The Next Step

As mentioned on my Facebook page, I recently finished the first draft of The Silver Ring. This is a completely unprecedented step for me. I’ve finished short plays, even fairly long plays, and I’ve finished short stories – but a novel is a whole different scenario. I have no methods for revising something this long. Which I admit is somewhat daunting, but also pretty exciting.

I know the story has some problems in terms of plotting. People are in one place when they don’t actually get there for several days. That came about because of the way I wrote the strands separately without detailed planning, so there’s a lesson for book two, keep a diary for every character so I know how many days they have to do things. Which is how I’m going to fix it; I’ll do a day-by-day account of events – and finally come up with fixed times for how long it takes to travel from one place to another. All of which probably should’ve been done before writing the first draft but yar, lesson learnt.

Once I figure that out I can shuffle bits around again and make any adjustments necessary. I already think one character will have to stay where she is and have something happen to her there because there’s no feasible way of her reaching the place where it happens at the moment in time. Which is annoying in a way, although just thinking about it as I write this I see a possibility. That could work …

Anyway, once the continuity is sorted I guess it’s just a matter of going over it with a fine-tooth comb, correcting the errors, tightening the language and losing the dross. Then comes the scariest step – letting someone read it.

Keep dreaming!