Writing the story is only part of the journey. As daunting as the blank page is, and as much satisfaction as we draw from filling page after page with our words, reading is as important – perhaps more so – than getting those words out the first time.
It is important to read, and re-read, and re-re-read. It’s not that the first draft is rubbish, or terrible or anything to be ashamed of. It’s just what it is – a first draft. If one imagines one’s manuscript as a sculpture, the first draft helps us find the form, shape and general contours of the final figure. It is a significant milestone because getting that first form to reveal itself takes a lot of work. Then we must step back, consider what we have done, and start honing the shape. Chip away here, smooth it there, step back and consider the progress we’ve made as we think about what we must do next.
Personally, editing the manuscript is one of my favourite parts of the writing journey. In the first draft I have wrestled with the plot, figured out how the story should go, learned who the characters are, what they want and how they shall behave – and somehow, I made it from “page one” to “the end.”
Revising is a fun activity for me. In real life, we don’t get to go back to a conversation we had earlier in the day and choose a more intelligent way of expressing ourselves. Similarly, if we speak words more heatedly than we should, real life gives us no takebacks.
Our fictional prose has no such limitations. We can improve the sentences, make better arguments, and clarify our prose. Without the overarching pressure of the plot, we can try different versions of the sentence and pick the one that we think works best. Like a sculptor we can trim and mold the story until we find the shape, we think is fit for the next pair of eyes to see. This means we read our words over and over. This is why it’s vital to write a book you want to read because you must read it repeatedly, with different eyes, at different times of day and night and looking for different corrections to make, because there will be many!
I am currently reviewing my second Archie Cavendish manuscript and I discovered that Saturday was followed immediately by Monday, for example. This work is very enjoyable for me, and I like Archie Cavendish and the world of St. Lazarus. Make sure you enjoy the world you create for your customers, because you must review it exhaustively and with different strategies to make sure your finished sculpture is polished to the proper sheen.
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