Expectoann

No risk, duck

This helps me so so much! Thank you🙇🏼‍♀️💗

So you finished your first draft... What now?

I sometimes see posts telling you what to do after you finished writing. Many of them focus on getting the sentences to flow nicely, catching typos or making sure the grammar is sound. For me, there’s much more work to be done before I can get on with word choice and grammar. I want to tell you about the different stages of editing I’m planning.

I’m working from big to small, because it’s no use fretting over synonyms in a scene you’ll end up cutting out later.

These are my drafts:

1. Just write

Check. You’ve gone that. You got the first draft on the paper. Congratulations! You rock!

2. Add and cut

You’ve probably heard that editing is cutting. “A second draft needs to be shorter than the first draft, because you cut out any unnecessary words.” Yes and no. I agree you need to cut them out, but not yet.

Read through your entire story first, noting if anything needs to be added or cut out. Scenes where you were telling and you needed to be showing: rewrite them, add more words. For example: “And then they fight.” No, show me the fight. Scenes where you repeat yourself: cut out the repetitions if they have no function.

Think of pacing. Pick it up for the exciting scenes and then give your reader some breathing room. Pick it up towards the end. Add a small filler scene to change a regular reveal into a cliffhanger.

This is also the draft in which you fix any plotholes and rearrange scenes if they need to be in a different order.

If you finish this draft, you completed probably 80% of the work needed on your story. *high five!*

3. Group the scenes into chapters

A chapter consists of several scenes. If you have not grouped them yet, read through the entire story and place the chapter breaks where they feel right. If you have written your story into chapters, read it through to make sure that the chapter breaks are where they supposed to be.

Make sure there is a hook, big or small, at the end of each chapter to make the reader read on. If there isn’t one, add one or put the chapter break somewhere else.

4. Are there darlings to be killed?

You know your darlings. Scenes, characters, ideas or sentences you don’t want to cut because you really like them, but they serve no purpose in your story. Or worse, you rewrite a good plot into a mediocre one to make sure the darling doesn’t need to be killed.

Knowing myself, any darlings in my story probably involve random mentions of space and dinosaurs.

How to spot darlings: read through your entire story and ask yourself honestly:

Is the story structure still working? (Plot/pacing/…)

Is everything logical?

What’s the function of this chapter? Of this scene? Of this paragraph?

If it serves no purpose, kill them.  

Notice I’m still not telling you to check the grammar.

5. Voice

By know, you really know your characters. You know how they should react, how their thoughts sound, and if they have any quirks. Read through your story and make sure all the actions and dialogues are in character. Pay extra attention to the first part of your story, because you didn’t know them as well as you did at the end.

You can do this for all your characters in one go, or go through your story for each character individually, whatever serves your story best. I will go through my story four times in this draft, once for each of my four major characters.

6. Optional genre-specific draft

I’m writing something funny, so I’m dedicating an extra draft to make sure there is enough humor in it. If you write a romantic story, check for romantic details. If you write horror, check if you need to add extra creepy details. Add foreshadowing if that makes your story richer.

7. The time has come

Yes. I’m finally telling you to check the grammar, synonyms, tenses, unnecessary words, adverbs, variations of “said”, commas versus semicolons and all the other stuff you want to check. Go wild.

8. Extra things publishers and agents like

Make sure your first sentence is spot-on. Make your first scene brilliant. Make your first chapter a perfect chapter.

Rewrite the first and last alinea of every chapter. The goal is to make people want to gush to their friends, “I’m reading this book and you NEED to hear this paragraph, let me read it to you because it is the. best. ever.”

***

I know it can be difficult to see your mistakes and not tackle them immediately.  For me, it works if I signal them to future-me: I write “bad writing”, “research this” or “why????” in the margins and I put a squiggle under weird paragraphs or words. The reason you want to tackle it now is to make sure the idea or the mistake doesn’t escape you later. By signaling it,  you make sure it can’t escape, but you’re not losing time with micro stuff when you still have macro stuff to do.

Note that I will probably only change like 0,1% of the story each time I go through it, especially in the later drafts, but this way I won’t get distracted by other to do’s. If I try to do everything in one or two drafts, I can’t possibly see or do everything.

And now you’re done, you magnificent unicorn of a human being! You deserve the highest of fives!

I hope this is clear! You can always ask me if you have more questions. Follow me for more writing advice.

Tag list below, people I like and admire. If you want to be added to or removed from my tag list, let me know.

