So You Want To Be a Writer - Part 3 - From First Draft to Publication
In Part 2 of So You Want To Be a Writer, we learned the fundamentals of creating a good first draft novel. We leaned how to correctly use punctuation, the rules of grammar, tense, voice, and point of view, as well as how to create compelling characters.
If you’ve been working on your novel as discussed in Part 2, by this point it should be sitting at roughly 80,000 to 100,000 words. Nice job. Pat yourself on the back and bask in the moment, but don’t go so far as celebrating, because as the man said, “We ain’t done yet.”
See, what you are holding in your hand (or on your computer) is something probably no one but you will ever see (and trust me, when you’re finally done, you’ll be grateful for that). Given the choice, no writer would ever want someone else to read their first draft. Hell, mine have almost as many instructions and notes to myself in them as narrative. Fill this out more, find out what this means, add a little more padding to this scene...you get the point. The purpose of a first draft is to get the whole story down, from start to finish. Think of it as a skeleton, and the rewrites you’re going to do as adding lean, mean meat to the bones. A book may take months to finish, and getting to the first draft is a very small part of that effort. The hard work comes after, and it’s the stuff that separates the wannabes from the real writers.
So without further ado, here we go, 10 steps to go from first draft to publishable novel.
1. Stop Writing. Depending on how much of a control freak you are, this may or not be the easiest thing you’ve done yet. “What do you mean, stop writing?” you ask. Simple. Close the file (or put away that giant stack of dead trees you call a manuscript) and forget about it for a week or two. Take a vacation. Clean out the garage. Better yet, start another book. The point is, you’ve been living with this book for several weeks or months (or for some of you, years) and during that time it has consumed every last drop of your creative juices. You need time to recharge the batteries and distance to gain perspective. You know that old saying, “You can’t see the forest for the trees?” Well, this is where it came from. (Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true, but it applies.)
2. Rewriting, Round 1. If the Round 1 part of this title scares you, you’re going to either need to get tougher or pack up and go home. Most books require at least three, sometimes more rewrites. The most important job of this round is to fill in the blanks (all those little notes you made to yourself while writing), round out your research, eliminate the typos and grammar gremlins, and tighten the writing. Some scenes may require more detail, some may require less, and some may need to be eliminated altogether. Remember, if it isn’t contributing to the resolution of the story, it isn’t necessary. It’s okay to throw in the occasional red herring, but do that too much and what you see as a storytelling device becomes a reader’s motive for murder. (Quick word of advice here: Don’t piss off your reader. It hurts future sales.)
WARNING: This round of rewrites can also become a trap, especially for new writers. You can get so mired in rewriting and researching that you burn out on the entire novel and never touch it again. So make this pass quick. Allot yourself a predetermined amount of time for completion (say a week, or if you’re busy or work slowly, two) and stick to that schedule. Dragging it out for weeks or even months isn’t going to make the book any better.
3. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie. Every writer has their own system for doing things, and as you become more experienced, you’ll develop yours as well. Today, however, is not that day. If you’re reading this, it’s because you’re not there yet. So, take my advice for what it’s worth, and step away from the book again. Believe it or not, even if you’re not actively working on it, your little literary masterpiece-to-be is still happily percolating away on the back burner of your brain. There might be a scene you’re not happy with, or a plot hole you can’t figure out how to fill. The fact is, at this point, you’ve probably got as many questions as you have answers and while banging your head against a keyboard might provide a warped brand of satisfaction, it probably won’t do much more than give you a headache that you can then blame on your writing, thus providing you with the excuse you need to throw in the towel.
