The other night my husband and I went out to dinner, as married people do, except we pretended we were on a first date. We asked questions that, after almost five years of marriage, you should already know—what’s your favorite food, what do you like to do when you’re not working, where would you love to travel—and while I can’t say I learned anything new, hearing his reasons for WHY he enjoys certain things (and not others) was like taking a refresher course on my spouse. (We also had fun imagining what our server was saying about us in the kitchen since we were both wearing our rings.) I even felt a few long-forgotten butterflies midway through the meal.
At the end of the evening, we had a fun night out and rarely broke character. I don’t consider myself an actor, but the writer in me kept coming out as I wove pieces of our stories—things he already knows—into the conversation. Which of course got me thinking about writing and revisions. (You knew this was coming, right?)
Gaining a fresh perspective on your draft
The elusive “they” say that upon finishing a first draft, you should tuck it in a drawer and leave it alone for months. Or a month. Or definitely at least a couple weeks. Five days tops.
I typically have good intentions, but rarely let my first drafts sit that long. Until now. I finished the first draft of The Edge Rules (book 3 in the Rules Series!) in mid-January, and aside from tweaking the first chapter to include at the end of The Trail Rules (I’m evil that way), I haven’t read it. It’s helped that I’ve been busy preparing TTR for publication, plus writing a short story and bonus scenes. I’m definitely curious to read it—although I’m not looking forward to all the work ahead of me.
Kind of like preparing for a first date.
The once-over
Plucking brows and trimming cuticles. I start taking notes when I’m at the midway part of a first draft. For as much as I outline, things always change, and rather than going back and tweaking the beginning, I push forward as if I’ve already made the changes. So before I read, I study my notes so that I can insert where the changes will need to happen WHILE I’M READING.
The first pass
AKA, the shower. This needs to be thorough. Most writers get very very tired of reading their manuscript, so the more comments I can add at once, the better (for me anyway). By the time I get to the end, I want to have notes within the document telling me EVERYTHING that needs to change.
The gruntwork
Getting dressed. (Yes I realize it doesn’t take long to put on clothes, but CHOOSING the perfect outfit for a first date can be excruciating.) This is where the real work happens. Squeezing in a bit of description to round out a scene. Dropping in subtle details that hint at something deeper. Cutting minor characters who don’t add anything valuable to the overall story.
Polishing
Makeup. This is really more gruntwork, but now you’re making it shine. Swapping out boring verbs and passive voice for exciting verbs and, er, non-passive voice!
Final touches.
Am I the only one who checks herself in the mirror every two minutes until she leaves? For me this means checking to make sure I’ve resolved all my notes and comments, including the three issues (because there are always three) I keep thinking will resolve themselves if I skip over them enough times. I don’t consider a draft ready for beta readers until I’ve finished these final touches, but you may like to share sooner. This is yet another way all writers are different. The important thing is to make sure you’re happy with the result — or that you know which areas require outside help — before your manuscript steps out the door.
And if all else fails, take your MC on a first date. You’ll be surprised what you find out.
