convert.py, iSH, and the second draft
I’ve started thinking about the book as a whole again. I’m rewriting the elevator pitch / logline / controlling idea first, so I can easily tell if a scene doesn’t fit before I write it.
I have this long laundry list of fixes in Things that I need to get to. A new map that fits the story. Non-placeholder names. A stronger sense of progression.
I plan on re-outlining the book before diving into the second draft.
First Draft COMPLETE
Finish[ed] the damned thing. (Thanks to J. Michael Straczynski)
The first draft of anything is shit.
— Ernest Hemingway
Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist. It's perfect in its existence. The only way it could be imperfect would be to NOT exist.
— Jane Smiley All great stories began as shitty first drafts. There are no exceptions to this.
— M. Kirin
July 2023 in writing
July was a trainwreck.
I had planned to finish my first draft by the 20th. Instead, I slowed down and even stopped my progress due to a confluence of issues. I’m barely past my end-of-June word count at the end of July.
I’m hoping this is a blip.
My plan for August is to finish the damned thing. And start the 2nd draft.
Archer We had to put Archer down on the 14th, five months after his initial cancer diagnosis.
Restarting the 3rd POV
The past week, most of our energy and attention has gone towards keeping Archer comfortable and happy. That, combined with some other things, insomnia, worry, and the lack of an outline that I believe in, meant writing was my 4th priority that I kept skimping on.
I did manage to rethink the new 3rd POV structure and outline, but I haven’t had the energy or focus to get all of those thoughts concrete in writing.
Revisiting the 3rd POV
Confession: I’ve stopped most of the way through my first draft. Today will mark the second day in a row where I didn’t complete a scene, even though I’m only 16 scenes away from the end of the first draft.
I realized that this POV arc is completely wrong. I can slog through writing these 16 scenes, knowing that I’ll throw away most or all of them. I’m going to change the 3rd POV character’s arc and character so drastically that I won’t be able to keep any of my draft.