Think of it this way: You know those times when you’re having a conversation with a friend and something they say reminds you of a movie you saw a long time ago (or maybe last week), but you can’t for the life of you remember the name of the movie? Even worse, you can’t even remember who was in it to ask for clues. It’s like staring into a black hole. You know you know it, but that portion of your internal hard drive has just taken a vacation to the Bahamas and is unavailable for access. Figuring you’re suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s, you shake your head, mumble something about needing to go, and listlessly go back about your business. Then sometime in the middle of the night, lo and behold, the hard drive comes back online and wakes you up with–you guessed it–the name of the movie you forgot. You sit up in bed and yell, “Eureka!” and curse the Gods of Internal Hard Drives for their untimely interruption of your sleep, or something like that.
So what does this mean to you, the writer? Allow your novel time to breathe, to smooth out the rough edges. Fiddling with it during this time, changing this word or that, really isn’t going to speed the process. You never know–by waiting you might get struck with an epiphany that turns your ho-hum first novel into a best seller.
4. Rewriting, Round 2. This time when you come back to your book, do yourself a favor. If you can, print it out. Reading it on paper forces you to read without editing. Plus, once that read-through is finished, it will be easier to take notes on paper. If you can’t print it out, convert it to PDF so you’re forced to read it through from beginning to end without stopping to edit.
The reason for a complete read-through is important for you to get a real sense of the overall book, something that isn’t possible when you work on it one part at a time. It is only by looking at it as a whole that you get a real sense of the plot, pacing, and what I call readability of the novel. You can take notes during this read-through, but don’t let it sidetrack you. You need this perspective. I often trick myself by pretending I’m a stranger reading the book. You can use whatever works for you.
Once you’re finished, you can go back and begin to polish your little jewel with a greater understanding of what it needs or could stand to lose. Be merciless–the changes you make now will make your novel stronger for what’s coming next.
5. Beta Read. By now you’re feeling pretty confident about your book. You’ve ironed out all the obvious plot holes, tightened up the narrative, and cleaned up the typos and grammar problems. Which means it is now time for a second opinion. If you’ve never had anyone else read your work (friends and family don’t count because they’ll say they love anything you write to spare your feelings, and that won’t do you or your future readers any good), this can be a scary proposition. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to get over your fear or your're never going to be able to release your baby into the wild.
The choice of a beta reader is important. Good beta readers are worth their weight in gold to a writer, and having several is vital because you’re going to want at least two different beta reads; one now and one just before release. Having several readers for each ensures you get a good cross-section of feedback, but don’t use all of them the first time around. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, so the reader(s) who look at your book this time should not be the same one(s) who look at it the final time. You can’t give an accurate assessment of something when you already know what’s going to happen.
The most important qualification for a beta reader is honesty. No matter how brutal it may seem, make sure your readers are willing to give you an impartial, no-holds-barred assessment of the book. And that’s where the next step comes into play.
6. Critique Etiquette. If you’re going to be a professional writer, you have to learn to take criticism constructively. Remember, your beta readers are critiquing this particular book, not you personally or your overall ability to write. You can either sulk and get angry, or you can use their comments constructively to make your book better so when you do release it, you’ll know it’s the best book you could have written. If you're looking for an ego-stroke, find another way to express yourself.
7. Apply What You’ve Learned. Once you get all the comments from your beta readers, go through them objectively. You have to be able to take a step back at this point and look at the book like any other work you do. If you were building a house and the doors were crooked, you’d want someone to point that out to you before you had prospective buyers come by to look at it, right? Same thing here. Take all their comments and compare them to each other and to your book. Some comments may be valid, and some you may reject. But don’t reject the reason the comment was made, especially if more than one person makes it. Perhaps your readers don’t understand a particular point you’re trying to make in the book and suggest a way to clarify it. You may not agree with their solution, but don’t discount the comment itself. Just because you know what you’re trying to say, doesn’t mean your readers will. If clarification is required, it’s better to address it now.
8. Editing. Remember that forest and trees comparison we made in Number 1? It’s more important than ever now. When you live with a book for so long, you begin to see it, not for what it is, but what you think it is. Mistakes that would be obvious in someone else’s work are completely invisible in your own. It’s not that you’re bad at editing, it’s just that your brain sees what you want it to see.
