While thinking about what to post, I had a brilliant idea—entertaining, great marketing strategy—totally brilliant.
I would post a scene from my first novel. This would endear me to future readers and create a worldwide desire for my novel before its completion.
With bated breath, I read what I had written—the first tenth of the first draft of my novel-to-be. My brilliant idea dimmed to zero watts. But, hope persists.
Buried beneath mundane dialogue, poor word choice, awkward sentence structure and shallow characters, I detect a hint of genius.
I have a question for the novel writers out there. (I’m sure some of you are reading this if only to postpone tackling your manuscript.) How many drafts do you do before your novel is presentable? A ball-park figure will do.
Marian den Boer is the author of Blooming and a novelist wannabe.
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2 comments:
Marian,a billiant, and - if I might venture to suggest - goofy idea! I smile still. :)
Hah! I've not written a novel, but the short stories in my book had multiple revisions.I can't say for sure. Some would have been reviewed and tweaked maybe seven or eight times. I am quite certain the whole would benefit from critiquing and reediting by others.
My first novel (still unpublished) probably had 40 complete rewrites. I was learning fast, but also totally envolved in the story, so every new skill I gained took me back to the beginning. "Muninn's Keep" published in March 2010, had about 7 drafts before a professional critique, and one more after if I remember correctly.
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