Second Draft Tips?

[claudiaorange234]

Hey!
I'm new to this forum and have no clue how to do things right... so I hope this is the right place for this and I look forwards to getting to know some of you!

I've just finished the first draft of the novel I'm currently working on, but I always struggle with second drafts (I've tried in the past but always end up giving up and starting a new project), however I really want to stick this novel through as I think it might have potential if I work at it!

How do you do your second drafts? What's your proccess? And do you have any tips that make drafting easier or particular things you do which help?

Thank you - Claudia

 

[Brian G Turner]

Welcome to the chrons forums @claudiaorange234.

As for second drafts - this is where I end up focusing more on structure and character development. Which can mean a lot of rewriting. And a lot of words being completely cut out as a natural part of trimming (more like butchery, actually!).

If it helps, Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer is a really great resource for technical tips on things like this. Save the Cat by Blake Snyder is especially good for structuring around character development.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

I think it was S King (or somebody else who knew what they were doing) in one of his how to write books that said:-

When it's finished leave it alone for a few months (six I think - which is ridiculous - unless your a well published, millions in the bank, six month holiday/research for tax type author).

Then go back to it and laugh at all the mistakes you made.

Then start to sort it out.

Get your post count up and stick a small section in the critiques section. It'll probably get mauled** - in a friendly way - but you'll get a feel for what somebody that doesn't share your life thinks. Unless you are S King, in which case we'll all get red faced and embarrassed when you do the big reveal.

In the mean time you've joined this site. Fear not about the "waiting period", you'll have plenty of things to do in those first months - Rearranging your calendar, cancelling wedding, divorcing your life partner. You'll be visiting the doctor more now too as your health and general well being collapses into squaller as it has for most of the people on this site that post more than once a day.

** If it's at the first draft stage - who writes a best selling first draft straight of the cuff?

 

[Steve Harrison]

Welcome, Claudia!

I can't supply tips, because with this and most writing issues, there is no right or wrong way and writers eventually find the method that works for them.

When my novel is ready to submit, I consider that my first draft. I edit as I go, working on my previous writing session before starting the next one, and perform a major edit at the half way point. It slows down the writing, but makes for a much easier and quicker final edit.

If I then wrote the whole thing from scratch, I would call that my second draft, something I haven't done since my first novel, when I wrote five drafts over a number years before it sold.

 

[Joshua Jones]

I third the welcome to the Chrons family! We are a strange lot, and alot of us are strange, but this is the best place I've found online for developing as a writer!

Regarding second drafts, much of it depends on the quality of your first draft. For me, if I don't progressively edit, my first step in editing is to locate a cleaver and/or machete, and begin hacking with such ferocity to make Michael Meyers and Jason Voorhees jealous. Progressively editing does make my first draft more like a second draft, so I'm slightly less ferociously hacking...

Colorful metaphors aside, I agree with Brian that the second draft edit for me is usually a content edit rather than a line by line. It doesn't make much sense to obsess endlessly over word order and sentence structure in chapter 7, paragraph 3 when that entire chapter, plus 6, 8, and 9 are going into the bin. So, my advice is to start with the big picture of plot coherence and flow on the first edit, then move to smaller and smaller picture on successive edits. This works relatively well for me. But I also agree with Steve that you may find another method which works better for you.

After a round or two of edits, don't forget to seek critiques and beta readers! There are several of us who do these on a regular basis, and we all have our preferred genres.

Out of curiosity, what genre are you writing? Also, if you're so inclined, we have an Introductions thread where you can tell us a little about yourself and your work!

Either way, welcome again to the Chrons!

 

[claudiaorange234]

Welcome to the chrons forums @claudiaorange234.

As for second drafts - this is where I end up focusing more on structure and character development. Which can mean a lot of rewriting. And a lot of words being completely cut out as a natural part of trimming (more like butchery, actually!).

If it helps, Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer is a really great resource for technical tips on things like this. Save the Cat by Blake Snyder is especially good for structuring around character development.

Thank you! This is good advice - especially the character development part as I think I slacked on it during the first draft... Rewriting is definitely going to have to be done! I'll write those books down for when I most need help then.

 

[The Big Peat]

Hey!
I'm new to this forum and have no clue how to do things right... so I hope this is the right place for this and I look forwards to getting to know some of you!

I've just finished the first draft of the novel I'm currently working on, but I always struggle with second drafts (I've tried in the past but always end up giving up and starting a new project), however I really want to stick this novel through as I think it might have potential if I work at it!

