Or I could call this blog, how I write.
The novel I'm working on is called Murder in Schwyz.
As always in the series there's a historical and a modern part. I write the two parts in two separate documents.
I've now finished the drafts of both parts. It's hard to say the number of drafts because I'm constantly going over and revising what I did before so one chapter could be the 2, 3, 11th draft depending on the section of the chapter.
Now comes the file cards
- I colour-code the corner of the cards: red for historical, blue for modern
- Each chapter has its own card with the date of the events, and a summary
- Each chapter is numbered with a letter code 1A, 2A, 3A for modern 1E, 2E, 3E for historical
- At the same time I'm reading and changing for continuity
Here's the drudge part
If I say for the modern part of the novel, "She felt the gun against her neck" and end the chapter than the next three chapters are the historical part of the story, how pissed will my readers be?
Sometimes I need to go back to the ms. several times.
Cutting and pasting I will blend the historical (18 chapters) into the modern (41 chapters).
When I'm sure, I will renumber the chapters in order.
Next comes polishing once, twice, maybe three times.
It goes to my trusted first editor, Julia of the 20 pages. Maybe Rick will read it as well.
I'll add corrections and changes at things they didn't think will work.
Maybe one, two or three more polishes and maybe back to Julia of the 20 pages for a quick look-see
For my publisher I have to make sure the spacing is exact and I mean exact for every word, line, paragraph, there are no tabs, the typeface is their standard, page breaks are lined up just right. In otherwords perfect.
There's also submission papers to fill out
Then and only then do I release it to Gordon The Grump, my editor. (I really love him but I can't let him know) When he barks it is usually for a good reason.
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4 comments:
Hi donnalane, I sent this on to my friend Linda who has been writing a book. Thanks for sharing. Jenny
What a great post! My goodness, t=you have really opened doors and have helped me! Thank you! Just imagine how many will be using this now! Your a very good egg!
So interesting to see your process D-L. It's always fascinating as I discover the infinite (not exaggerating! I think they are infinite!) ways we writers weave together our projects. In 'Still Writing' Dani Shapiro says "I need to writer linearly, even when the work is not linear." She goes on to say "the leapfroggers, like my husband, feel in control when they follow their spontaneous instincts." I am both and neither -- I'm a leap-frogger who craves the linear. And like in your case, notecards track my every move. Thanks for sharing this!
There is no right or wrong way to write. If you need to stand on your head and tell the story backwards with a red crayon, do it.
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