I've been trying to write Marked
for over a year now. It's gone through many incarnations. It was Only
A Name for a while. Then I put
out a call on Twitter for a new title. I was given several
suggestions. Marked is
the one that stuck. I completely revamped it from the earlier version
of the story and thought that was it. I'd finish the first draft and
then move on to another novel, saving the first draft for future
revisions.
I'm on
version number three now, and I don't mean through edits. I'm on the
third complete rewrite of Marked.
In the two previous versions there was so much I didn't like that
editing wouldn't have done me any good. I have both versions saved so
I can refer back to them for the things I liked, and I've taken notes
on that to help with the third version.
The
problem is I'm not sure if the third version is going to work either.
I've already taken a large chunk of it and put it into a side file
for future reference because I didn't like how the story was going at
the point it was at. I like it so far but what happens if I find I
don't like how it's going again? I'll probably cut the offending text
and paste it into another document to save for dissection.
Why do
I do this? Well, the main problem is I have a hard time settling on
one story. I'm also forever tweaking the world so even though I've
done extensive world building things are perpetually in flux. I try
to settle on one thing and a new idea springs up and I have to
examine it. If I like it, it stays. If I don't like it, it doesn't
get included and I move on. I've finally settled on the look of the
world and the way politics are set up in one of the countries. But
there are still two more countries and a lot of races to deal with
that are only vaguely formed.
Now,
you might ask how that works out for me. I'm a pantser not a plotter.
I sketch out my characters and get an idea of their world and then
let them go from there. I let them tell their story as I write it.
For a few of the shorts I've written, though they do need to be
edited, it worked out great. With Marked,
it's not. But if I try to write from an outline the story falters and
dies and I can't get anything done.
So
right now I'm just allowing the story to flow forward as it wants to,
stopping every now and then to check details and make sure I'm not
changing things halfway through. I'm keeping lists of things so I
don't forget them and making notes as I go. Those will help with my
synopsis I'm sure when I'm ready to write it. But first I have to
settle on one version of the story.
So
tell me, how do you do it? What do you do that makes you love or hate
the first draft of your story, and what do you do about it? How many
versions of your first draft do you go through before you settle on
one and go from there? Am I the only one with this problem?
