Photo by John Schultz

A couple of weeks ago, after becoming madly inspired to write once again after weeks of lethargy, I finished Draft 1.5 of my Dark Lords novel with a total of 80,000 words. Or is that Draft 1? I wrote the first remnants of that first (or 0.5) draft during NaNoWriMo, and so it lacked polish… and structure… and an epic plot. It didn’t even have Theodore in it! Correction: it had Theodore, but in some random tangent daydream my protagonist thought up to avoid dealing with the current situation, because he’s like that.

My protagonist, however, despite the man of his dreams appearing and actually being interested in him, continually attempted to kill himself in the last two thousand words. Well, I had to put a stop to that! So frustrating. Maybe next draft, I’ll just let him die.

Now I’m procrastinating once again. It’s all there, in a more proper draft, but it requires so much work. It’s like putting together an excel report and then realizing not only that it requires a more handsome appearance, but that I need to come up with two new columns of data. Or like building the frame of the house, only to have to knock a few walls down and build an add-on room, as well as paint and decorate.

The big question in my head: What do I do now?

I know in my head some of the fixes I need, like resolving inconsistencies, detailing settings, and adding a few histories. Plus, there’s a few scenes that I simply could not write at the time. Chase scenes are not my forte, so I pushed on.

The fears holding me back

Throughout the writing process, knowing that this was not the last draft comforted me. It did not have to be perfect, it just had to be written. Now, though, I wish I had written it better. It towers over me like some ginormous Leaning Tower of Pisa, and it’s just easier to ignore it then prop it up. But I know if I had, it wouldn’t be done.

With my trip to Europe just a month away, I’m also hesitant to jump into writing because I should be focusing on planning my trip. I worry that I’m not researching enough, and because of it, I’ll miss out on some great experiences.  My boyfriend lovingly points out that I am doing a lot of research. I just try to remember that there’s always the twenty-four hours spent travelling there to catch up.

But really, the part that’s holding me back is that I don’t know what to do.

Always, always, have a good to-do list

The first step is a plan. A to-do list, with little items that I can check off and feel good about. That’s the secret to David Allen’s Getting Things Done and Jame Scott Bell’s Revision & Self-Editing. What major structure/plot changes are needed? What major character changes are needed? What scenes still need to be written?

Once I have a plan and a check-list, I’ll dive right in. Getting started may be the hardest part of it.

The first to-do will be to read the manuscript. The second will be to write the checklist. The third… well, that will be in the checklist. Hopefully.

What do you do when rewriting? What tips can you give me? Is writing the first draft easier or harder than rewriting the second?