by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
The chief thing I find myself mulling a lot with this third draft is character. I need to understand my characters and their motivation better. I need to make it so readers actually, like, care what happens to these character that I’ve come up with.
It’s interesting that I have plot pretty much nailed down but I continue to really struggle with character. Things are a lot better than they used to be, but there remains room for improvement.
Things have improved a great deal on the character front with this third draft of my first novel because I’ve added a number of scenes to the beginning. I have been able to give both my characters and a number of interesting plot points the breathing room they need.
Way too much was going on too quick with the second draft. And that’s something that a lot of the beta readers complained about. I now think I’ve fixed that problem, but the novel is shaping up to be a fair bit longer as a result.
But the both longer and better now. I’m feeling pretty good, all things considered. I still have a lot of existential angst about being so fucking old. I have six novels in this project pretty well thought out and I know I can actually write them all — if I don’t drop dead first.
Always look on the bright side of life, you know?
My big fear is that, of course, the fucking Fourth Turning will happen in late 2024, early 2025 or AI will make the entire idea of a human-created novel moot and quaint.
But I write because I have to, not because I want to. I create for the sake of creation.
