Tales of The Painted Lady - in July

This'll be a quick post, folks. It's Friday night, baby's fast asleep in her crib, and Mommy and Daddy are ready to kickback and relax. Hope you're all enjoying your starts to the weekend.

I just wanted to take this moment to share with you all that starting in July, as a means of counting down to the publication of The Painted Lady in August, I will be releasing five original (and FREE!) "micro-stories" weekly, one every Friday of the month (so July 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31). The stories will be posted online through my site and on my Facebook.
 

Each of the five stories - presented under the banner Tales of The Painted Lady - will be told through the perspective of a different character that appears in the book, giving you access to motivations behind some of their actions and feelings you won't be privy to in the book, and will serve as a lead-in to the events in the novel.

I'll have more info about Tales to share soon, but for now just wanted to get this little nugget of info out there.

Enjoy your Friday!

It's Gettin A Little Drafty... (Part 2 of 4)

Last week I began a short blog series opening up about the amount of drafts I do (or try to do) for each writing project. I posted a short excerpt from the first draft of my upcoming novel, The Painted Lady (out in August). This week I'll post the second draft version of that same paragraph and explain what changed between the two.

First, here again is the first draft excerpt:

He stared across the table at the woman - this woman far too beautiful for him. This wasn't one of those instances where Miles was selling himself short; it's just that he wasn't naïve to the point that he didn't realize this. Around the restaurant he'd spotted numerous side-glances of the congratulatory kind - winks and nods - sent his way. Of these he was appreciative. It's always nice to know when people think the one you're with is more than decent enough on the eyes. And not just your own.

My first drafts are done based on a short outline that, more or less, keeps me in check. I don't plot the entire story but I need to know where I'm going so that, in the midst of discovery, I don't drift so far off course that I write myself into a corner and can't get back on track. At the same time I don't restrict myself, keeping outlines free to creatively explore whatever may pop up in the course of learning about my protagonist's situation. When I am doing the first draft I don't edit and I don't ever go back. I try to avoid anything that may stall progression. Occasionally in the second draft I run into inconsistencies in the shape of molehills or even huge mountains that I have to fix, but the first draft is essential. Or I should say finishing the first draft is essential. Mistakes can always be fixed in subsequent drafts.

Which is what I try to do with draft number two.

When it comes to the second draft I don't edit in screen; I retype the entire manuscript from page one using the printed out (and marked up) first draft as a guide, keeping only the bits of story that I feel are essential.

Now, here is the second draft version of the paragraph excerpt from above:

He stared across the table at the woman - this woman far too beautiful for him. This wasn't one of those instances where Miles was selling himself short; it's just that he wasn't naïve to the fact that he was the luckiest guy in Tony's Restaurant. If not the world. To further drive this point there were numerous sly glances of the congratulatory kind - winks and nods - fielding in his direction. Of these he was appreciative. It's always nice to know when people think the one you're with is more than decent enough on the eyes. And not just your own pair. Questionable attractiveness is subject to specific tastes. Real beauty is appreciated by all.

Okay, so where some areas of the paragraph have gotten a shot of more detail since the first draft, there's a bit too much embellishing going on here. And that happens. Second drafts, for me, are where the story really starts to come alive by adding/tweaking the right details that evoke a sense of realism (for example here: giving the restaurant a name). The fine line not to cross is where too many details take precedence and pull readers out of the story. But in the midst of draft two I go easy on myself because I know I have two more passes on the manuscript yet to do, and where draft two is about selecting what is essential to the story and focusing on it, draft three is really about honing that focus.

More about draft three coming up next.

It's Gettin A Little Drafty... (Part 1 of 4)

This past Monday I put the finishing touches on my final draft for my sophomore novel, The Painted Lady, which will be coming your way this August from Winter Goose Publishing (be on the lookout soon for both the cover reveal and the official plot summary). Being done has not only lifted a huge weight off my chest but it also frees me up for a lot of things I have meaning to do more of lately, one of which being blogging (!). Yes, I do realize I haven't blogged in a while but the book (and family) takes priority, and now that it's done I'm going to try and make up for my lack of posts. Finishing up the latest draft (which actually isn't the final in terms of being the finished book, but I'll get to that in a sec) actually got an idea brewing: I thought I would do a series of posts about the amount of drafts I do for each manuscript and then detail what I do with each pass by providing an example.

When I write, I try to keep to doing five drafts. Some require more (Seeing was actually six drafts - one and two were a completely different - and much lighter - novel; draft three rebuilt the story in a huge way) but it's never less than five.

The first draft is my "Anything Goes" draft where I include every idea and don't focus on having perfect writing so that I don't get caught up on the details and become discouraged (first drafts are supposed to be terrible). Draft two is where I decide what sticks and what has to go (sometimes it's scenes, sometimes entire subplots, sometimes whole characters). Draft two is also completely rewritten in a new blank document. Draft three is shaping up the rough edges and making last decisions on what is essential to the book. Draft four is my "Sale Draft" where I work hard to nail everything down to where all the manuscript should require is a professional editor's pass. The fifth draft is a combination of the editor's thoughts and my own final nitpicks. Then, book.

For the purposes of this blog series on drafts, I thought I would provide an example from The Painted Lady. Looking over the four passes I've done for the book (it's just been submitted to the editor), I found a paragraph that changed in both small and big ways throughout each draft (which spanned from July 2013 to May 2015).

Below is a short excerpt from draft number one:

He stared across the table at the woman - this woman far too beautiful for him. This wasn't one of those instances where Miles was selling himself short; it's just that he wasn't naïve to the point that he didn't realize this. Around the restaurant he'd spotted numerous side-glances of the congratulatory kind - winks and nods - sent his way. Of these he was appreciative. It's always nice to know when people think the one you're with is more than decent enough on the eyes. And not just your own.

This is definitely first draft writing. A bit loose and on the rambling side for sure. There's no real rhythm or cadence but that's to be expected here. Definitely needs to be trimmed and tightened up.

Next time I'll post the version of this paragraph that appears in Draft Two and compare them.

Stay tuned.