Being new at all this writing stuff, I admit I had no idea what I was doing when I started my book, so I wrote individual scenes mostly, almost as if they were mini individual stories. Some scenes connected into others, while others were an idea I wasn’t too sure about, but wrote anyway to try different dialogue, character arcs or action sequences.
I think I was afraid of defining how my characters would act since I didn’t know what I wanted them to do yet. I found creating characters a scary responsibility, but I will dig into that part of my writing journey in another post. All in all, let’s just say, with my first draft complete, I know my characters more and what they are doing.
And so, with my first draft complete, I’m on to a completely new skill called editing.
This is when I read the mumble, jumble of what I originally wrote and remove unnecessary words and find better words to communicate the story. It also means I now need to connect all those individual scenes to tell a cohesive tale, turning it into something someone else would want to read.
Some of it is challenging as I have to really figure out particulars. However, the parts us writers constantly search for is when it all clicks together. When everything falls into place and connects scenes in a way the scenes wouldn’t mean anything on their own.
And I’m finding this part to be a lot of fun. It seems when the details fall into place, when everything clicks, it becomes a real story.
So now, I write for those aha moments, no matter how much work it is. Doesn’t mean it’s easy. I still have to make myself stay seated in the chair at times with my fingers on the keyboard to work through it. Sometimes I’m a pushover to get up and find something else to do because I’m not sure what to write next.
All in all, I’m thankful for these moments when I’m able to connect the dots and the writing clicks. It’s one more step in my journey, helping me get another step closer to my goal of publishing my book.