As a writer, there is nothing quite like
the feeling of completing that very first draft of a work. The feeling of
relief, elation and excitement at achieving the goal you set out to, is, in my
opinion one of the best feelings in the world. Non writers might feel the same
when they get to the end of a particularly good book, one in which they have
invested in the characters, and joined them on their journey. For the reader,
this feeling of joy lasts only as long as it takes to pick up a new book and
dive into a brand new world. For the writer however, that fuzzy feeling inside
starts to fade, and the smile plastered across the face falters.
Why?
Because for the writer, the real work is
just about to begin.
There is a famous quote by Ernest
Hemingway, that goes “The first draft of
anything is shit,” and although it might not feel like it whilst you are
still feeling that elation at finishing the first version of the story, you
will soon come to realise that there is still a long way between what you currently
have on paper and what might be one day deemed good enough to publication. The
purpose behind this blog is to show a little bit of the work that goes on
behind the scenes, and to give a little insight into the editing process
itself, and how it can be a valuable tool if you choose to embrace it.
When I start to work on a first draft of
anything, I know full well that it will never see the light of day in its
current format. I know some writers who are meticulous and edit as they go,
correcting and revising their manuscript line by line, paragraph by paragraph
& page by page. I on the other hand,
don’t do that. I want to get the story from my head to page before I lose it.
Correcting typos? Forget about it. I'll fix those bad boys later. Killing
adverbs? Not yet. They too are granted a stay of execution. Surely, I hear you
ask, you must be conscious of not over bloating the story, to which I would
cackle and shake my head. No way. This first draft is mine and mine alone, so
ill bloat it as much as I like.
By the time I’m done, I still have that
sense of relief, elation and excitement that I mentioned in the first paragraph
of this blog, but only for a split second, because as I look at the manuscript,
warts and all, like a demented, bastard child, I know I’m going to have to be
cruel to be kind in order to get it ready for the discerning eye of the reader.
But first up, before any of that, you must do the most important thing of all.
Absolutely nothing.
Close the document, file it away. Don’t be
tempted to peek or reread it in any way shape or form. Trust me, you won’t
regret it. Just put the story aside. If you have something else in the idea
vault, start working on that. I tend to write shorter stories between longer
works. I like jumping into something more immediate and to the point between
those giant manuscripts. Try to shy away from the novel manuscript for as long
as you can though. Believe me; you will be tempted to peek. Like a smoker who
promises they will quit after the next pack, you will be tempted to just to
skim through a favourite chapter or line of dialogue. Don’t do it. Shy away
from peeking for as long as you can. Two week sis the minimum for me, although
closer to six or more is better. Do whatever you can to forget about it.
Okay, now let’s fast forward a couple of
weeks. If you haven’t cheated (and those that have, know who you are) you can
return to the manuscript and open it up. This, my friends, is where I truly
believe the real work of the writer begins. Time away from the manuscript has
served two purposes. First, it has given the story time to filter out of your
brain. The intimacy you had with these characters and settings is now gone, and
you can look at the work now almost as if you are a reader looking over the
work of someone else. The second thing you will see, is how much of what you
thought was brilliant first time around, really needs to be worked on.
You will see it immediately. Sentences
ramble on, plot holes will stare at you, those pesky adverbs will slip in sneakily
(See? There are two in this sentence alone!) These are all things that you as
the writer will want to fix. Don’t be afraid to be ruthless. If something doesn’t
work or isn’t vital to the story, get rid of it. If the dialogue is too clunky
or exposition too confusing, either fix it or delete it. Be cruel, be ruthless.
Trust me, you will appreciate it later, and you will be surprised how much fat
you can trim from the manuscript.
When I completed the first draft of Dark Corners, it was 114,000 words. It was
too big, too much waffle. The version that initially went to Dark Hall Press for publication was
around the 108,000 word mark. I chopped, I rearranged, I moved things around
and rewrote complete passages from scratch, but the end result was a much tighter,
sleek product. Being ruthless is a great habit to get into. Consider each and
every line on the manuscript. Ask yourself what it is trying to say, and if it
is vital to the story. Ask yourself if you really need it, and if the book can live without it. It’s an organic process. A change
early on might lead to extensive revisions later on, which is all a part of the
process. Almost without exception, you will be left with a much better quality
product following that brutal first edit. For me, this is where I tend to do
the most damage. A recent novel manuscript went from its starting 109k words to
its most recent version, which is 102k. I plan another edit on this one soon
and hope to get it to sub 100k. I like the new version. It has a snappy pace
which the old one didn’t. This is the mind-set you need to get into when you
edit.
At this stage, after kicking your
manuscript into shape and beating it down with the adverb stick, you are ready
for the next stage, which for me is always sending the work to beta readers. A
close circle of people who you trust to read and review the work at this stage
is an invaluable tool. As meticulous as you think you are, you can almost
guarantee that they will spot something that you missed. I trust my beta
readers completely. I know they will be honest,
I know that they will tell me if something works or not. They represent my
reader and end user. As before, when you have sent out the manuscripts to the
beta team, don’t be tempted to tinker with it. File it away, let it simmer as
with the first version. As notes from the beta team come in, compile them all
together in a safe place ready for the next round of edits.
Let’s skip forward another couple of weeks.
The beta feedback is compiled. You know which areas you need to look at. (Another
thing here, although beta readers are valuable, it doesn’t always mean that
their word is gospel. You have to decide if the suggestions work or not for the
story) Once again, you open up the manuscript. It’s leaner, it’s a little bit
more world ready, but it’s still not quite there. Back to page one we go, and
back to being ruthless. Trim things. Remove them. Clarify them. Consider the
beta feedback. Fill those plot holes, tie up those loose ends. By now, the
manuscript is looking good. You might be starting to feel that it is ready to
send out into the world. Before you do that, however, one thing I would advise
anyone to do, which I learned the hard way.
Get a professional editor to review the
manuscript. This is particularly important if you intend to self-publish the
work in some form or another, but is also worthwhile doing if you intend to
submit to agents/ publishers. Although most publishers will have in house
editors, they are more likely to consider a manuscript that has already been
carefully and accurately edited. It shows that the author cares, which in turn
might convince them to take a chance.
Fortunately, the rise of self-publishing by
independent authors means that there are wealth of good quality editors out
there who have really good rates. Find a good one and let them do a final edit.
They will catch any other issues you and your beta team might have missed. By
now, that bloated, error filled manuscript you started with, should be a slick,
tight piece of fiction ready to go out into the world. Now it’s just a case of
getting it published. Easy, right? Sadly not, but that, my friends is another
story entirely filled with pitfalls of its own, which I sadly don’t have time
to go into here, as I have already rambled on for long enough.
Thanks for reading, and I hope this blog
was at least a little bit insightful about the differences between the first
draft and the finished product which eventually finds its way to the bookshelf.
I also hope that it shows that there is much more work involved in getting it
there than you might have imagined.
