This is the second attempt at this blog post, dear reader and I’m still trying to get the hang of it and am trying to decide on Stream Of Consciousness vs Diary Writing
For now I think the latter is best.
I’m currently working on a science-fiction book called Children of The Glyph, which is a military sci-fi meets horror set across Earth, Mars and the Moon. I’m having a couple of direction problems with it when it comes to Second Draft.
I have Outlined it (despite being a terrible NOP – as James Scott Bell puts it) and the first draft stuck to the plot and the 3-Act formula, but now, come the second draft, the story is talking to me, telling me it doesn’t want to go in the planned direction anymore.
The thing is, the new ideas I’ve had seem to make sense, but it’s going to be a word slaughter – I know Steven King said to “Kill your Darlings” but it almost feels like the new direction is going to be the real first draft and there’s going to be more Verbal bodies on the stage than at the end of a Shakespeare play.
The thing is, I can see the new story, where before I only had an understanding of what had to happen. I suppose this is what a second draft is for, as Neil Gaiman said.
Back to the drawing board – but I’ll save the off-cuts – although that’s another post. What about you dear reader? Have you slashed and burned your “darlings” so much it felt like starting from scratch? Let me know.
Mightier Is The Pen 