by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
After several years of struggle, I’m finally — finally — about to enter the third act of the first draft of my first novel. One interesting thing about this process has been how much my outline changes once I start to actually write scenes using it.
I compare it to the difference between using Google Maps and using Street View Google Maps. Once you plop yourself into the actual location first hand and walk around in the real world, everything changes. But, thankfully, it definitely seems as though I’m about to wrap up this first draft pretty soon.
If things go according to plan — and they still may not — I should wrap up the first draft of my this first novel by the end of May. Then I pause for a month, work on fleshing out the next two novels in the project (along with a “second track novel) and then throw myself into working on the second draft of the novel starting probably around July 4th weekend.
I already have a lot of ideas about how to make the second draft of this novel a lot — and I mean A LOT — better. I’m holding off reading and re-reading some how-to novel books because I don’t want to spook myself before I finish the first draft. Once I actually finish this first draft, everything, in a sense, will be thrown up in the air.
I’m going to deconstruct everything then throw it all back together in a way that is hopefully a lot better than the first draft.
