First Draft Rewrite

This cat is the image of the scamp who came along and ate the crunchies left for my hedgehog pals the other night.
And I need the boost.
The time has come to revise my first draft of my short contemporary romance with the working title of Amy and Jared.
The print-out has been fermenting in the box for three weeks and this morning, in the next hour, the work begins.

The plan goes something like this:

* open the box, gulp, and start reading the text from page one. Do not write anything, annotate anything, just read it through from start to end

* go out for a walk

* come back and interview the characters - again- one by one- based on what I have learned about who they are from the words on the page as they stand

* work out what I want to reveal about my hero and heroine so the character arc makes sense - starting at the end, and the self-realisation/self-revelation scenes and working backwards to the beginning - goals, conflict, backstory motivation, the lot

* redesign the goals for the opening chapter, then the first three chapters - DO NOT load the beginning with backstory and a cast of thousands ! Am I the only person who does this?

* create a new chapter breakdown [ yes, I already have a chapter outline in a spreadsheet on the pc, but this will be put to one side] with turning points based on what I have decided, focusing on building and building the layers

*separate out the pages of print-out into chapters, so that tomorrow I can start slashing and making notes until all chapters have been complete and I am ready to rewrite.

Then lie down with a blanket over my head, and try and think positive thoughts about the draft which now appears like a complete piece of **** and wonder why I ever started this story, and....

Julie Cohen has just blogged about sending off her first draft to her editor, http://www.julie-cohen.com/blog, while Nicola Marsh is talking about what happens when you have sagging middles. http://www.nicolamarsh.blogspot.com/. I have the complete notes from Jenny Crusie's masterclass on writing. http://www.crusiemayer.com/workshop/.

Now all I have to do is put it all together and create the best thing I have ever written in my entire life.


The house is quiet. I am alone. And will be until 4 at the earliest. The sun is breaking through the clouds onto the sofa. I have tea.
Drat.
No more excuses.



What's playing on my YouTube right now? September Song - Frank Sinatra. Class. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9nmTG85pbUo followed by another classic - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hpAdEYU3btg&mode=related&search=