All the 20 chapters have now been redrafted, which I'm pretty happy about as the redraft took a little over a month, (which is less time than I'd expected). On the other hand, the word count for the first draft was less than I anticipated too, so there was less to jig about.
However, the redraft isn't finished yet. There are various scenes and continuity things that I need to add or change which are easier to do when I can spend more time on them for the former or, for the latter, do it for all chapters at the same time instead of changing X for one chapter, and then waiting and then remembering to do it for another chapter and so on.
First thing to do now is put together a simplified to-do list so that I know roughly where a scene will be added, who's there, what happens, whether it's for advancement of the story, character development or something else.
It's very important, and hugely useful, to try and have a clear idea of what will happen in a scene from a mechanical perspective, and what sort of emotional impact it's meant to have. Obviously, lots of scenes aren't significantly emotional, but it's still important to know whether it's going to be lighthearted or horrific, witty or sombre. I've found that it makes writing much easier and the end result better when the scene is clear in my mind. The easiest, and quickest, scene in the first draft to write was in chapter 10 (roughly) and I'd been looking forward to it for the entire book up to that point.
After that there's the writing, and I'll redraft the new scenes, after which I'll try and figure out precisely where to insert them. Hard to say how long that'll take as I haven't even decided what, exactly, to write next. There will also be at least one more full redraft after that's done, and probably several more. Editing to try and make the flow write and keep the right mixture of light and dark is difficult and less fun than writing first drafts but makes a massive difference to how good a story is, or is not.
Between now and the next full redraft I also need to sort out the cover and do the map. I'm undecided about whether to do the map entirely on the computer or whether to try it in reality and then transfer that to the computer and edit it. I'll probably try both and see how they compare. And, when the map's done, I'll probably fiddle with the site to add an Art page.
Thaddeus
However, the redraft isn't finished yet. There are various scenes and continuity things that I need to add or change which are easier to do when I can spend more time on them for the former or, for the latter, do it for all chapters at the same time instead of changing X for one chapter, and then waiting and then remembering to do it for another chapter and so on.
First thing to do now is put together a simplified to-do list so that I know roughly where a scene will be added, who's there, what happens, whether it's for advancement of the story, character development or something else.
It's very important, and hugely useful, to try and have a clear idea of what will happen in a scene from a mechanical perspective, and what sort of emotional impact it's meant to have. Obviously, lots of scenes aren't significantly emotional, but it's still important to know whether it's going to be lighthearted or horrific, witty or sombre. I've found that it makes writing much easier and the end result better when the scene is clear in my mind. The easiest, and quickest, scene in the first draft to write was in chapter 10 (roughly) and I'd been looking forward to it for the entire book up to that point.
After that there's the writing, and I'll redraft the new scenes, after which I'll try and figure out precisely where to insert them. Hard to say how long that'll take as I haven't even decided what, exactly, to write next. There will also be at least one more full redraft after that's done, and probably several more. Editing to try and make the flow write and keep the right mixture of light and dark is difficult and less fun than writing first drafts but makes a massive difference to how good a story is, or is not.
Between now and the next full redraft I also need to sort out the cover and do the map. I'm undecided about whether to do the map entirely on the computer or whether to try it in reality and then transfer that to the computer and edit it. I'll probably try both and see how they compare. And, when the map's done, I'll probably fiddle with the site to add an Art page.
Thaddeus
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