The Draft (Part 4)
Once I finished the book, I remember feeling very accomplished. It took me three months to write 300 pages, and I had a working story in my hand. But I knew it wasn't quite right. It wasn't finished yet, every writer knows that the first draft is never final, but mine was probably draftier than most. I knew it would take extensive rewrites to bring it up to par with what a modern audience might expect. That was when I faced a big Y in the road. Do I stop now? Do I throw away all this progress? I knew it would be never be published in its current state, and the amount of work it would take to get there was going to be huge. Basically, it felt like being told that after three full months of writing at least 2,000 words EVERY SINGLE DAY that it wasn't enough. I'd come so far, but the road ahead was even longer. It seemed too big. I can never accomplish that, I thought. But I just couldn't give in to the despair. I loved writing, and I began to accept that I might never be published, and that was totally fine with me. But I wasn't going to let the story die. I loved writing and I loved my story.
The first rewrite was extensive. Half the story got cut, characters who were once allies became villains, protagonists gained more depth and so too did the antagonists. By the time I was finished with the first rewrite I had a story on my hands completely different from the one I'd created on paper. This new version was longer, better, more refined. But it still wasn't right.
I had to start again. I had to rewrite the entire story, I knew that. And once again I faced the despair. Can I really accomplish this? Is this task too large for me? The answer was yes, this task was too large for me. I'd never written anything so complex and large before. And I was beginning to see just how complex it really was. But I just couldn't give up. I saw what I wrote before, and I saw what I had rewritten, and I knew it was getting better. The target didn't seem so far anymore. But it was still miles away, I just didn't know it at the time. So I began again.
After about a year I had an even better version. I final version. The truth was that I'd go back and rewrite it once again, less extensively, but only after I finished writing the sequel. Yes, I actually have already finished writing The Crystal Keepers 2, subtitle to be announced. After it was done I worked to intertwine the two tales, to connect the stories from beginning to end. The idea is that The Crystal Keepers is a series that can be told in 4 books, and I want books 1+2 to feel deeply connected, as well as books 3+4 to feel deeply connected. The story is all there, on paper and in my head, in a very detailed synopsis. But I want each story to also stand on its own, so you get a complete story no matter which book you choose to read. The series as a whole feels like one piece, cut into four separate parts.
Now, with two books on my hands, 4 major rewrites of the first in the series with thousands of hours pouring over every detail and word, I had a book. A book that I wrote. A book I even liked to read myself. A book I could deliver to the world beyond the world...
The first rewrite was extensive. Half the story got cut, characters who were once allies became villains, protagonists gained more depth and so too did the antagonists. By the time I was finished with the first rewrite I had a story on my hands completely different from the one I'd created on paper. This new version was longer, better, more refined. But it still wasn't right.
I had to start again. I had to rewrite the entire story, I knew that. And once again I faced the despair. Can I really accomplish this? Is this task too large for me? The answer was yes, this task was too large for me. I'd never written anything so complex and large before. And I was beginning to see just how complex it really was. But I just couldn't give up. I saw what I wrote before, and I saw what I had rewritten, and I knew it was getting better. The target didn't seem so far anymore. But it was still miles away, I just didn't know it at the time. So I began again.
After about a year I had an even better version. I final version. The truth was that I'd go back and rewrite it once again, less extensively, but only after I finished writing the sequel. Yes, I actually have already finished writing The Crystal Keepers 2, subtitle to be announced. After it was done I worked to intertwine the two tales, to connect the stories from beginning to end. The idea is that The Crystal Keepers is a series that can be told in 4 books, and I want books 1+2 to feel deeply connected, as well as books 3+4 to feel deeply connected. The story is all there, on paper and in my head, in a very detailed synopsis. But I want each story to also stand on its own, so you get a complete story no matter which book you choose to read. The series as a whole feels like one piece, cut into four separate parts.
Now, with two books on my hands, 4 major rewrites of the first in the series with thousands of hours pouring over every detail and word, I had a book. A book that I wrote. A book I even liked to read myself. A book I could deliver to the world beyond the world...
