"Writing wasn’t easy to start. After I finally did it, I realized it was the most direct contact possible with the part of myself I thought I had lost, and which I constantly find new things from. Writing also includes the possibility of living many lives as well as living in any time or world possible. I can satisfy my enthusiasm for research, but jump like a calf outside the strict boundaries of science. I can speak about things that are important to me and somebody listens. It’s wonderful!”
-Virpi Hämeen-Anttila

There are times when I wish I had not shown my first draft to somebody else before going in and fixing some very major details. These details are either minor and stupid mistakes, like the kinds I make in math homework and on math tests, or they are large plot holes big enough to drive a truck through, which also happens.

This is not one of those times.

This time, I sent a draft to a family member who is notorious for not reading things I send—not right away, at least—so I have a window of opportunity to pretend that she is reading the piece while I fix major and minor errors. I am glad, for once, that she is not reading the piece because I have fixed some very large and important details. I fixed some things that make me smack my forehead and say “What was I thinking?!” And I rearranged something at the very beginning which makes me quite proud of myself, regardless of the fact that I have the whole new section highlighted with “EDIT!” written in the margin where Word makes review commentary available. Now I have to get up the courage to stop being lazy and edit the full piece before moving on.

I’m getting better at this, but I’m not quite in love with editing yet, my own pieces least of all. At least I’m the first one to read this over.

I started writing it, and then I became moderately original, and then I couldn’t understand why people were writing it when they could be writing their own stories, and now I can see what the appeal is again.

Only this time, it’s my own story with someone else’s characters, taken completely away from any canon that existed, because I’m writing it as though the books had never happened. I’m wondering if that’s illegal. It’s still fan fiction, but it’s stuff from the very beginning of the story I’m taking it from - practically the first page, and maybe even from before that, from before any of the story was ever written. The story that is will never happen in my fan fiction.

Have I ever stated how much I dislike second drafts? I shouldn’t. I should love them. They’re a time for reflection and revision. I just hate seeing all of those mistakes. I hate saying to myself, “What were you doing when you wrote this?!”

The good thing is, I know what I have to cut and I’m not afraid of doing that (should I be concerned about the fact that I’m not afraid to “kill my baby?”). The bad thing is that I have to reword what I didn’t do right, which I’m generally fine with, it’s just hard to do.

That and I need to make sure everything flows and that readers will understand what’s going on in my head. That’s usually the hard part for me—my organization, as my essays will show, needs help when it appears in first-draft form.

…Actually, I’ve gotten rather excited about this! I talked myself into it! My fears are that my characters will not be real enough, that my main character will (for the second time, and not on purpose) not be as interesting as his nemesis, and that my story will make me say, “What was the point?”

This is my first attempt at actively revising a book. I’ve edited before (short stories and a book that I cannot wait to revisit), but I’ve never gone for a second draft, because this is the first time I’ve written a book that’s somewhat cohesive from start to finish. That is also exciting (and a little sad, but we won’t think about that - author-in-training, might I remind you)!

So for any potential employers out there reading this (which would surprise me, but now you can see what’s been on my mind): my final products are always vastly superior to their original states and I’m working to gain experience!

To everyone else who stumbles on this post or reads this blog: Thank you for reading and you’ll (hopefully) be getting more updates!

I’d really like to publish one - or try to somewhere. I know about Helium (dot) com. Does anyone know where else I can send them?

Writing is slow, but steady work. I don't have nearly the kind of time I had when summer was around, and the sheer amount of work I've been doing has been the roughest form of prioritizing I've ever endured. I suppose there's nothing like a metaphorical slap to the face to motivate one into action.

Aside from that, I'm reverting to what I'm calling the JK Rowling method (even though it's only based off of her and has nothing to do with the way she tackles the writing process). She did in one chapter what I tried to do in several, and she did it with showing, not telling. I'm talking about the chapter in the seventh book titled The Prince's Tale. We don't see every detail of Snape's and Lily's relationship, but we see enough, and the little we get not only shapes their characters, but are specific enough and detailed enough to define the time of their lives that they're in and the places they've come from/gone to. Short snippets, but now we know what we need to. That's how I'm going to refocus my approach to my main character and her relationships with her friends at the start of her life (so I can fast-forward to the spot she needs to be in while also establishing her character and the people she surrounds herself with).

Does that sound good? That's the most detailed I've ever been when it comes to talking about my writing process.

I've begun to revise the latest book I've written with some tips and advice from a very good friend whose opinion I trust. He's probably the only person aside from my sister who will ever see my books in "zero draft" form, meaning fresh off the press, the very first draft of an entire book, all romping about and just trying to get to the end.

Now is the difficult part, but also the most fun, I think, in terms of adding things I forgot and making it a brilliant piece.

I don't post a lot on here, but I hope that will change. It will all depend on the eventfulness of my life.

Originally posted by tamidan at Excerpt from meiface's journal

Since I last posted, I completed the edits of one book, finished writing another, and am now somewhat between writing projects. I can't decide if I want to go back and look at the edits in favor of writing a new outline and a second draft, or if I should push forward.

 I've been over at tumblr. Someone let me know if they would like a proper update? Thank you!