Short Story Writing Project: The Second Draft
March 5, 2008 by J.C. Hewitt
People write in many different ways. Some people work slowly, trying to make every detail perfect the first time. Other people write quick, messy first drafts that they then tame and refine as they edit. Most people fall somewhere in between.For my part, I tend to write first drafts quickly. I will go back and edit a bit as I go, but I don’t expect the first draft to be perfect. For example, when I write dialog in a first draft, I tend to write it as a transcript, without any surrounding detail. One person speaks, then the other. I often don’t even include a he said or a she said. I am too caught up in the flow of the conversation. Later, when I edit, I add the surrounding narrative.
So, for my part, the second draft is often about fleshing out the world of the story. I add the details that I left out in the first draft. These details may include
- Physical descriptions
- Cultural / environmental descriptions
- Character / psychological descriptions
In essence, I flesh out the world in which the characters exist. This is, of course, in addition to the general editing duties that come up in a second draft:
- Correcting spelling errors
- Correcting typographical errors
- Correcting grammar errors
- Rewriting sentences for readability
- Eliminating parts of the story that don’t seem to work
- Adding new elements to the story / plot
The key to your second draft is to identify areas for improvement and then make those improvements. You keep editing for as long as it takes to get your story to the point that it says what you want it to say in the way that you want to say it. Once that process is complete, you will be ready to show it to other people and see how they respond to your story.
Thank you. This was the most practical, straight forward advice I have seen since I turned on my PC.