The Catholic Writers Guild

So the first draft of your novel is done. You have put it away for a few weeks to free your mind. Now it is time to pick it up and start the second draft, but where do you begin? Let me share some of the steps that I have learned along the way.

Step One –Taking each chapter and usually starting with a chapter in the middle of the novel, I remove all unnecessary words, phrases, and descriptions. What do I mean? I usually pick a chapter in the middle of my novel and copy and paste it to a new page. I use a middle chapter because without the beginning or ending chapters, I can look at each chapter as it stands alone.

Taking my newly created document. I go through the chapter and delete every single adjective and adverb. Yes!  I do mean every single adjective and adverb. Once I have done this, I read my chapter out loud. (It is best to be alone when you do this! You can get a lot of writing done if you are put away, but you might miss your family!)

Reading out loud, you can hear what is awkward and just doesn’t flow. It is a wonderful way to start your second draft. You will notice things that you read  aloud that you would just skim over while reading silently. Would it be better if one scene came before the other? Would it be better if you deleted this paragraph and switched the action around? Somehow without the weight of adjectives and adverbs, it is easier to get to the heart of the story. Get it down to the bare bones. Does the sequence of events make sense? Does this chapter need to be put before or after the last chapter? Perhaps the point of view for this chapter would be better told through the eyes of another character.

Get down to the basics of the tale. Maybe you should eliminate a scene and tease your reader with another. You are telling the basic story now without all the fluorishes of flowery adjectives and defining adverbs. The secret is that if your story doesn’t work without the polish, it just doesn’t work. Tear this chapter apart. Treat it like a short story. No unnecessary description is needed. At this part of the edits, I often think of the old show Dragnet and Jack Webb’s famous line, “Just the facts, Ma’am!” The facts are what you are checking. Are you giving the reader all the information he needs to understand what is happening? Without the adjectives and adverbs, the basic tale may seem bland and dull. But should it? If your story is worth the telling, it should stand alone without all the polish.

As I read the chapter slowly one more time, I place a mark wherever I feel an adjective is needed. I try not to add any adverbs back, especially any adverbs that end in ly. I have a member of one of my writing groups who is adamant about the laziness of using words that end in ly. He says that if you feel you need to use words like softly, hurriedly, quickly, or loudly etc., you are just being a lazy writer. I think I agree with him, although there are times that no other word will do. When you remove the adverbs and adjectives something magic seems to happen. You are reminded that it is the story itself that needs to be shared. Oh there will be time enough to show off your writing skills. That will be the next step.

I recommend that you complete all three of the steps I introduced last week for one chapter before you move on to another chapter. Get your work down to the basic story as step one, and next week we will apply the second step: We will return and add needed adjectives, dialog, and descriptions.  See you next week!