You may or may not be good at editing. If you’re not, finding a good editor is even more important than a good beta reader. And there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all editor. Different writers need different kinds of editors. You may be good at the grammar and punctuation stuff, but blind to content and pacing. Or maybe you’re just the opposite. The point is, take your time to find an editor that fits your needs and develop a relationship with them. That way they learn your strengths and weaknesses and can edit accordingly.
If you are good at editing, it’s still wise to get a second pair of eyes on your book, if for no other reason than to make sure you don’t miss something. If you can’t afford to pay an editor, try to work out some sort of reciprocal agreement. Maybe you know a writer who’s good at content editing and you’re good at line editing. You could swap services, thus helping each other out and building a report with a fellow writer.
9. Polish and Proof. We’re getting so close you can almost taste it now, but let's not rush things. The time you spend on details now will reward you with a better product later. After you incorporate your editor’s inputs, you need to once again put the book aside and let it rest. This time I would suggest giving it a couple of weeks. I know you’re anxious to set it free, but just be patient a little while longer. You might want to start lining up publication options, maybe finalizing your cover or other details. You could also start talking up your book on social media, getting some pre-release buzz going.
Once you’ve gotten some distance from the book, do another read through like you did in Number 4. If you’ve done your job, there should be little if anything to change or correct. Make those changes, give it another polish, and prepare to send it out for its final review.
10. Final Beta Read. This is it. The final test. What you give your beta readers to read this time should be 99% ready for publication. I say 99% because finding a flaw or two is not the end of the world. If they find nothing, congratulate yourself on a job well done. And if you run into the opposite scenario and your beta reader still uncovers problems, don’t get discouraged. Remember, it’s better to learn about any problems now rather than after you publish and get a spate of bad reviews. Just remember to be patient and thank them for their time and honesty. Every problem you catch now is one a paying customer won’t catch later.
And that’s it. Remember back in part 1 when I said writing was hard work? Well, now you know exactly what I was talking about. But you got through it, and now you can finally pop the cork on that champagne and have a little celebration.
If you’ve been working on your novel as discussed in Part 2, by this point it should be sitting at roughly 80,000 to 100,000 words. Nice job. Pat yourself on the back and bask in the moment, but don’t go so far as celebrating, because as the man said, “We ain’t done yet.”
See, what you are holding in your hand (or on your computer) is something probably no one but you will ever see (and trust me, when you’re finally done, you’ll be grateful for that). Given the choice, no writer would ever want someone else to read their first draft. Hell, mine have almost as many instructions and notes to myself in them as narrative. Fill this out more, find out what this means, add a little more padding to this scene...you get the point. The purpose of a first draft is to get the whole story down, from start to finish. Think of it as a skeleton, and the rewrites you’re going to do as adding lean, mean meat to the bones. A book may take months to finish, and getting to the first draft is a very small part of that effort. The hard work comes after, and it’s the stuff that separates the wannabes from the real writers.
So without further ado, here we go, 10 steps to go from first draft to publishable novel.
1. Stop Writing. Depending on how much of a control freak you are, this may or not be the easiest thing you’ve done yet. “What do you mean, stop writing?” you ask. Simple. Close the file (or put away that giant stack of dead trees you call a manuscript) and forget about it for a week or two. Take a vacation. Clean out the garage. Better yet, start another book. The point is, you’ve been living with this book for several weeks or months (or for some of you, years) and during that time it has consumed every last drop of your creative juices. You need time to recharge the batteries and distance to gain perspective. You know that old saying, “You can’t see the forest for the trees?” Well, this is where it came from. (Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true, but it applies.)
