From Beginning to End

Question of the day: I was curious how your book changes from the first draft to the final. I'm getting stuck on some sections of my story - or the plot shifts and I know I'm going to need to make some changes in the beginning - and I can't decide if I need to fix it then or move on and then change it all at once. I know everyone is different, but what's your process? Thanks!

Oh man, my books change SO MUCH from first draft to last that I'd be horrified if anyone read the first draft! :) Actually, that's not true. There weren't drastic changes to Time of My Life, but for The Dept and yes, for The One That I Want, the first drafts are mere shells of what the final books are.

I'm in a fortunate position in that I have an agent and an editor who can help guide me from the abysmal to the hopefully pretty-good published version, but since you asked about my process, I'd say that I generally write the first 100 pages then ask for my agent or editor to review them, especially if I feel like I'm going wrong somewhere. I often say that I feel like I'm a writer who can get to a certain point - in terms of how strong my book is - and then I need outside eyes to take a look and offer some suggestions. So someone takes a look at my work at around 100 pages to see if I'm sort of on the right track or really flying off course, and from there, I go back and revise that first third of the book.

How much do I change? It depends on how much help I need! As I said, with Time of My Life, the book was more or less written - with a few tweaks here and there - as published. With The One That I Want, oh man. I KNEW something wasn't working with those first 100 pages, and I needed to resolve them BEFORE I wrote the next 200 because, obviously, everything in the second half of the book hinges on the first half, and I wasn't going to write an entire book knowing damn well I was going to change the bulk of it. So my editor took a look, offered a few suggestions that I then ran with. And thank goodness! I ended up introducing a main character in that first chapter that is completely integral to the rest of the book. I find revisions frustrating enough to begin with: if I hadn't stopped and taken a deep breath and revised at that point, I really would have created a lot of extra work for myself.

Once I feel like those 100 pages are decent, I usually write the rest of the book. Those 100 pages are the foundation, and once I've put that down, I can get from A to B relatively easily. Which doesn't mean that I don't go back and revise again and again. I think The One That I Want went through five or so drafts, each time, I'm refining and refining and refining. 

So, I guess my advice is to be sure that you have someone whose opinion you trust and who can offer some tips on where you might be going wrong (AND right). And don't get in too deep if you sense that you're going to have to do some overhauling. That's just more work in the end. But that's just what works for me. What works for you guys?

Comments

[Debbie Schubert]

Currently, I'm revising a ms I finished in the spring, since I've recently had two full requests for it. I'm also writing the first draft of my YA novel (up to page 160). Switching back and forth between "1st draft" brain and "revise" brain is a trip. They're very different places to be.

You are indeed lucky to have brilliant minds working with you on your books. My husband, who is a solid writer, reads whenever I want him to, and is good at keeping me on track. But, for the most part, I go it alone until I'm done and then have beta readers take a look. I can't wait for the day when I'll have my agent and editor helping out!