5/14/10

Other Materials

Yesterday marked the end of an era - the second draft era. Having written it, set it aside, read through it, and made a list of things that have got to go, the Second Draft Dynasty has concluded. The time begins for third - and final - draft. I had to decide that it would be the final draft, or else I would be writing drafts until doomsday. (And remain unpublished.) Being a perfectionist has its downfalls, so you have to set limits.

Today I begin the third draft. Armed with my list of things to change and some other materials (why so secretive? there's a blog post coming, but I'd like to have some results for you when I detail my plan), I set out. My quest: a tightly plotted, well-written, engaging story. Then will come the query process, and I'm actually getting somewhat excited about it. I read lots of blogs that talk about queries, and it is beginning to seem more like a game than a career. (I'm sure I'll be thinking that when I send them out, right? Ha! One comment I saw, the author was actually breaking out in rashes because of worry... Maybe I'm not looking forward to this after all.)

I've already begun writing the third draft, because I couldn't wait. But I haven't gotten very far, because I didn't want to write anything that would need to be changed. (I have a hard time making word-by-word edits look natural.)

In other news, I finally finished The Elements of Story, by Francis Flaherty. I highly recommend this book. It's written with journalists (and news articles) in mind, not novelists, but that only makes it better. Because the points are the same for both occupations, and if you can master these things within a thousand word limit, just think of what you could do with 80,000! I'll probably be reading it again, soon. And Flaherty's writings may be the source of some blog posts in the future!

So now I'm curious. Do you read any books on writing? What are your favorites? How helpful have they been, and how have you put what you've learned to use?

iTunes DJ

"I Thank You," by Rebecca St. James
"Honestly," by VOTA
"She's Got You," by Amaradio
"Take Up Your Cross [Live]," by Guardian
"Psalm 73 (My God's Enough)," by BarlowGirl ft. Todd Agnew
"Pass Me Not," by Fernando Ortega
"Lullaby," by Pivitplex

1 comment:

Elana Johnson said...

Oh, man. I so hear you on "you have to set limits." That is so true!