Donna said something like, "A third draft! How impressive," when I posted about my WIP that might never get finished. She probably--and understandably so--is thinking I wrote a complete first draft, let it sit, gave it some thought, and then wrote a second draft. After that, I let friends read it, let it sit even longer, and wrote a third one. Here's how it really went down:
- I wrote a 1st draft for a NaNoWriMo several years ago. Just like a dog will poop and then run away from the spot where they left the stinky pile, I ran away from that draft as fast as I could. It smelled horribly.
- I wrote a 2nd draft... almost. It's not quite finished, but it's getting close.
- Now I toggle back and forth between finishing the beast and revising. When I finish it, I'll have to print it up (I can't revise by looking at the monitor) and do some methodical checking.
So no, Donna. It's not a 3rd draft. It's more like 1.75 draft right now. Things are not always as they seem.
It's like the button my husband has from work. It says, "I'm cool. Are you?" When I first spied this button, I wanted to snag it for my own. Bu then I remembered what "cool" means: country of origin label.
Now, I'm not quite so rabid about the button.
To finish up, a bit of La Petite Prince.
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| Here is a hat. Or is it?  When you look a bit more carefully, you can see it's not a hat. It's a picture of a snake that's swallowed an elephant.
What have you been surprised about lately... something that was not what you originally thought...
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You are already ahead of so many so be proud what you have done. I would not have understood the hat thing but just this month this book was discussed at my book club! Happy Hump Day.
ReplyDeleteHi Sioux,
ReplyDeleteEven if it's not a complete third draft, I'm still impressed with your 1.75 draft. I'm still struggling with a first draft.
I somehow can not get my mind wrapped around a snake wrapping around an elephant...I still see a hat.
ReplyDeleteThere's a children's book titled, The Snake That Sneezed...because he ate all the jungle animals. This reminded me of it. At my house, they are never what they seem.
ReplyDeleteNot much surprises me these days. Thank goodness I did not try to pick up my hat and throw out my shoulder because I mistook an elephant-satiated-snake for my chapeau.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I'm rather jaded, too--it takes a lot to surprise me. And yet, now that I've said that, one of my grown kids will do something and prove me wrong. Let's just hope it's a GOOD surprise. :-)
ReplyDelete(As for your manuscript, I'm with Donna. 1.75 is still impressive!)
You know, I'm always learning things that surprise me. For instance, I just learned that if an author gives someone an Amazon gift card, Amazon catalogs the recipient's email address against the author's IP address. If the recipient, at any point in time, reviews that author's work, Amazon will pull the review under the assumption that it is a "bought" review. I was surprised to learn that. No more giving Amazon gift cards as presents or using them as giveaways in Facebook takeovers and hops. And I hate that, because it's a nice giveaway item! I guess there are enough authors out there paying for reviews that it's an issue. I would never pay for reviews (that's cheating, and besides, what good is a review to anyone, even the author, if it isn't real and honest?) and I'm not very happy with the authors who have spoiled it for the rest of us. Boo.
ReplyDeleteEvery day brings a new surprise lately!
ReplyDeleteI, too, am impressed with your progress on your WIP. Writing a book is so different from personal essay or short story, and sometimes I feel as though I'm drowning in a sea of (not so great) words.
Pat
Critter Alley
As for editing, don't stop. I wrote and re-wrote my first novel nine times and it took me about four years. The second two novels I wrote both in a year and am now editing. It gets easier. My surprise in the last week... watching my son get all dolled up for his prom and then sobbing like a baby.
ReplyDeleteI love childrens' books, especially vintage ones. You have a lovely blog.
ReplyDelete