P.J. Murphy's Writer Site

In a previous post, I shared the first part of my method for drafting and editing a novel. In short, the secret is to embrace the idea that your first draft will be rubbish and just concentrate on getting the ideas down. That’s what I’ve been doing with my new novel, Beach of Spies, and about two weeks ago, I completed the momentous task of writing ‘The End’ after some thirty chapters and ninety-five thousand words. (To be clear, writing The End was the least arduous part of that process).

What next? Well, let’s consult the Pauly M lexicon of how to write a novel:

1. Get those ideas down.
2. Make sure it fits together and works.
3. Make it a pleasurable reading experience.
4. Tidy up the language.

For the second draft, we’re at the level of the Developmental or Structural edit. This where you step back and look at your novel as a whole. Does the structure work? Are there gaping logic gaps? Do the characters have decent arcs? Do any of the scenes go nowhere?

Of course, if your first draft is REALLY bad, you might need to do another run-through before you can look at it in this way. Fortunately for me, I’ve been sharing my first draft with a writing circle as I’ve gone along, so it had to be of a certain standard.

My approach to the second draft really ties in with that of the first, which was to maintain the flow of ideas without spending too much time on such unimportant matters as detailed description or consistency in character names. At one point, I left myself a comment to add in references to a character whom I only realised would be important later on. It wasn’t uncommon for me to write xxx when I forgot a character’s name!

But before attempting a second draft, the most important thing to do is wait around at least a few weeks and do nothing.

Surely, I can’t be serious?!

I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley. It’s important to get some distance from what you’ve written before coming back to it. That way, it’s much easier to spot the things that don’t work. And all the time, ideas are percolating that can add depth and richness to the novel.

In practice, this translates into me doing things like writing this post, rather than editing my novel. It’s not wasted time. I have been rather quiet these past few months. The next time that happens, you’ll know there’s no need to send a search party – I’ll be just deep into my second draft.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some Instagram posts to write…