@writingquestionsanswered @brynwrites @cogwrites @tlbodine @neil-gaiman @sapphicauthor @thatsmybluefondue @maggie-stiefvater @abbywritesstuff @bronwyn-writes @sunblushedgoblin @forlornraven @elliewritesstories @tiorickriordan ​ @heywriters ​ @authors-haven ​ @helpfulwritingstuff ​ @wordsnstuff ​ @writingtipsandtricks​ @clevergirlhelps ​ @itstartswithablankpage​ @thebibliosphere ​ @compassrosewriting ​ @fixyourwritinghabits ​ @theliteraryarchitect ​ @git-writing-good ​ @thewritershandbook ​ @promptsforthestrugglingauthor ​ @goddessofnothingatall ​ @therska ​ @stephrawlingwrites ​ @cometworks ​ @elarasterling ​ @writeblrconnections ​ @the-words-we-never-said ​ @writingwhithotchocolate ​ @i-rove-rock-n-roll ​ @maskedlady ​ @no-time-like-write-now ​

Ask me some questions!

3 Fears

3 things I love

2 turns on

2 turns off

My best friend

Sexual orientation

How tall am I

What do I miss right now

Favourite color

Do I have a crush

Favourite place

What am I listening to right now

Shoe size

Eye color

Hair color

Meaning behind my URL

Favourite song

Favourite band

How I feel right now

Someone I love

My current relationship status

My relationship with my parents

Favourite season

Tattoos and piercing i have

Tattoos and piercing i want

The reasons I joined Tumblr

Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts?

Have I ever kissed the last person you texted?

How long does it take me to get ready in the morning?

Have you shaved your legs in the past three days?

Where am I right now?

Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level?

Do I live with my Mom and Dad?

Am I excited for anything?

Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to?

How often do I wear a fake smile?

If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

What do I think about most?

Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

What was the last lie I told?

Do I perfer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

Do I believe in magic?

Do I believe in luck?

What’s the weather like right now?

What was the last book I’ve read?

Do I have any nicknames?

Do I spend money or save it?

Can I touch my nose with a tounge?

Favourite animal?

What was I doing last night at 12 AM?

What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it?

What is my favorite word?

My top 5 blogs on tumblr

If the whole world were listening to me right now, what would I say?

Do I have any relatives in jail?

What is my current desktop picture?

Had sex?

Bought condoms?

Gotten pregnant?

Have I ever kissed somebody in the rain?

Had job?

Smoked weed?

Smoked cigarettes?

Drank alcohol?

Am I a vegetarian/vegan?

Been overweight?

Been underweight?

Gotten my heart broken?

Been to prom?

Been in airplane?

Learned another language?

Wore make up?

Dyed my hair?

Had a surgery?

Met someone famous?

Stalked someone on a social network?

Been fishing?

Been rejected by a crush?

What do I want for birthday?

Do I like my handwriting?

Where do I want to live when older?

Have I ever got caught sneaking out or doing anything bad?

What I’m really bad at

What my greatest achievments are

The meanest thing somebody has ever said to me

What I’d do if I won in a lottery

What do I like about myself

My closest Tumblr friend

Any question you’d like?

Are you outgoing or shy?

What kind of people are you attracted to?

Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

What does the most recent text that you sent say?

What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

Do you like it when people play with your hair?

Do you think there is life on other planets?

Do you like bubble baths?

Do you like your neighbors?

Where would you like to travel?

Favorite part of your daily routine?

What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?

What do you do when you wake up?

Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?

Do you ever want to get married?

If your hair long enough for a pony tail?

Would you rather live without TV or music?

Have you ever liked someone and never told them?

What are your favorite stores to shop in?

Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?

Do you smile at strangers?

Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?

Ever wished you were someone else?

Favourite makeup brand?

Last thing you ate?

Ever won a competition? For what?

Ever been in love? 

Facebook or Twitter?

Twitter or Tumblr?

Are you watching tv right now?

What colour are your towels?

Favourite ice cream flavour?

First person you talked to today?

Last person you talked to today?

Name a person you hate?

Name a person you love?

Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?

Do you tan a lot?

Have any pets?

Do you type fast?

Do you regret anything from your past?

Ever broken someone’s heart?

Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt?

Is cheating ever okay?

Do you believe in true love?

What your zodiac sign?

Do you believe in ghosts?

Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page? (via catscuddlingandyou)

Y’all I read a lot of scripts. And the one note I give over and over and over and over to the point that I can pretty much copy and paste it from one review to another…. let your characters lie. Let them omit, stumble, and circumvent. Allow them to be completely unable to express what they’re feeling. Make them unable to admit a truth. Let them sit in silence because they can’t think of anything clever to say! Let them say the exact wrong thing!

Dee Rees talks about it in her BAFTA lecture (which you should ABSOLUTELY WATCH): that what your character actually says should be three degrees of separation away from what they mean to say.

I read script after script after script where characters articulate their needs, desires, and objectives with perfect accuracy off the cuff 24/7 and there is not one single human person on this planet who is actually able to do that. This is the #1 thing that’s going to make your script sound stilted and the #1 thing that’s going to make shit difficult on your actors. Let them shut up, and let them lie.

🏳️‍🌈❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🏳️‍🌈

Reblog if you support people of all genders and sexualities 🌈🏳️‍🌈❤️💛💚💙💜🏳️‍🌈🌈