The end of the year coincides with the start of something. The time that I actually finished the first draft of The Wounded Watchman. Now, you might think that finishing something would be ... well, finishing something. But it is, in reality, the beginning.
The greatest hurdle in writing a book, from what I have read, is finishing the first draft in the first place. Now a figure I keep coming across is that only 3% of people who are writing a book actually finish the first draft. Interestingly, that figure is also used for people who finish and publish a book. As not every first draft will end up being completed and certainly not all completed books are even published, I'm not sure what to think of that figure. I think we can trust, however, that the number of people who finish a first draft compared with the number of people writing a book is pretty small.
So, I announced that I had finished the first draft on the 20th December. What have I been doing since then?
I have been reading, getting ready to start revisions. And as I read, those revisions quickly became apparent. And that's the beauty of reading when you have a draft completed.
So what have I been reading?
Well, there were a number of books that helped me finish the first draft in the first place. They were very helpful for signposting the way through to the end, and at that point that is what I needed. I needed to reach the end. These included:
Now, they were helpful in managing my way through to get a story done. It helped me think about plot points and make sure the structure was there and things were in a sensible order. It helped to produce a story. But was that story any good?
I have read plenty of books that have clearly been written using the Saves the Cat! method, but that did not mean that the story was engaging. I wanted to know more, plot points and hitting beats aren't enough clearly, so what else is needed? I wanted to know. So I delved in deeper, and read these:
These were very enlightening. I checked through the plot points and beats of my story. I drew out a timeline and mapped out the plot, choices and decisions. I went through linking to the character arcs and realised that I had to change up a plot point late in the story - I had to change the choice that was made. It was far too weak as it stood.
Both books pointed me in the direction of a number of revisions and got me thinking a lot about character. A good story is about character. So many times you read a book, the character does not change and it is an unsatisfying end. Or you read a book and think, would the character actually do that? Actually say that? I had done work on my characters, but had I done enough?
And that meant that I read a few more books:
Know your character thoroughly. This is the consistent message throughout. And by that, it's not their favourite colour, or their favourite meal - those are just tools to get you thinking about them. It is easy enough to create a character sheet full of checkboxes and fill in various flaws and traits, but that does not mean that you actually know them. It's a bit deeper than that.
I had thought that I knew my characters well. I had even used ArtBreeder to generate pictures of them. And that did truly bring them to life. But now I was really thinking about them, and out of that, I knew I had to bring the two main characters together nearer the beginning of the story, and also flesh out a bit more about the main character at the beginning. I also really had to think about motivation and did I have that quite right?
At this point, this book was delivered:
Oh my goodness, and I am still not quite through it now. This takes what I had read before, and then goes deeper. It is not an easy read - which is why I haven't quite finished it. You cannot read too much of it before you need to set it down and let your brain process.
And it really makes you think.
So, again, I have been thinking about my story, but this time in far greater depth.
And this book is going to need to be read again.
Just to point out a couple of highlights - the first thing it points out is thinking about the story backwards. If you know where you are going to end up, it's easier to get there.
Secondly, character webs. He talks a great deal about the interactions between characters and the roles they play in a story. Now that's got me really thinking about Kahl and Feather.
I recommend any and all of the books I've mentioned above. Be aware that Story is long, and Truby takes quite a bit to go through. But they are well worth it.
Now, I have to apply what I have learnt to my story and hopefully turn it into a better one.
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