Alright, so when I completed the second draft of The Shadow of Vale, I made my hard copy and loaned it out to someone who wanted to read it and give some feedback. Well, we both had babies and it didn’t get read but I started to work on it again so I got my hard copy back recently and am actually making progress on the story.
My plan is to finish the detailed read through, which I am about halfway through, before moving on to outlining the third draft. I want to do a rough outline and then a more detailed revised outline which I may end up doing several versions of. Once that is done, then I will begin writing the third draft in earnest. I think my failure to do this prep work is why I have been unable to make any progress in a third draft.
As I am doing this read through and making my notes I am learning a lot about my writing and my craft. There is a lot of work to do and I anticipate this being a much slower process than what I have been doing simply because I think the story has moved beyond simply getting it out. I have done that twice now and it’s close enough to its final form that more refining work on characters, plot lines, and the actual prose is needed.
Thanks for following and hopefully I’ll have some more interesting updates to give soon.
Best!
-Michelle
