Phew!  I’ve reread, revised, reordered and in some instances added to the first draft of my first short story which explains why my original 19,300 words has crept up to 21,750.  Increasing the word count in the second draft is quite unusual for me as I’ve normally cut back on the text at this stage.

My usual problem is that I have a habit of writing and explaining absolutely everything in the first drafts.  I like to explain what my characters are thinking about, worrying about, planning to do or not to do but even if I do cut the text at a later date, it’s never wasted effort.  Sometimes the added explanations provide me with a prompt or reminder about what’s going on in my character’s mind so I know how they should be reacting later.  It was my editor who told me not to explain so much – I need to leave some room for readers to draw their own conclusions!

So why my second draft has grown rather than shrunk in this instance, I don’t know.  Maybe it has something to do with it being a short story.  I was aware from the start that I needed to be more efficient in getting the story across in a shorter word count so I was already being economical with my explanations and what I have added in the second draft is a little more depth to some of the descriptive elements.  Hopefully I’m still on track but I’ll have to wait and see what my editor Kim thinks when I’m ready to send it to her.

My latest quandary is whether or not to have a rethink about the title.  The story’s working title has always been ‘Less Than Perfect,’ and as readers and writers all know, it’s often the title and the cover that entice a potential reader to take a closer look as opposed to moving onto the next book on the shelf.  In only a few words, my story has to convey the right message, suggest genre and offer a little intrigue.   But that’s not the only thing worrying me about the title.  Me being me, I can’t help imagining that if I keep with the current title then it’s only a matter of time before someone leaves a review saying, ‘ah, yes, a story that was definitely less than perfect.’

And so to ward off potential critics, the only thing I can do is to get back to the task at hand and start on the third draft and make it as good as it possibly can be.

What happened next

I’m half way through the second draft now and it’s taking quite a bit of concentration to keep track of the sequencing of events.  I’m finding that because there’s been such a short time between starting the first draft and launching into the second that my mind is playing tricks on me and I keep losing track of where I am in the story.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to go back (or forwards) and find those snippets of the back story that I know are there but have forgotten exactly where.  And then of course I’ve had to make sure that if I’ve moved a scene to a different part of the story, I’ve kept track of any cross-references.   There’s no point having a character complain about whiplash when you haven’t even crashed their car yet!  That was just an example by the way, Elle’s a very careful driver 🙂

At least it’s only a short story and not too complex otherwise I don’t think I’d be able to sleep at all!

What happened next

Instead of 80 empty pages, I’m beginning round two of my short story with 72 pages and just over 19k words.  I’m also starting with a list of changes I want to make.   With the first draft, I don’t like to keep going back and rewriting as I go along, partly because it’s too much like taking two steps forward one step back but also because it can be confusing starting a day’s writing two chapters back from where you left off the day before.  Even if I’ve decided on a fundamental change I still won’t go back and change it.  I’ll make a note and then continue writing as if I had made that change and pick it up in the next draft.  So that’s where I am now, picking up those changes as well as coming up with some new ones.  Oh, and pretty much rewriting every word and sentence I’d written in draft one.  What else could I possibly do on a Bank Holdiay Monday?!

What happened next

I’ve only gone and done it!  I’ve just finished the first draft of my very first short story and I’m as pleased as punch.  I had a bit of a debate with myself about where to end the story and maybe this is going to be something I’ll pick up with my editor, Kim.  It’s not that I didn’t know how to end it, it’s just a matter of deciding how much of Elle’s story is left for the reader to decide for themselves and how much I describe what I think would have happened next.

As it stands, I’ve included a final chapter which is essentially an epilogue.  Although it doesn’t tie up all of the loose ends, it does point the reader in the right direction.   The question is; does it need to be there?  I could just as easily have left the story at the climax which was when…hmm…so hard to write about my deliberations without giving away too much so I’d better leave it there.  Enough said!

What happened next

Less than two weeks into my short story and I’ve just finished the section where Elle comes face to face with the past.  She’s already uncovered some secrets but there’s a heart wrenching discovery that she isn’t prepared for and I’ve set the scene for this in a restaurant close to the Albert Dock in Liverpool.  It’s called the Brasco Lounge and is on the ground level of one of the new apartment blocks at the waterfront close to the Museum of Liverpool…and it just so happens to be around the corner from my office.  This photo was taken in there the other week…maybe I should have moved all of those wine bottles out of the way before I took the picture!

But there’s no time to relax this weekend, I’m at 16k words already and the end is in sight.  I’m having sleepless nights working out how those final scenes should play out and wondering Elle should be reacting to everything she’s discovering.  I knew before I started what I wanted to happen to my heroine but now I’m getting to know her, I have to think about what feels natural and I’m already revisiting those preconceived ideas so I can come up with a satisfying ending, not only for the reader but for Elle too.

What happened next

I’ve managed 10,000 words so far which is half way through my targetted word count even though I’m still working on the fourth section of the eight I’d split the story into.  I’m not too worried though because I know the final section is relatively short and I’m happy with the pace so far.

A new character has appeared (as planned I should add).  Angie is Elle’s best friend and has recently separated from her husband Chris, who just so happens to be a work colleague of Rick’s. Part of my story revolves around the changing relationships between the two couples and is adding to the shifting foundations of Elle’s marriage.  Next on my to do list will be the introduction of Corrine but I don’t think I can even say who she is or how she fits in without giving too much away.  It’s only a short story after all and if I explain too much here then what’s the point in reading it??

But it’s not only in this blog that I have to work out how much to reveal, that same concern is a feature of my writing at the moment.  I’m deliberating over what pieces of the puzzle should be revealed and when.  I’ve already decided that some of the conversation between Elle and Charlie in the earlier sections are giving away too much so I’ve made a note and when it comes to the second draft, I’ll have to remove some references.

I took time out yesterday to go to the cinema but it’s hard to completely put the story out of my mind at the moment.  We had gone to see a 3D movie and I was sitting there thinking about what I was going to write next when my daughter nudged me.  The film had started and everyone except me had put their 3D glasses on.  I hadn’t even noticed the blurry screen!

And as for what is preoccupying me, it was the conversation that will happen between Elle and Corrine.  Now that’s going to be interesting…

What happened next

Having to balance a full time job with my writing means that I tend to wring out every available minute in the day.  During the working week, I’ll come home from work and immediately switch the computer on and get some words on the page.  I’ve told myself, 500 words a day is a perfectly reasonable output but I don’t listen to myself very much and have been managing over 1000 on good days.  But it’s not all about the word count or sitting in front of the computer and yesterday was a good reminder of that.  I spent far too long last night writing and rewriting the same paragraph until I eventually had something I was almost happy with.  It was only after sleeping on it that I woke up this morning and thought…that’s what I needed to do!

That’s why I like to have a long pause between one burst of writing and the next.  It gives me time to carry on the conversations my characters are having in my head or to visualise the scenes I’ve just created.  It’s usually when I don’t even realise I’m thinking about the story that the best ideas pop into my head.  More often than not I get my best ideas when I’m doing something mundane like shopping or driving to work and suddenly I’ll think…why didn’t she say that? Would she really do that?  Wouldn’t she notice this?  Wouldn’t she ask that?

Hopefully it’s that part of my editing process that makes the conversations flow more realistically and sometimes it can add a new twist to the story.  I’m certainly doing that with Elle and there’s one scene I’m about to write that came to life while I was sitting in the car at the traffic lights on Aigburth Road coming home from work.  Apologies to my fellow drivers for missing the light turning to green!

What happened next