Draft One of Novel 4 was completed on Saturday 18^th August. Woopla!

Now, comes the tough bit of redrafting. I have to detach myself from the words, content and in some cases the plot totally and approach the novel with fresh eyes. Only then will I see the drib from the drab, and the ace from the jokers.

Although Draft One took 9 weeks (a lot longer than the original 5 I’d scoped out – shame on me), I’m putting 3 weeks down for redrafting. One chapter per weekday, and four over the weekend. Yup, yup, yup – I can do it.

Some important stages of redrafting “for me” are:

1. Read other novels to remind yourself of what works
2. Remove unnecessary adjectives
3. Tighten the Prose
4. Watch for any dangerous head-hopping
5. Ensure the reader knows who is speaking, moving and doing what
6. Can I picture the scene from the words rather than my thoughts?
7. Don’t introduce too many characters all at once
8. End each chapter with a damn fine hook
9. Ensure consistency with phrases, terms, acronyms and descriptions
10. Keep one format of numbers, ie: 100, or One hundred.
11. Maintain the conflict and build to a thumping piledriver end
12. Try to bring full circle Chapter One to the last
13. Don’t overuse hyphens
14. Don’t have too much: Jumping, he did – Smiling, he did…
15. Remove all purple prose and waffle… ptooie…
16. Remember your readership – if your novel is aimed at the young market, then watch out for slang they won’t understand, curses, swearing or elongated elaborate words.

Oh yes – I’m pumped for redrafting.

Stay focussed people. Stay focussed. After the redrafting comes the review, beta-read, and the editing… and then… the submission.

Bring it!

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