I love working on my third draft! The second draft was all about playing around. This one really is about me stepping up to the mark, making this story count. And it's really focussing my thoughts. Instead of writing and seeing where it goes, I spent today thinking hard about what the first third of my manuscript needs to achieve and setting out to make sure that every chapter stands up to be counted. Great stuff. (I reserve the right to change my mind about third drafts when everything goes seriously off the rails.)
Having spent last weekend in feedback sessions telling writers to get rid of their exposition, I now inspect my own manuscript with a fresh eye. Oh my goodness, look at all that... You guessed it. Whoever would have thought that feeding back to others could become a learning curve of my own?
An email from the lovely children's writer, Lynne Benton, provided a perfect excuse to take a break. Well, let's be honest - I don't need many excuses. Facebook, Google Reader, Ravelry, Fastmail... How did writers survive before the Internet?
If you want some light relief from your own writing, I can heartily recommend subscribing to this blog: How To Write Badly Well. Laugh long and hard - then blanche as you wonder if any of these sins have crept into your own work or attitude. I particularly enjoyed the 'Dear Dream Crusher' outraged email to an agent.
After a good five hours' work, I caught the tube to Bethnal Green and dragged my laptop and a bottle of prosecco to my sister's, where her lovely husband cooked for us and Mandy showed us the delights of her trolley bag. I don't really understand those things - aren't they more trouble than they're worth? (Excuse the shaky photo. I was laughing quite a lot.)
Finally, to focus the mind, I counted how many weekends I have left before submitting a third draft. Hmmm. Might need to take some time off work...
I'm on draft 2 still but things are clicking into place! Trolley bags...hmmmmmm.