Thoughts On Drafting & Revision

As I approach the end of the rough draft of my sequel novel, I find myself thinking forward to what I’d like the final draft to look like.

This sequel novel has been complicated to write. Even more so than my debut novel, which I did not anticipate. Writing itself might grow easier with time, but that doesn’t mean each stage of the writing process will. I don’t know why this particular rough draft has resisted me so heavily, but instead of trying to strongarm it into submission, I’ve let it come to me. And it has. I am now in the 24th chapter which means, after this one, there will only be two chapters left to draft. And as I write these last scenes, the story is evolving and the overarching plot that connects these first six books is becoming more prominent, more noticeable.

In some of the reviews of my debut novel, readers have said there were scenes I included that were unnecessary. And while I understand which scenes they’re referring to, I definitely intended those scenes to be there. They are what hints to the overarching plot which, unfortunately, is going to take time to unravel and reveal. The prologues, interludes, and epilogues in these books are the scenes where I can be more overt with the development of the overarching plot. And in the debut novel, I have to acknowledge that the overarching plot really isn’t seen or hinted at beyond the prologue, interludes, and epilogue. Nasya’s journey just doesn’t give her the same breadth of knowledge as Scarlet’s.

Seeing this overarching plot take more of a sideseat instead of a backseat in this manuscript has been fun. I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to connect all of these things, but that’s something I can worry about in another book. Foreshadowing is important. And while there is a lot of foreshadowing in the first book, I’m not sure how many people pick up on the foreshadowing. Hopefully their reception of the sequel will shine a brighter light on those things.

I will have the rough draft completed by the end of December. I do not know how quickly I will be able to get the first round of revisions done, but I am giving myself permission to let whatever needs to happen, happen. My other series is also coming along and, while it has a ways to go before it’s ready to be published, I don’t think it will need nearly as much revision as this one. I’m also not using beta readers for that new series, so I will be able to get through my revisions a lot faster.

Revision is where the real writing happens. You need a solid rough draft to successfully revise a manuscript, but the vision I have in my mind for how this novel will look when completed is going to heavily depend on how much time and energy I devote to my revision process. And if that means letting the release date for this novel slide back a month or two — or more — then I will gladly give it that time to be what it needs to be. And I know I’ve said this before, but I often have to remind myself that it’s okay if I don’t make the tentative summer deadline.

It will help when I no longer have classes to think about. I am currently down to one final assignment to complete and then I will be done with my second master’s, and I am honestly so fucking excited to say that. I’m sure I’ll get another degree in something else at some point. But right now, I have no plans for it and no real desire to dedicate myself to it. I’d like having the student loans come in, but even that I don’t need. It would just help me pay off some other debts and have extra spending money. So, for now, I will be keeping myself out of school.

I really do want my life to be filled with the excitement and rush of being an author. I love my job and have no intentions to quit. Not even if I could reasonably do so and become a full time writer because I do not want my ability to live to rest entirely on writing. There are no guarantees as authors that we will make any money from one month to the next. And even though this likelihood will increase as time goes on and I have more novels published and more episodes available to read on Kindle Vella, I still don’t think I will quit my day job. For a lot of people, when your livelihood depends entirely on the thing you enjoy doing the most, it can mean that you eventually lose your love for that thing. Or, I’ve seen other writers say that it was the stress of making ends meet that sucked the joy out of their art.

I refuse to put myself in a position where I potentially lose my love of writing for any reason. Plus, I genuinely love what I do. I have no intentions of leaving. I have a good paying job with health benefits that’s close to where I live and doesn’t suck the soul out of me. I don’t judge anyone else for their choices regarding working and being a writing; some people, their ultimate goal is to be a full time writer and I think that’s an outstanding goal. I may not have that specific goal, but I absolutely intend to earn money on my writing. It’ll take time before that amount adds up to anything really substantial, but I have goals that I want my writing to help me achieve.

I guess my point is that sometimes we have to prioritize the things that matter most to us. And that will mean that our individual journeys will look differently, even if we are all shooting for the same ultimate target.