2. Rewriting, Round 1. If the Round 1 part of this title scares you, you’re going to either need to get tougher or pack up and go home. Most books require at least three, sometimes more rewrites. The most important job of this round is to fill in the blanks (all those little notes you made to yourself while writing), round out your research, eliminate the typos and grammar gremlins, and tighten the writing. Some scenes may require more detail, some may require less, and some may need to be eliminated altogether. Remember, if it isn’t contributing to the resolution of the story, it isn’t necessary. It’s okay to throw in the occasional red herring, but do that too much and what you see as a storytelling device becomes a reader’s motive for murder. (Quick word of advice here: Don’t piss off your reader. It hurts future sales.)
WARNING: This round of rewrites can also become a trap, especially for new writers. You can get so mired in rewriting and researching that you burn out on the entire novel and never touch it again. So make this pass quick. Allot yourself a predetermined amount of time for completion (say a week, or if you’re busy or work slowly, two) and stick to that schedule. Dragging it out for weeks or even months isn’t going to make the book any better.
3. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie. Every writer has their own system for doing things, and as you become more experienced, you’ll develop yours as well. Today, however, is not that day. If you’re reading this, it’s because you’re not there yet. So, take my advice for what it’s worth, and step away from the book again. Believe it or not, even if you’re not actively working on it, your little literary masterpiece-to-be is still happily percolating away on the back burner of your brain. There might be a scene you’re not happy with, or a plot hole you can’t figure out how to fill. The fact is, at this point, you’ve probably got as many questions as you have answers and while banging your head against a keyboard might provide a warped brand of satisfaction, it probably won’t do much more than give you a headache that you can then blame on your writing, thus providing you with the excuse you need to throw in the towel.
Think of it this way: You know those times when you’re having a conversation with a friend and something they say reminds you of a movie you saw a long time ago (or maybe last week), but you can’t for the life of you remember the name of the movie? Even worse, you can’t even remember who was in it to ask for clues. It’s like staring into a black hole. You know you know it, but that portion of your internal hard drive has just taken a vacation to the Bahamas and is unavailable for access. Figuring you’re suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s, you shake your head, mumble something about needing to go, and listlessly go back about your business. Then sometime in the middle of the night, lo and behold, the hard drive comes back online and wakes you up with–you guessed it–the name of the movie you forgot. You sit up in bed and yell, “Eureka!” and curse the Gods of Internal Hard Drives for their untimely interruption of your sleep, or something like that.
So what does this mean to you, the writer? Allow your novel time to breathe, to smooth out the rough edges. Fiddling with it during this time, changing this word or that, really isn’t going to speed the process. You never know–by waiting you might get struck with an epiphany that turns your ho-hum first novel into a best seller.
4. Rewriting, Round 2. This time when you come back to your book, do yourself a favor. If you can, print it out. Reading it on paper forces you to read without editing. Plus, once that read-through is finished, it will be easier to take notes on paper. If you can’t print it out, convert it to PDF so you’re forced to read it through from beginning to end without stopping to edit.
The reason for a complete read-through is important for you to get a real sense of the overall book, something that isn’t possible when you work on it one part at a time. It is only by looking at it as a whole that you get a real sense of the plot, pacing, and what I call readability of the novel. You can take notes during this read-through, but don’t let it sidetrack you. You need this perspective. I often trick myself by pretending I’m a stranger reading the book. You can use whatever works for you.
Once you’re finished, you can go back and begin to polish your little jewel with a greater understanding of what it needs or could stand to lose. Be merciless–the changes you make now will make your novel stronger for what’s coming next.
5. Beta Read. By now you’re feeling pretty confident about your book. You’ve ironed out all the obvious plot holes, tightened up the narrative, and cleaned up the typos and grammar problems. Which means it is now time for a second opinion. If you’ve never had anyone else read your work (friends and family don’t count because they’ll say they love anything you write to spare your feelings, and that won’t do you or your future readers any good), this can be a scary proposition. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to get over your fear or your're never going to be able to release your baby into the wild.
