Drafts One and Two

The latest tale is drawing to its end. I have a couple items I need to research to make sure I’m getting things right, and I think the last scene still feels kind of tagged on. But it should be done in the next day or two. I think.

This is the story I spoke of last post, where I went back and plotted everything. It worked well, but then the characters still took over, and it went a few places I wasn’t expecting. I think this is good, of course (you would expect me to say something else?). My buddy John took me to task for the “plan it” approach, and rightly so since that’s not how he does it. But the thing this does for me is that it removes the abject fear that when I sit down in the morning nothing will come out.

When I understand the basic concept of the story I’m working on I know I can create words.

A key thing to John’s mindset that I thought was interesting, though, was that he finds the first “loose” draft done in free-writing style to be the most fun. Perhaps this is why we collaborate so well. Because I find the second draft to be the best. The first draft is exploratory, it tells me what the story really is. It’s scary because I don’t really know what I’m doing. Sometimes a first draft is like pulling teeth.

The second draft is where I’m really creating. The second draft is great fun. It’s where all the pieces come together and I can fix all the stupid mistakes I made in the first draft.

Sometimes the third draft is a blast, too.

But eventually the editing and rewriting part becomes no fun.

And that means, for me, the story is done. [grin]