Counting Down...

I have one month to get my manuscript in to the RNA's New Writers' Scheme. Fortunately I can submit a partial if that's all that's done.

At the moment I may just get the second draft finished, the manuscript tidied up, my form filled in and do the best I can on the synopsis...

As I've rewritten this second draft I have discovered how I make substantial progress, as well as realising that just because I think there's only a few missing scenes to fill in, my brain can think otherwise.

Starting out on draft 2, I believed I probably had two or three scenes each in two, maybe three new chapters to fill in the gaps. How wrong I was!

Still working on it...

Honestly I'm not sure how many new scenes there are, but I've added five chapters that were missing from that first draft.

There is still a lot of work that will need to be done in the next draft, improve the first half, then there's odd bits that need reworking, narrative changed to scenes/dialogue, descriptions added and character arcs checked. And that's before I start the editing process!

Even though all this work lies ahead I'm satisfied with all I've achieved so far, also what I've learnt about how I write and plot.

But most importantly I've learnt to trust my subconscious; those random bits of dialogue that don't seem to serve a purpose at the time, do fulfil a role later on...

When I do get the RNA's reader's comments back I am expecting quite a lot of pages to read and consider, then decide where I go from there.

For now it's get this draft complete.

Wish me luck...



image: pixabay.com