How do you do your second drafts? What's your proccess? And do you have any tips that make drafting easier or particular things you do which help?

Thank you - Claudia

Obvious question - why do you struggle? Do you struggle to understand what about the things you dislike has gone wrong? Or is the struggle about how to fix it? Or is it the physical act of writing?

Or some combination or one of a bunch of other things?

 

[Brian G Turner]

I think I slacked on it during the first draft

As Neil Gaiman says, the first draft is when you pretend to know what you're doing. It's all about just getting the words down. After that, you can edit, rewrite, and restructure as required - but you need that first draft of the story before you can do that.

 

[sule]

My advice would be to focus on one thing that you want to improve the most (like character development) and keep that in mind as you do your second draft. I think the most important thing to remember, though, is that this is a second draft and not a final draft. You are going to improve your draft the second time through, but don't expect to get everything perfect. Focus on the one or two things that you really want to get better in this second pass, and trust that you'll improve the other things in your next draft.

But also I think that the second draft is a great opportunity to go through and note the things that work and that you don't want to change. (There usually aren't many of those in my first drafts, but I like to find the things that I want to stay the same through the rest of the drafts).

 

[sknox]

I echo the Big Peat: why do you struggle? And why do you give up? Being able to identify that might help with figuring out a different path this time round.

 

[DLCroix]

When it's finished leave it alone for a few months (six I think - which is ridiculous - unless your a well published, millions in the bank, six month holiday/research for tax type author).

Don't shoot me, but I think it's six weeks. At least that's how he says it in On Writing.

BTW, this and other queries are quite developed in this thread:

Your Work vs. Expectations of Readers

How do you write what you want to write instead of what is expected by your readers? I have a beta reader (my husband) reading my fantasy book and he would point out what readers wouldn't want to read. Whether it's the perspective or the dialogue or something else; I am confronted with this idea...

www.sffchronicles.com

Maybe that's why a conflict happens out with your second draft. Because you don't let the first rest; then, the creative process does not stop, and when trying to review, which is a rational process, the feeling of confusion occurs.

And, BTW too: Welcome!

 

[tinkerdan]

Think in terms of tightening the prose-checking for continuity problem-checking for irrelevant material-checking for how easily it reads to you--you might want to read it out loud to see how it sounds.

Grammar-spelling and other silly errors should be handled.

 

[Capricorn42]

As said, first draft is rough, like a pencil sketch, second draft is a painting half finished, third draft (hopefully) is good enough to hang on the wall.

I use the second draft to fix plot holes and to make sure there is consistency in locations, characters, etc. The third draft is to polish the prose and ensure it flows. Mind you, like a painting, a novel is never finished, just abandoned.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Other people have different methods that work for them, and that might work for you, too. But this is how I learned to do it, and you might want to try it if the other suggestions aren't working out:

If you feel you are still at the learning stage, then the second draft is where you put to use all of the things you learned through the process of writing the first draft. For every place you thought, "I wish I had said that better" you find another way to say it. For every time you thought, "I'm not sure that came across as convincing. Would that really happen that way?" you work out what needs to be done instead. For every insight you've had into your characters you look to see how that might influence the book from the very beginning and all the way through. For every scene or chapter where you think, "Did this come too early or too late?" you try how the story would flow if you moved it to an earlier or later point. And so forth.

And unless you are very experienced and very confident, then the same is true for the third draft: you apply everything you learned while writing the second draft.

And when you feel that you have learned all that you need to learn about this story and these characters and this setting—and believe you have put all that knowledge to work—whether that should take two drafts or ten of however many, only then is it time to think about going through a final time for solely for the purpose of polishing up all the little niggling things that got past you before.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

Be willing to have it take time, like writing does. If it's not your job, don't treat it like one. Perhaps go into the editing with the frame of mind of reading the story for the first time. Keep side notes of your changes and what it may affect later in the story.

 

[Juliana]

Welcome to the forum!

I find it easier to break down the things that need to be revised into manageable tasks, so I target different things in different drafts. My first revision pass (second draft) tends to be for plot fixes — the 'big picture' edits, cutting scenes, adding things I realized were missing, etc. The next revision pass is for characters and 'atmosphere' (settings, etc) — depth, ambience, and the like. Then I'll send to a couple of friends who have offered to read it through for me. After that, based on their comments, I'll do another pass (or two!).

Some writers only need a few drafts. Others may need more — YA author John Green apparently scraps up to 90% of his first draft, and writes over a hundred different drafts of his novels! I think it's a matter of figuring out how you work best.