Weekly Update: 5.15.17 (Including Some Insight Into My Novel-Writing Process)

Well! The Magic Hound
of Eastminster, or Oneiromancer,
or whatever this novel is called – the first novel of the Mesonox
Duology – is finished. Again. I completed the second draft
yesterday, which involved extensive revisions and additions and
corrections to the first draft. My intention is to now have only one
more draft left – the one that will incorporate inputting the
feedback of my beta readers, editing for syntax and grammar, and
sprinkling various worldbuilding details here and there. The bulk of
the work, however, is done: this book should be completely finished
by August 1, which is my self-imposed deadline.

One
awesome thing that I have learned from writing this novel is my own
process as a writer. I can’t say that I learned much from writing
Descent Into Madness
(other than how to actually complete a whole book), mainly because
that story went through so many drafts and versions that it’s hardly
a helpful example of my process. But The Magic Hound
is much more typical, and I think I’ve nailed down the formula I hope
to use for the rest of my novels going forward. The best part about
it is that the entire process only takes a year, at most, to
complete. Of course, as I grow in my craft and become better, it may
end up taking more time – who knows. I should also specify that
this novel is just a little over 100,000 words long, which is
actually a little on the short end for epic fantasy, so if I plan to
copy everybody else and churn out a couple of doorstoppers, I’ll have
to work a little harder to maintain that time frame. But hey, if I
end up published and can eventually just write full time, that may
not be so unrealistic!

Anyways,
here is the writing process I used for The Magic
Hound, and this is the
one I’ll hopefully get to use going forward.

Draft
I – This is where I run with the big picture idea of the story.
Thankfully, for the next six
novels I want to write, I have the overarching idea already laid
out, much like I did for The Magic Hound,
so I don’t have to take any time constructing detailed outlines –
I can dive right in. This first step takes about three months, and
the goal is to simply write as much as possible. I don’t worry about
editing, I don’t worry about changing plot lines (even the ones I
don’t like the moment they end up incarnated in words) – I just
write.

Interjection
1: Between steps 1 and 2, as I’m finishing up 1 and beginning 2, I
take notes on very specific things that I know I want to change:
certain plot points, certain characters, certain events, etc. I found
that taking notes while still writing, for some reason, keeps the
machinery well-oiled and ensures that I am able to move rather
seamlessly between Draft 1 and Draft 2.

Draft II – This is where all the
major revisions take place. I change the plot around to be, more or
less, exactly what I would want it to be if the book hit the shelves
the next day. I focus intensively on characterization. I add in
necessary details. I take out episodes that are a waste of page. I’m
a little less intense on this particular part of the process – I
take my time in revising, not pushing myself to be done by such and
such a point. I have an overall deadline for when I would like the
book written, of course, but this is really the most important part
of the process; this is where I’m refining and shaping the novel
into exactly what I want it to be.

Interjection
2: This is the point at which I send out the finished second draft to
beta readers. For The Magic Hound,
I made the mistake of sending out the first draft, and after getting
back a number of helpful notes from friends that were basically
reiterating what I already knew needed to be different, I realized
that I shot too early and asked for feedback when it wasn’t helpful.
So it’s after the second
draft that I will send the book to readers in the future. Also,
during revising, I do not delete anything that I think may be
salvageable later – I keep it all saved in an extra folder so that
I can go back and revisit specific scenes and episodes after awhile,
to see if I want to end up including them after all.

This is the last draft. During this
one I run through and edit every. single. sentence. My main focus is
not upon the story that is told, but the way in which it is told –
my actual writing. I will, of course, adjust plot points and
sprinkle in various details as needed, but my main focus is upon the
words themselves. This is the last run through I will do of the
book. This is also where I incorporate the feedback I get from any
of my beta readers. At this point, if all has gone according to
plan, the novel is done – and I can prepare to send it off to an
agent. In the future, I’d love for that sentence to read: I send it
to my agent. Time
will tell, I suppose!

I
guess, technically, this is a five step process with the
interjections, and I wanted it to be only three. Oh well.

Okay,
that’s all.