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Welcome to The Literary Pig's blog - a safe haven for all those afflicted with
the unbearable urge to write.

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

First draft and beyond!

On 31 December 2014 The Indoor Writer completed the first draft of her novel (at 5.15pm to be precise). The target was to get this done by the end of the year, so she made it by the skin of her teeth. 

Here it is in all it's glory - 434 pages.
Last week she met with writing friend, Richard Buxton, to discuss the next steps over coffee and biscuits (far too many). Richard has completed 5 significant drafts of his historical novel (set in the American Civil War) and is now starting to submit to agents. We're reading his novel as part of a novel review group and it's turning out to be a cracking read. He shared the processes he followed and how he tracked the editing stages using excel - we must invite him onto the blog soon to share his top tips. (You can follow Richard on Twitter @RichardBuxton65 and check out his website here.)

What happens next? What happens beyond the first draft?
Well, Stephen King in his memoir 'On Writing' advocates printing out the manuscript, reading it through and marking up the changes. So the beast has been printed and a read through is the next step. We suspect it needs a lot more work than a 'mark-up', but it's a start and the plan is to first identify any significant problems in the narrative i.e. plot threads, character issues, research gaps etc.

The spreadsheet is in place and we're all set for SECOND DRAFT.

Are you in the process of editing a novel? Please share any top tips that work for you.
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20 comments:

  1. Anonymous28 January 2015 at 07:54

    Congratulations Tracy:) My top tip for editing? Slice it. Don't even begin to edit it in one go. Focus on a particular feature, such as storyline, or character development. In the later stages after I've finished the major rewrites, I even comb my m/s for my 'wicked words' - the list I've compiled of my particular words I overuse/abuse... Hope that helps!

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    1. TracyFells29 January 2015 at 01:50

      Great tips, as always, Sarah. Thanks for sharing these. I'm definitely planning several slices. Interestingly Richard had a list of 'weasel words' to cut. I'm terrible with adverbs on first draft and 'quite' ...

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  2. Anonymous28 January 2015 at 10:12

    Well done, Tracy! I have found editing very hard - mainly because I hate deleting anything. My advice - be ruthless and get the writing tight (but I'm no expert)

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    1. TracyFells29 January 2015 at 01:53

      Thanks, Sally. I think I'm going to have cut quite a bit - looking forward to being ruthless!

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  3. lonestarsky28 January 2015 at 11:09

    Well done!! I'm in the process of writing one, so I'm nowhere near the editing stage - will be interested in reading the tips you get from others, for future reference :)

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    1. TracyFells29 January 2015 at 01:54

      Thanks for popping by. Good luck with the novel. It is interesting to hear what other writers do at this stage so hope to share lots more tips!

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  4. Patsy28 January 2015 at 11:43

    Yes, I'm editing. I agree with sjhigbee - do it in sections. Just concentrate on improving it each time until it's as good as it can be.

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    1. TracyFells29 January 2015 at 01:55

      Good advice. Thanks, Patsy and good luck with your editing too :)

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  5. Unknown28 January 2015 at 14:37

    Well done Tracy ! No tips from me. I come looking for tips on your site. And I find many .
    Good luck !

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    1. TracyFells29 January 2015 at 01:56

      Oh thank you, Anu, How sweet of you to say :)

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  6. Wendy's Writing28 January 2015 at 23:45

    I shall pick you brains if I ever reach that stage, Tracy. I think Sarah's suggestion to 'comb for wicked words' is good advice - I did that for my story collection and it was quite as eye opener!

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    1. TracyFells29 January 2015 at 01:57

      You will, Wendy! Yes, I'm definitely going to set up a list of 'wicked words' to search for.

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  7. Joanna29 January 2015 at 02:32

    I'm still editing, focusing on small scenes and the rhythm of each sentence now that the larger picture is set in stone.

    Well done for completing the first draft and best of luck with the next.

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    1. TracyFells29 January 2015 at 02:51

      That sounds like a sensible plan, Joanna. I like the idea of working on the 'rhythm of each sentence'. I assume you're working on your second novel now - best wishes for this.

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  8. Rosemary Gemmell29 January 2015 at 05:21

    That's a great achievement, Tracy - good luck with that editing. On my final edit for my forthcoming novel in March, I started reading it from the end to the beginning, a paragraph at a time. It made me focus on everything but the story, as we tend to read what the eye expects to see. Probably only effective for a final read through when you want to catch silly errors!

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    1. TracyFells29 January 2015 at 06:39

      Thanks, Rosemary. I like your approach, but yes I think that's a technique for one of the final run-throughs.

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  9. Maria10 February 2015 at 04:31

    Well done! Regards editing, I do it chapter by chapter, always printing it out, getting rid of unnecessary adverbs, repeats, and generally being ruthless. If it doesn't move the story on, or deliver information needed for later, I cut it.
    Then I read it out into my voice recorder on my phone, and play it back. There is usually more work to do.

    Good luck! :-)

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    1. TracyFells10 February 2015 at 06:09

      Thanks, Maria. Good tips. I like the idea of recording it too - though not sure about listening to my own voice. I think you can get software to read it as well - this sounds an excellent way to catch issues in pacing and rhythm.

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  10. Rena George14 February 2015 at 05:26

    When I had my last book professionally proofread, my lovely proof-reader spotted a lot of ‘pursing lips and characters doing things with their eyebrows’.
    Greatly embarrassed because I had totally missed this, I used the computer’s ‘find’ facility to root out the offending descriptions.
    Now if I suspect a word is being overused I’m straight onto the same routine.

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    1. TracyFells15 February 2015 at 02:03

      Thanks, Rena, that's a good tip. As I'm reading through my novel I'm collecting a list of overused words - will then plan to go back and 'root' them out using the search tool.

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