That's an interesting way of doing things. I keep a bunch of spreadsheets with notes per chapter of stuff I have to add and fix, and do those while re-reading the chapters I've not worked on in a few months (Google docs: order by Last Modified) to see what I could improve. I feel like there's two stages of editing... bulking up the story to be more connected and substantial, and then the 'cutting' stage where you remove all the rambly superfluous nonsense and distilling down the good parts you wrote. I think it was Stephen King that said a good 2nd draft word count is first draft - 20% = 2nd draft.
I do use some supporting documents: time line, contents page, and "Notes for draft 3" (am now on draft 4, having never really finished draft 3), which includes things like a list of themes, quotes I want to put in somewhere and problems I've noticed which can't just be solved with a quick fix in one part of the document. My main changes involved cutting about 17k words (5 chapters) out of part 1, because it was too slow and rambling, and rewriting what was essentially a "then they just decided to make things work" ending into a protracted court case that draws the characters together - evolving a part III.
I have a progress sheet with the chapter names and all the wordcounts for each chapter, and a running "goal" of how many words I want. I did something similar with the first act of my book too, cut out the first 5 chapters or so because they were just superfluous and I wanted to get right into the action.
This is really funny, by the way. On rereading I get a lot of foreshadowing and laugh a lot - when my OH asks me why and I read the bit, he usually jsut looks blank, and I ahve to explain (at least he knows the plot...). I was going to say I only keep track of word counts per part, but that isn't true - I just delete the word counts per chapter after every draft so I can pretend I'm not that obsessive... It wasn't even the first 5 chapters I cut, it was 10 half-chapters/pieces in chapters in the first 17 chapters - reordering and cobbling back together the remaining 13. It was a serious mess!
I'm actually outlining and making the set -- I've changed things so dramatically so many times that I stopped writing and I'm just researching.
Research is good. It's important to have a good plan to make a strong map for your story to follow. The first draft can be as rubbish as anything as long as the plan is sound. Stick to the plan...
Chapter 21 and at just over 65k words. Nearing the end now. MC just made the mistake that's gonna plummet the world into ruin and the rulers of his world ain't happy and he's gonna get locked up the moment he gets in And from there on, I have a couple of fight scenes and war scenes to build the plot up, a couple of scenes of communication between the rulers and the evil people, a couple of scene of my MC and his lover, and then finally, the ending itself. All in all, I suspect another 100 pages to it, maximum. It's at about 300-400 words per page, so let's say, another 30k words or so and I'm done with my first draft!!!!!! Which has numerous changes in the back story and quite a few scenes that need to be rewritten, and about 100 pages of my existing draft needs to be rewritten into 3rd person narrative. And then I shall at last have my complete first draft! Another few months... Think I can finish it by June?
Over the last few days I've decided to go on a brief hiatus. I love to write, but the last few paragraphs I wrote were forced, and reading them in context with my earlier drafts makes them sound like they were written by a different person. If anything, I need a nap more than a muse.
I'm at the 8th chapter of the rewrite and so far I've got 3500 words more than the previous draft. I'm like that, I always end up with more than i started with. I explore some thoughts even more and clarify, add pieces of dialogue or feelings for more depth or just because it makes it better. of course I also remove some parts, but in the end it's going to be a heavier ms than when I started. The second draft was 95K so I wonder where I'm going to end with this one. but I'm sure it will improve a lot.
Not writing right now, but was looking through some drafts/beginnings for stories I found on my computer. One in particular might be worth continuing with.
Ground to an insufferable halt. Been so busy with other projects lately that writing is on the backburner, but should be able to get back into it soon.
Chapter Three and foundering. Begin rant. How do you write a conceited pariah? I can make myself laugh at his delusions, but I can't further the story, because everyone is hiding their doings from him. And how do I show the scene I want to come next without writing Chapter Four from the point of view of a guy whose chapter I wanted to save for later, because he has a secret and I want the reader to discover it later when they've seen some more of him and like him even more (because I happen to be a particularly cruel author who will inflict all manner of anguish on her readers). And if I put the scene off for later, what do I write in the meantime? I may have to ditch Chapter Three and forget trying to do the chapters from the POV of two people from whom things are being hidden, because although I'd like to explore their characters more, the story comes first. Gack. Why do I always write stories about political and ideological social problems? And why do said stories drag on and on without really saying anything? Maybe I'll bore myself with a romance next. End rant.
I'm currently about 40,000 words into my first novel and though I'm happy with the bulk of it, I find myself continuously revisiting the first two chapters. I just cant seem to find the right way to introduce my MC into the world (it's a YA fantasy book.) I've got some time off from school so hopefully I can polish off my first draft in the next four or so months and then start on a second. I'm aiming for around 80,000 words.
I'm putting the finishing touches on three short stories, and I'm at the most exciting part of a fourth: Page 1, word 1!
I'm not even half way...(see signature for progress on novels) currently planning out the timeline for my chapters and what important things happen in them. I'm concerned about my pacing (as always) and fitting the secondary characters in them as well. ~_~
Mega roadblock. I feel like I can't continue the present story I'm working on because I feel it's disorganized and I'm afraid the answer to the mystery had already been solved from the beginning, and I'm just dragging it out. Also, the others? I have no idea for a decent plot I could use to even start!
I am at approximately 38k words at this time. I'm in the process of writing a huge fight scene and making the closing chapter. So many ideas are running through my head for the next book in the series, I have to keep stopping and write them down.
I am at the very beginning of my story, trying to get what I have down on paper. I was so frustrated, because I didn't know where to start, and people told me to start exactly where I wanted - which was kind of the beginning, because my story starts up near the end, and then we're told what happened all the way up to the starting scene. And this scene is my epic - oh no! a protagonist is dying (I have 2!), but I am still struggling. It is once I've started and well into the story that things come easy, but I guess that right now I just need to get it down and then I can rewrite the parts that I don't like.
Near the end of my first book, with a few more chapters to go. However it's quite short, and is likely to need to be made longer. My other book has nearly finished the first chapter. It's a lot of fun writing.
Wow, looking through this post I found myself on the previous page and realized just for how long I have been doing this... I am now on chapter 37 of the rewrite and have 50 pages left to go through of the old version before I've finished this revision. Just yesterday I wrote the first 5 pages of what is going to be my next novel. It's a major rewrite from another one that got rejected by the publishers I sent it to and I'm looking forward to it. I think it will turn out a lot better this time! Maybe even great.
Im the kind of writer that has to map out the entire story before i can actually start the writing. I am done with my entire outline, and have added twists and turns where i could. Now i have started the writing, not the editing, just the writing. I have gotten to about the 3rd chapter. I had a little trouble starting it off, but now that im actually getten to the exciting parts, it seems to be going quite smooth.
