Second drafts in particular and rewriting in general is like eating oatmeal for breakfast. Most of the time, it’s not something I prefer to do, but it’s good for me, so I do it.
I’ve been working on the rewrite of Saving Grace five days now and have made a lot of progress. The first twenty chapters are now behind me, including two entirely brand new chapters. The good news is that I haven’t yet found an insurmountable problem with the first draft. Little problems? Yes, lots of them. But finding and fixing problems is the purpose of the second draft.
All of the time spent on developing characters, character background, story background, time lines and all the rest are proving instrumental at this stage. The answer to almost every question I’ve asked so far in the second draft has already been answered in one of those documents. I’ve been surprised more than once to have a question arise during rewriting and be able to find the answer somewhere. All of that planning really does serve a purpose … even if it happens after the first draft is done!
At risk of causing myself grief, I’ll say this second draft is the least troublesome I’ve worked on so far. That’s not to say problems won’t reveal themselves as I move deeper into the story, but it does offer some encouragement for those times. The same type of providential help I experienced in writing the first draft last November is still in force with the second draft, Praise the LORD!
The story (and me, as well!) will have a day off, then it will be back to work again on Monday. Here’s to a good week!
Second drafts in particular and rewriting in general is like eating oatmeal for breakfast. Most of the time, it’s not something I prefer to do, but it’s good for me, so I do it.