Writing Book 2 - Part 2

The Second Draft

Last month, I blogged about the first draft of my second book (click here to see the post) and this month I am tackling the second draft. It's quite daunting to be faced with your book again - is it going to be utter crap? Will any of it be salvageable? Will I be able to make an actual novel out of it?

I always fear the worst, but I have to say I've quite enjoyed the second draft so far. That isn't to say it's been a doddle. It's been hard work, with lots of cutting and shifting scenes and writing new parts, but I feel like I'm really getting to know my characters now. This usually happens a lot sooner, but the first draft was written over a long period of time with other projects in between, so poor Ally was neglected. But not anymore!

I'm about 80% through the second draft. This last part requires the most shifting around of scenes, which is a bit brain-melty, but I'm hoping it'll make the book a lot stronger. I know there is at least another draft to be done before I even think of sending it off to be edited, but this time the task doesn't seem so daunting as I know the manuscript I have now is far better than the one I had a month ago.