Beyond the First Draft

[Svrtnsse]

This is a question for those of you with a bit more experience than me, those with a novel or two under your belt already.

I'm currently about a third through my first draft of my first novel and I'm realizing there are changes that need to be made in the stuff that I've written already. I'm fine with that. It's part of the process and all that.

I'm sure it's the same for everyone to some extent. What I'm curious about is how much you've changed between the first and second drafts of your books. Are there any big sweeping changes to the story or mainly little details?
What's the biggest change you've made to a story you've written after completing the first draft?

 

[Feo Takahari]

I usually edit for another writer who's also editing for me, which tends to mean that we edit chapter-by-chapter rather than in one lump. This means that when I do something totally stupid in one chapter, I'm warned about it before I can write five more chapters that depend on that chapter. Once I've actually got a full story out, I don't make many changes that resonate through more than one chapter--it's tricky to make sure I've properly edited every reference and every consequence.

 

[Helen]

What I'm curious about is how much you've changed between the first and second drafts of your books. Are there any big sweeping changes to the story or mainly little details?
What's the biggest change you've made to a story you've written after completing the first draft?

I'd classify the changes as big and sweeping.

With one, which I didn't outline, I needed to do a wholesale rewrite.

Another, I took out situations and characters and threaded in new ones.

I personally find that quality sets in in the later drafts.

It's not as hard as it sounds, because every character and situation has a purpose and I'm just swapping in better characters and more effective situations.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

...how much you've changed between the first and second drafts of your books.

I revise in stages. I have very specific things that I'm looking for during revision. For example, on one pass I may be looking at dialogue, or characterization, or sub-plots. I probably revise more than most, and maybe even more than is necessary. However, the first few complete works were nothing more than learning experiences. They're not publishable stories. Although they are "complete", meaning I did finish the draftings, the end products weren't what I wanted to put out for my first attempts at publication. Still, after six to eight passes, lots of things change. Recognizing necessary changes, and accepting them for the betterment of the story is part of the learning process, at least it was for me. It seems I need far fewer revisions now than when I first began because I've trained myself to write in the style that I want. That training has improved my view of story too...so I say don't be afraid of sweeping changes, but save everything from first draft all the way through, in separate files.

Are there any big sweeping changes to the story or mainly little details?

Both. I still have major changes but now I can recognize those elements that aren't working earlier. This means less wasted time. In my current WIP, the biggest change I've made is the deletion of a POV character. Unlike before, I saw him for what he was after two chapters. Before, I would've been hesitant to delete him because I'd already invested 8k words. That old thinking just made it more difficult in the end to whittle down to a good story. Revision of minor details is the easy bit, but you can't be scared of major changes.

What's the biggest change you've made to a story you've written after completing the first draft?

I've changed the gender of main characters. I've killed someone off that previously survived. I've changed openings & endings a ton.

Now, I tend to look at the first draft as a really well fleshed out outline. There's still a lot of connections you need, character changes that must be made, foreshadowing to add, and plots requiring removal or twisting before the story is any good. So don't stress it. Most good stories are written in revision.

 

[skip.knox]

Ditto what T.Allen Smith said. My first drafts are terribly drafty. Whole cyclones can sweep through. My first draft is me sailing on unknown oceans at high speed, making sketches as I go. When it's done and I get back to land, I'm usually furious with myself. What sort of map is this, I demand? How the devil am I supposed to find my way? So I get back in the boat and we go in more or less the same direction but I find whole new coastlines even as I do happen, almost by accident, revisit some of the same places as on the first voyage.

After a while, I stop even trying to count drafts. It's just "the story" and I'm working on it.

 

[Penpilot]

Similar to T.A.S. I revise in stages, moving from big picture plot stuff to small picture wording of prose.

In the novel I'm just finishing up, after the first draft, I threw out pretty much the whole second half of the book because it stunk. After that, I had to revise key points in the first half to fit the new second half.

I've made four major drafts of the novel, but during each draft, I may make multiple tweaking passes over each scene/chapter to get what I'm focusing on in that draft as right as I can get it. In total I've made between 5-25 passes over each scene/chapter.

 

[Sam Evren]

I read through my work as a whole. I look to edit anything that trips my eye as I read. Once through, I read it again. Then I break it down to sections, sets of chapters that are connected. Then I break it down to individual chapters and take as many passes on that chapter as I need.

By the time I'm down to chapters, I've usually sorted out the bigger issues - in my mind.

However, I did pull an entire character and 2 chapters out of my last book on that last set of passes. I realized I was keeping it in merely because I'd done it. The words were fine, fluid, and roughly in order, but the idea & character had only survived this book because I felt I'd done the work, so he should be there.

After I'd removed it, however, the book flowed much more smoothly, and, honestly, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

Don't be afraid of changes if they make your work better/make you happier.

 

[Bee]

I have to write down the entire thing in a first draft before going any further, sometimes just writing ideas as they come even if they don't quite fit yet. When I'm writing the first draft I feel as if I am watching a film and therefore what goes down first is heavy dialogue, If I don't write that first I lose the flow and forget what I was going to write. I also write incredibly quickly getting easily distracted, my mind is incredibly skittish (I don't know if I have some condition but it has been suggested that this is a possibility ADD or something similar) I have to then go back and embellish the description and make sure it makes sense, fits the story etc. I don't think it is the most efficient way to write but it is what I have to do or my mind will wander off and come back with more stuff, much like a hoarder.