Reader’s Question: “How do you work a second draft?”

I found a process in my second book that I wish I’d had for my first

Photo by ron dyar on Unsplash

Right off the bat, acknowledge to yourself how challenging and time-consuming the next phase is going to be: getting critique and then sticking to the revision process even though it’s soooo damn hard and could take years. I suggest:

• Go over your book a couple of times — start to finish. This complete draft that we worked so long and hard to achieve and feel ready is to take the world by storm is notoriously known as The Crappy First Draft. By the end of TCFD, you know so much more than you did at the beginning about the story, the characters. Especially the arc.
• Bring all those insights into your revisions. It seems like a lot of time to commit. Should you choose to, however, you will be handing to your editor/readers the best possible work; thereby receiving the best possible feedback.
• Speaking of editor/readers, work with a professional if at all possible. If an editor just isn’t going to happen, financially — been there! — find a critique group or trade manuscripts with a writer in your genre.

Keep at it, no matter what. Good luck!

Now an audiobook: As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.