Having just completed the first draft of the sequel to Dancers in the Wind, I thought it would be interesting to look back at the interview I did with Rebecca Bradley about first drafts nearly three years ago to see if my modus operandi had changed at all.
It would seem not judging by the answers I gave then. For Death’s Silent Judgement (to be published in May 2017 by Urbane Publications), I have concentrated during the first draft in getting words down on paper – or words on the computer file. I still edit a little as I go along especially correcting typos when I’m rereading a chapter or scene.
Now that I have the main bulk of the story written down, I have printed out the manuscript and oh how satisfying it is to see a pile of typed pages – even if some will have to be deleted later.
I have spent a day or so reading everything I have written and each character now has a page in my little blue book. One of the differences in writing this book is that, as a sequel, some characters have appeared in the first book and I have to make sure I get their details correct. Metaphorically, I am rolling up my sleeves to knock the story into shape.
First of all, I have to work on the timeline – as I neared the end of the story, I was writing some scenes ad hoc and now have to ensure the sequencing is accurate. There are gaps in the narrative which have to be explored and some themes need to be developed more fully. Several characters need developing (they are shouting at me to give them more scenes like demanding actors greedy for exposure) and sadly (for me) some themes or scenes may have to be scrapped or maybe completely changed. That’s always a tough decision.
I still remember a favourite scene of mine in Dancers in the Wind. I thought is was so scary and saw it completely visually. I was totally unprepared when my friend Sue who had read the MS as a beta reader, told me she thought I’d left something in that ought to have been deleted. It just made no sense to her (and to others I have to admit). So I rewrote the offending scene making it clear who the character was. I had wanted the identity to be uncertain but obviously ambiguity didn’t work.
With a pile of paper before me, I shall be physically moving scenes around to help the novel take shape, making notes on each chapter and joining the dots …
Rebecca Bradley Murder Down to a Tea What’s Your First Draft Like