I'm now on chapter four and getting the hang of it. The thing I love about this stage is being able to slash and burn with such abandon. I've got the first draft saved separately so anything I change my mind about can be instantly reinstated, but at this point I'm not too worried about the odd phrase or perfect paragraph. That's for the final polish. At this point I have to revisit the vision I had for this story and see if it needs changing.
What that means is, should I introduce a character sooner, remove scenes that slow things down, add a bit of backstory here, that sort of thing. I'm trying to step back from the line by line involvement with the story and see it as a whole. I'm really getting into the main character's head, seeing the world through his eyes, feeling what he feels. It's exciting because after the daily grind of getting the first draft down this is the first time I feel in complete control of the material. I'm seeing it objectively while living the story subjectively. Does that make sense?
Of course this won't be the end of the process. I've already decided the beginning will need radical work on the next revision, but at this point I want to get through the whole story without going back. It goes in fits and starts. Sometimes I feel inspired and write pages of new material, other times I have to leave it for a few hours to mull things over.
But the main thing is I am enjoying it. Phew.
2 comments:
Well done, Sandra. It is really important to be able to see the story objectively and as a whole.
I'm also at Ch 4 of my NaNo novel but strugling to see the story as a whole. I've got a lot of research to do, more than I thought because I decided to introduce one more minor character and give them a little story.
This blimmin' research is slowing the process and I'm dragging my feet with rewriting becuase I hate research!
Oh, I do sympathise, Kate. Putting in a new character often involves huge rewrites. I had to do that on the finished book so I know what you're going through. What sort of research are you doing?
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