The choice of a beta reader is important. Good beta readers are worth their weight in gold to a writer, and having several is vital because you’re going to want at least two different beta reads; one now and one just before release. Having several readers for each ensures you get a good cross-section of feedback, but don’t use all of them the first time around. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, so the reader(s) who look at your book this time should not be the same one(s) who look at it the final time. You can’t give an accurate assessment of something when you already know what’s going to happen.
The most important qualification for a beta reader is honesty. No matter how brutal it may seem, make sure your readers are willing to give you an impartial, no-holds-barred assessment of the book. And that’s where the next step comes into play.
6. Critique Etiquette. If you’re going to be a professional writer, you have to learn to take criticism constructively. Remember, your beta readers are critiquing this particular book, not you personally or your overall ability to write. You can either sulk and get angry, or you can use their comments constructively to make your book better so when you do release it, you’ll know it’s the best book you could have written. If you're looking for an ego-stroke, find another way to express yourself.
7. Apply What You’ve Learned. Once you get all the comments from your beta readers, go through them objectively. You have to be able to take a step back at this point and look at the book like any other work you do. If you were building a house and the doors were crooked, you’d want someone to point that out to you before you had prospective buyers come by to look at it, right? Same thing here. Take all their comments and compare them to each other and to your book. Some comments may be valid, and some you may reject. But don’t reject the reason the comment was made, especially if more than one person makes it. Perhaps your readers don’t understand a particular point you’re trying to make in the book and suggest a way to clarify it. You may not agree with their solution, but don’t discount the comment itself. Just because you know what you’re trying to say, doesn’t mean your readers will. If clarification is required, it’s better to address it now.
8. Editing. Remember that forest and trees comparison we made in Number 1? It’s more important than ever now. When you live with a book for so long, you begin to see it, not for what it is, but what you think it is. Mistakes that would be obvious in someone else’s work are completely invisible in your own. It’s not that you’re bad at editing, it’s just that your brain sees what you want it to see.
You may or may not be good at editing. If you’re not, finding a good editor is even more important than a good beta reader. And there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all editor. Different writers need different kinds of editors. You may be good at the grammar and punctuation stuff, but blind to content and pacing. Or maybe you’re just the opposite. The point is, take your time to find an editor that fits your needs and develop a relationship with them. That way they learn your strengths and weaknesses and can edit accordingly.
If you are good at editing, it’s still wise to get a second pair of eyes on your book, if for no other reason than to make sure you don’t miss something. If you can’t afford to pay an editor, try to work out some sort of reciprocal agreement. Maybe you know a writer who’s good at content editing and you’re good at line editing. You could swap services, thus helping each other out and building a report with a fellow writer.
9. Polish and Proof. We’re getting so close you can almost taste it now, but let's not rush things. The time you spend on details now will reward you with a better product later. After you incorporate your editor’s inputs, you need to once again put the book aside and let it rest. This time I would suggest giving it a couple of weeks. I know you’re anxious to set it free, but just be patient a little while longer. You might want to start lining up publication options, maybe finalizing your cover or other details. You could also start talking up your book on social media, getting some pre-release buzz going.
Once you’ve gotten some distance from the book, do another read through like you did in Number 4. If you’ve done your job, there should be little if anything to change or correct. Make those changes, give it another polish, and prepare to send it out for its final review.
10. Final Beta Read. This is it. The final test. What you give your beta readers to read this time should be 99% ready for publication. I say 99% because finding a flaw or two is not the end of the world. If they find nothing, congratulate yourself on a job well done. And if you run into the opposite scenario and your beta reader still uncovers problems, don’t get discouraged. Remember, it’s better to learn about any problems now rather than after you publish and get a spate of bad reviews. Just remember to be patient and thank them for their time and honesty. Every problem you catch now is one a paying customer won’t catch later.
And that’s it. Remember back in part 1 when I said writing was hard work? Well, now you know exactly what I was talking about. But you got through it, and now you can finally pop the cork on that champagne and have a little celebration.
Comments
Post a Comment