This is the next entry in The Nine Draft Process, which is the method I’ve successfully used to write four books. I’m hoping that sharing this information will benefit other authors as they search for their own way of converting ideas into books.
In these blog entries I’m using my novel, He’s Going to Kill You (HGTKY), as an example. So I highly recommend reading it first because there will likely be some spoilers in these blog entries.
Before we get started, let’s reflect on the previous parts:
Part Zero is an introduction to the process. I recommend starting there.
Part One is about the Conceptual Draft, which is the first step. Here, we recorded our brainstorming for future use.
Part Two is about the Outline Draft. Here, we transformed out Conceptual Draft into an outline, while starting our Book Atlas.
Part Three is about the Flat Draft. In this step, we focus on converting our outline into a first draft, while keeping our Book Atlas updated.
Part Four is about the Focused Draft. In this step, we focus on improving each chapter individually, while keeping our Book Atlas update. Spoiler, we always keep our Book Atlas updated or we'll regret it later.
To kick off this step, you should read the first chapter you have, making notes about what and where you need improvements. It could be something as simple as identifying that you need to describe more visual cues in a section of heavy dialogue or recognizing that you need to trim down some information dumping.
Here's the first chapter Flat Draft from HGTKY that was provided last time.
While reading through this chapter, I would have made notes about what and where I needed to make improvements. Primary consideration should be as follows:
Trim unnecessary information
Expand key information appropriately
Refine ideas
Shape narrative
Remove plot issues and inconsistencies (We've already finished the ending of the book in the Flat Draft, so let's make sure everything lines up properly. We can even sprinkle details foreshadow our ending now.)
Meet word count goals
To assist with meeting the objectives above I also try to reflect on these details:
Emotions, dialogue, and visual cues
Sensory details (sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing)
Descriptions of surroundings, clothes, and the environment
Showing rather than telling (can the camera see it?)
Replacing emotion words with actions ("was" and "felt" are the usual suspects)
Using evidence rather than descriptions and focusing on effects rather than causes
Honestly, this is a lengthy step and sometimes I'll rework a single chapter multiple times during this step. Others, I might only make a few adjustments. It all depends on the quality of the Flat Draft you prepared. You should rework a chapter until you're satisfied with it, then move on to the next one.
For me, I like to highlight my entire document in yellow. Then, I go through the chapter retyping each words and making changes without highlights. As I complete a part, I delete the highlighted information. It helps me keep my place by separating the old from the new.
Also, keep in mind that you may need to update your Book Atlas along the way. Failure to update it can result in pain later down the road. For example, if you fail to mention that you described a character's clothes, you might create an incontinency later in the novel or you may have to hunt down where you described it.
Now here's the Focused Draft for the first chapter of HGTKY.
The obvious change here is that the word count increased over 1500 words, but if you compare it closely to the Flat Draft, you find that there are substantial improvements based on the objectives we listed previously.
While it's easy to write about this step, the action itself is a time consuming effort. I consider it a fun task; however, the following step, which we'll discuss in Part Five, is the one I consider the most painful. It's the Polished Draft.
Until next time, happy writing!
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