second drafts blow · 7:02am Sep 4th, 2017
I would rather do anything else than a second-draft.
It's hours of obsessing over a paragraph only to delete the page in frustration. Days spent trying to make good out of the bad, just to start over having made no real progress. The sad part about it is that the second draft is absoutley necessary to improve your craft. It's taking an objective eye to your work, seeing what makes it shine and stink—to attempt more of the former and less of the latter.
The issue, however, is the constant struggle of improving your flaws, because it becomes a conscious battle. You're aware of everything wrong, but you still keep getting it wrong, because you haven't found how to get it right—if that makes any sense. You keep doing it over and over, feeling in different directions, until you find one that is better than the rest. The repetition of it, though, is draining, the stunted progress dishearting, yet you silently hope that every pass makes it a little better than the last.
But what if the second-draft becomes inferior to the first? Then all those hours, all that "progress", is wasted in faux improvement. Which draft do you choose? It's a scary and hard choice, but of course, you go for the one with the better quality.
I'm realizing now that I can't hold an objective view of my work. Knowing all that is wrong with your fic gives you the points to work upon, but all that time spent in the trenches causes the story to become like a blur—one you can't possibly discern without a friend that is your better.
The point to the blog is this:
The path of improvement is worth taking indeed, but accept the help from the sidelines, for you can't make it to the end alone.
OR.
Stop being a pretentious twat and get some help.
Let's hope the editors and pre-readers can make a good thrid-draft, eh?
~B_25~
I recently followed you because hey, you seem like an active and friendly guy, and I could use some positivity in my feed.
I've been meaning to read one of your stories, but haven't had the chance just yet because busybusybusy, so I opted to scroll through your blog list instead, the name of this one struck me instantly for fledgling author reasons.
This is brilliant. Coming from someone who rarely uses pre-readers
or even redrafts his stories, I've come to notice how bloody annoying it can be to come back to an old project and find a deluge of mistakes and other needling concerns that you might have picked up on before if you weren't so god damn arrogant, impatient, and headstrong.Now, don't get me wrong, I've released a majority of my stories with the first draft having been the only draft (which doesn't say a lot for my creative process), and it definitely has been a means for me to improve. I've also realised that it can be difficult to find the right people to help you with a story, especially if what you actually end up with is two or more authors who have completely contrasting views, and it's impossible to discern which is the right way to take your story, or if any of them (including you) are in fact correct, or if you all make good points, but just need to put the best of each others' input together, kinda like a literary jigsaw.
In other words, going it alone can be tough, but when someone's second guessing the guy who's second guessing you, and you in turn are second—wait, fourth guessing them, it can be a lot to keep up with.
Regardless of that, I completely agree. Even though it can be a little difficult to accept help, there is a reason human beings communicate, and live in groups. We are better at doing things when we operate as a unit, solitude rarely gets you as far as teamwork. Sure, it may be a bit shitty having to reject some suggestions, you may have a bit of bother with pre-readers (and maybe editors, but I wouldn't know), and you may have to settle some debates, but the question you've gotta ask yourself is: 'Am I really gonna be the one to criticise my new magnum opus? Can I look at this idea, which in my head as of conception is being visualised as the perfect end result, through a reader's eyes? Can I vivisect this shit and identify all of the flaws present, or will my own bias supersede otherwise glaring issues and allow them to run rampant throughout my narrative?' Chances are, unless you're an extremely critical thinker who has no difficulty separating themselves from that which they've created, the help would benefit you.
I've had help with a few stories. I've pitched endings to people before or asked for help deciding which title to go for, I've asked if a certain plot device is too contrived or if 'xyz' is going to be too controversial. When I first requested help, I think I was merely looking to have my ego stroked. If someone said 'yes, do what you were gonna do, that's great' I'd thank them and do it, if someone said 'no' and offered an alternative I'd make some sort of defence, explaining why my way was the best. It took me a little while to realise that I wasn't asking for other people's opinions, I was looking for people to agree with me.
What the hell do you learn from that? Fuck all, that's what. Took a little time and personal development to go 'hey, I don't always need help with a story, or a second pair of eyes, or whatever, but chances are if [insert author I respect here] says that there's an issue, or that something could stand to be changed, there's at least a fair chance they're onto something, I should look at that.' Being able to accept help, but not blindly following suggestions either, is the psuedo-equilibrium that I've achieved, and it was certainly much better than going it alone. I don't rope in help just to indiscriminately reject it, yet I don't pander to every opinion or criticism I get either, because at the end of the day my project is my own and I'm always going to hold the final say.
In other words, I was a pretentious twat. I'm now a slightly less pretentious twat, but I had to wake up and realise that help can actually help first. At the end of the day, I've only been writing fiction for eight months now. There are far more knowledgeable, experienced, and skilled authors than I on this site, and it's good to pay attention to them, should they choose to impart a little wisdom. Of course, I have the same worries as you when redrafting a story (something I still rarely do, but that now comes down to which stories I care about enough to give a second glance), whether it's actually going to improved, whether I'm in fact going to create more problems, whether I'm missing something, etc.
The biggest one I worry about is whether the story I started out with will in fact be the same story by the time I've finished with all of those edits. Will it still carry the same tone, the same impact, the same unique style? Or will it be fastidiously tailored to the expectations of potential readers? This is why despite the above I still prefer to keep my changes both minimal and grounded in my personal beliefs of what might improve my story, rather than make it more likeable, because as far as I'm concerned, I write for me. If I like the story I've produced, I'm proud of it and even more I can recognise improvement since my last project, then I'm happy. Everything else is extracurricular.
TL;DR: You make a very good point here and I share a lot of your concerns regarding this, as I'm sure many authors do. If you're looking for pre-reading or editing help on stories in future (no dark please) then feel free to hit me up, if I'm free I'll try to lend a hand.
AAIQU
4673553
Likewise.
Your presented issues entangle me currently, the only difference being, you succeeded in eloquently describing the ever on-going battle. In the near future, I'd like to go more-depth about such topics with you, but until then, your offer goes both ways.
Thanks for the follow! Have one in return.
4673816
Nah, I think you described it pretty aptly! it is just as you said, after all, and I can definitely empathise.
Feel free to hit me up if and whenever you feel like, mate, I try not to be the worst when it comes to slow replies!
Glad to hear so man, that's nice of you to say. I have something I've been working on for a little while now that I may seek a test audience for soon, it's the first two chapters of a longer fic, stands at about 13k right now. If that's something you're interested in taking a look at, you don't even need to feedback beyond the minimum, consider it a sneak peak and just a general 'yay' or 'nay' woudl do!
No pressure though, I know that's a lot of pone in one go. Let me know should you need a little help yourself though!
AAIQU
Pog
Sniff multiple canisters of liquid glue