On June 24, I posted about the terrifying prospect of writing draft 2. As usual, I was pretty
flipping freaked out.
The update is this:
Second draft, guys.
It’s totally happening. WOOT.
I’ll be honest, though.
It’s been a slog and I’m only starting to figure out what I’m doing now,
six and half weeks later.
I think one of the reasons second drafts are so terrifying
to write is that they’re just less straightforward. In draft 1, you have one task: write the
goddamned thing. Turn off the
perfectionist, self-critical voices in your head and get a shitload of words on
paper. Not that this is easy – it takes ages and it’s a major
energy-drain. But the principle is simple:
write a certain amount of words each day, quality be damned, and you’ll come
out with a novel. It’s just true.
But then the question becomes: What next? What do I do now
that I have to turn some of those critical, editorial voices back on? You can’t
expect to edit your book if you’ve turned off your inner editor.
