughter's POV and then layer description/ emotion/ characterization/ etc. to the story.
Two things are in my favor this week:
1) Rachel is at all day soccer camp. I have to fight traffic and take her to Tulsa University for a drop off at 8:30 and pick her up at 4:30.
2) My cyber friend Barbara is holding her monthly BIAW this week.
Once I get home, the timer will be put to good use. When I was writing this story I didn't know what kind of word count I was going to get, but when I hit around the 3000-word mark on the first day, I knew I could do it again. And by this type of dedication, I managed to finish the story.
I think I'm going to try something similar with my edits. And I may or may not blog this week. If I can blog without it interrupting my editing time then I will post on Wednesday and Friday. The same thing goes for my blog hopping tendencies. So without further ado . . .
Write on!
Two things are in my favor this week:
1) Rachel is at all day soccer camp. I have to fight traffic and take her to Tulsa University for a drop off at 8:30 and pick her up at 4:30.
2) My cyber friend Barbara is holding her monthly BIAW this week.
Once I get home, the timer will be put to good use. When I was writing this story I didn't know what kind of word count I was going to get, but when I hit around the 3000-word mark on the first day, I knew I could do it again. And by this type of dedication, I managed to finish the story.
I think I'm going to try something similar with my edits. And I may or may not blog this week. If I can blog without it interrupting my editing time then I will post on Wednesday and Friday. The same thing goes for my blog hopping tendencies. So without further ado . . .
Write on!
6/10/09
Summer Fun!
I knew when Rachel got out of school I could say good-bye to any writing time other than little short spurts.
I hate it when I'm right. Sometimes it is better to be pessimistic and pleasantly surprised than too optimistic and disappointed.
This week I did manage to edit the same eleven pages that I edited last week. I deepened the scene a little, caught a couple of present tense boo-boos, caught an incorrect plural pronoun (they instead of we, since I changed point of view to first person). But it's slow progress. I hope once I progress into the story that it will speed up a little--but I have my doubts. See--there's that pessimistic side of me again.
The first couple of chapters are always the toughest: setting the stage, getting into the character without adding backstory that doesn't add to the story, plus I have to rewrite the first two chapters in a different POV. I had written the first two chapters in the mother's POV, while it can be done for a middle grade book, it really isn't acceptable since the story is about the kid and you are trying to get kids of the same age to relate. Bryn, the mom, is also privvy to certain circumstances that Rhee wouldn't be aware of--financial issues. Her emotions about the death of her husband are very different from the way an eleven year old would think about the death of her father.
So during the first two weeks of summer vacation, we did doctor's appointments, hair appointments (got mine cut yesterday and it's too cute--I NEED to update my photo!), dentist appointments. I planted three flats of impatiens, a flat of verbena, two hanging baskets, four pots for the front porch, swam and played in the pool, helped Rachel with her third grade workbook, etc.
Next week I will get down to the business of editing MOGG. Rachel is at an all day soccer camp so once I dump her off at Tulsa University, the day is mine until I have to fight traffic to pick her up. Until then, I'll plod along with my edits, tweak a query letter to send to Query Shark blog, and get my life tidied up for my writing stint next week.
Oh, and I need to start thinking about a plot for book #2 in my middle grade series.
Write on!
I hate it when I'm right. Sometimes it is better to be pessimistic and pleasantly surprised than too optimistic and disappointed.
This week I did manage to edit the same eleven pages that I edited last week. I deepened the scene a little, caught a couple of present tense boo-boos, caught an incorrect plural pronoun (they instead of we, since I changed point of view to first person). But it's slow progress. I hope once I progress into the story that it will speed up a little--but I have my doubts. See--there's that pessimistic side of me again.
The first couple of chapters are always the toughest: setting the stage, getting into the character without adding backstory that doesn't add to the story, plus I have to rewrite the first two chapters in a different POV. I had written the first two chapters in the mother's POV, while it can be done for a middle grade book, it really isn't acceptable since the story is about the kid and you are trying to get kids of the same age to relate. Bryn, the mom, is also privvy to certain circumstances that Rhee wouldn't be aware of--financial issues. Her emotions about the death of her husband are very different from the way an eleven year old would think about the death of her father.
So during the first two weeks of summer vacation, we did doctor's appointments, hair appointments (got mine cut yesterday and it's too cute--I NEED to update my photo!), dentist appointments. I planted three flats of impatiens, a flat of verbena, two hanging baskets, four pots for the front porch, swam and played in the pool, helped Rachel with her third grade workbook, etc.
Next week I will get down to the business of editing MOGG. Rachel is at an all day soccer camp so once I dump her off at Tulsa University, the day is mine until I have to fight traffic to pick her up. Until then, I'll plod along with my edits, tweak a query letter to send to Query Shark blog, and get my life tidied up for my writing stint next week.
Oh, and I need to start thinking about a plot for book #2 in my middle grade series.
Write on!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)