I have printed out a first draft of my second novel which I finished writing last weekend. (My first novel? I completed it to a second draft stage but after working on this novel, I feel a demotion coming on. It’s probably not as bad as I think it is. I wish!)
Anyway, after teasing two hundred and thirty-three pages through a printer that likes jamming every five sheets, I have a stack of paper on my desk that is a first draft of my second novel.
Ah…satisfaction…
Feeling good…
Mmm……
OK, the moment’s over.
Now, to take a look at the bugger and see if it’s structurally sound. On the first novel, I used a check sheet I called my Plot Structure check, which listed out what was supposed to happen in each chapter against the major and minor plots. I also used a Timeline sheet to plan out events to ensure I was consistent with what day I was on per chapter, what time, sunrise, sunset, twilight info and moon phase info in case it was needed in a scene.
For this novel, I’m going to try the idea of a Beat Sheet which I read about in a book called ‘Nail your novel: Why writers abandon books and how you can draft, fix and finish with confidence’ by Roz Morris.
I like the ideas in this book. The Beat Sheet seems to be a combination of my Plot Structure sheet and the Timeline sheet with the aim of keeping the focus on scene intention, plots arcs, scene emotion levels and much more. So I’m going to give it a go and see how it works out.
It’s strange but last weekend when I wrote the last word in the last chapter and knew I’d finished the draft of my second novel, I felt really worried and had thoughts running through my mind like ‘the whole book is bad’ and ‘I’ve messed it up’. Anyway, I slept on it and didn’t feel so deflated the next day. (How bad can it be?!)
I think that if I could just get a novel, any one of my novels to a good publishable standard then I think I might believe in myself, know that I can do it. Even though I’m disappointed that I haven’t got to that stage yet, I’m happy to know that I can write another novel. In fact, the second novel was easier to write than the first one. Not easy, easy but it flowed better on some days, not all days, ok I’d say a lot of the things I learnt about writing came much easier-ish this time.
Right so, onwards with the novel writers quest…
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Beat sheet – I might have to try that!
I’ve started with the scene intentions last night and already I can see where I need to add a scene, move scenes around and change emphasis within scenes. And I have a good secondary character who sort of fizzled out too early in the novel so i’m adding two scenes that enhance the plot and bring them back in as well, resolve their role. Wow, for the first time I’m getting excited about editing…that didn’t happen before! Lia
Congrats! Sometimes as writers, we need to acknowledge each small accomplishment as we reach for the major goal. I believe, myself included, that writers focus so heavily on the end published result that we forget to give ourselves credit for everything we have accomplished on our road there!
Thanks tons. Well said and so true.
🙂