Wednesday, August 11, 2010

WiP - Update

Sorry, been a bit absent this week. Just life in general and not enough pre-planning on my part. Go figure.

So, my current cozy project - rough draft DONE - has been simmering in my mind as I put the necessary distance between rough and first draft stage.

Okay, I haven't given it a ton of distance. I've tweaked things here and there. Nothing major, mind you, just some things I knew I needed to add - a plot point here, an explanation there, and that's been about it, until . . . Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday, I began the read-through of the first draft phase. I'm not making major changes . . . yet. I'm going more for the is this story flowing, does it make sense, and what is missing phase of the, well, edit phase. Ha!

My Table of Contents is coming in quite handy. I'm putting check marks next to each chapter as I finish the read through and minor revisions. Woo-hoo!

Who knew a Table of Contents could be so beneficial? It helps me track where I've been, where I'm at, and where I'm going! Woo-hoo!

So, for the most part, this week is about reading my rough draft and making notations of what the heck, oh no, seriously, and other such stuff that stops the flow of writing or, well, just doesn't make sense. It's also about correcting glaring mistakes. Somehow, in the obsessive flow of writing, I changed one of the major character's names. Okay, it was only in one sentence, but still . . . Ha! So, I'm reading, notating, and waiting for the next phase where I seriously begin the editing process as I polish my little piece of coal into a sparkling diamond.

S

6 comments:

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Are you going to have any beta readers?

You're in one of my very FAVORITE phases of writing...reading the first rough draft. It's like eating a chocolate and letting it melt slowly in your mouth. Even if there's huge problems it's just great to know that it is a finished draft!

Misha Gerrick said...

Congrats on finishing your draft!

It's amazing what a difference it makes when you reread your book in its entirity.

I recently did the same with my book and found that something I wrote for one character completely wrecks the flow of my story. Unfortunately I can't fix it yet, since I'm a pen and paper girl, but at least I got a new sense of direction...

Scott said...

Michelle - are you reading my mind? I was going to ask if, in a few weeks or month, you wouldn't mind beta reading for me. I want to fix what needs fixing before I let it out of my sight. Ha!

Misha - thanks. I used to do the pen and paper thing. There's something great about the sound of pen on paper, but . . . I've become reliant on the computer. Such is life.

Scott said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Oh how I envy you! I can't wait to get to the making minor changes phase. I'm still in the "let's rip out this load bearing wall here and put it over there" phase. Messy and no end in sight!

Scott said...

myliterary quest - more in-depth editing will ensue in a few weeks. Right now, it's more thinking about what I've written and realizing I need a sentence here, or paragraph there to add a bit more depth and coherence to the project. I kind of miss the obsessive part.

S