The WIP Update

Well, I think I have hit the end of the first draft at 38,882 words. Yes, that's a pitiful number, but I tend to write light and fill in details and characters as I go. It's a starting point, and that's all I need.

Now that I HAVE a first draft, I can see what I'm lacking: emotional pathos. A good style sheet with a list of continuing characters (I have townspeople and a town I need to nourish through three books!) I need some subplots, one with humor. What I don't need is more reference material--where I have put it in so far, it reads like a textbook, and that won't do.

So tomorrow I'll do a triage, make a bunch of notes, and start to fill in the gaps. Because I'm leaving mid-week to head to Colorado, I won't jump back in at page one--better save that until after the trip (or else I'd forget what the story is!)

Carrie asked about my process after the first draft--I usually do "triage" which means I sit down with a notebook and make notes on the things I know I need to fix--characters I need to create, gaps I need to fill, thoughts I want to include. I got through my research material and make notes on the things I don't want to overlook. Then I start over again from page one and start filling in the gaps and expanding. Plus, there are lots of places where I'll have brackets and notes like (find the school colors of Mt. Dora High). Second draft is where I literally fill things in, but aside from my notebook, I work almost completely on the computer.

Right now I'm listening to Sarah McLachlan and getting ready to clear my desk for the day. Fun. Nearly as much fun as all the time I spent today on the Alias blogs, speculating about the End of the Story.

~~Angie

38,882 / 95,000 (40.9%)