3rd Draft Complete - I love my CPs
Originally published at K.T. Hanna - The Scribble Muse. You can comment here or there.
Last night I finished the 3rd draft of TDP-1.
I’ll rewind a moment. Towards the end of January my CPs returned many pages of feedback to me. I love my CPs, I truly do. They pointed out the parts they loved, and yet told me in no uncertain terms - about the things my story lacks.
After compiling all the feedback and categorizing it between characterization and Backstory/Sensory details. I arranged the points in order of the story’s progression and started my revision.
So many subtle things, small inclusions, tightening, and a few complete scene rewrites. Not to mention darlings axed everywhere I found them.
Of course, I’m scared I’ve ruined it completely. So, I’ll sit here, trying not to chew my nails while I wait for feedback from my 2nd round of betas.
But I will mark yet another thing off my February goal list
- Finish TDP-1′s third draft
- Plot H
- Write H
- Critique for M
- Critique for H
- Don’t take on too many crits
Today, I will tackle plotting H. Hopefully that means I’ll begin writing on Friday. We’ll see how it goes though. Sometimes it takes me a lot longer to plot. In the end, it’s a good thing. The more time I spend on my outlining/detailing/plotting process - the less chance I’ll have plot holes to fill. #writemotivation gives me some much needed fire, too.
H has been trying to distract me from TDP since December. Now is the time to hammer out the first draft so it’ll leave me the hell alone.
Overall - I’m happy with how the process for TDP is going. I hope to be able to query in April/May (after I rip my Query letter apart and, you know, make it not suck).
The journey? So many pitfalls. All this frustration. Time like you wouldn’t believe. Hundreds of hours of work. And at the end, there’s still no guarantee an agent will love it. Even if they do, there’s still no guarantee someone will want to publish it.
But you know what? I don’t care. Fixing, polishing and improving my story is like no other feeling. Even if my betas and myself are the only people who ever know how much I love these characters - they’ve helped me grow and I will never regret the time spent.
While I query, I plan on finishing the drafts of the other 2 books and writing at least one or two more. The more I write, the more I practice - the easier it’ll become to tell my stories.
How do you feel about the whole writing process? How do you deal with it? What about the time sinks and the frustrations you meet along the way? Do you ever wonder if it’s worth it?
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