Avoiding the ‘Second Draft Slump’
This article was first published on my Substack. To read the original, please click here.
You’ve done it! You’ve just typed ‘The End’ on your final page, taken a photo of the word count and sent it gleefully to all your friends.
Congratulations! Finishing your first draft (especially if it’s your first ever first draft) is one of the best feelings in the world, and you’ve earned every ounce of that joy that’s bubbling up inside you right now.
And the best thing of all? Now you’ve committed your story to the page, then the editing process can begin! (Of course I would say that, being an editor and all…)
But before you even set red pen to paper, here are three tips to help you start the process with the right mindset and avoid the rather common phenomenon that I call ‘the Second Draft Slump’.
1) DO Step away from your novel and let it ‘breathe’ for at least 3 weeks.
I know, I know, you’re thrilled with completing your first draft, and so buoyed up by your sense of achievement that you just want to crack on and get it submission ready. I’ve been there myself and it’s a heady feeling.
But distance is GOOD in editing. You need that space from your work so that when you do read it through you can do so with fresh eyes. And those three weeks don’t have to be wasted. You could use the time to plan the sequel or draft your plot summary and submission letter. Or you could simply relax and refill your creative well by doing all the things you didn’t let yourself do when you were focussed on finishing your novel.
2) DO focus on the right things.
Tempting as it is to start playing around with wording straightaway, you really need to focus on the ‘big picture’ stuff first. In fact, my advice would be to do a complete first read-through of your manuscript without annotating it at all. That way you won’t stray into premature line edits.
Take my rookie error as a cautionary tale. I categorically did NOT follow this advice when I started on my own second draft, and I got about five chapters into fairly detailed prose polishing when I realised that something just wasn’t working. That something was the entire plot. My second draft actually needed significant restructuring, and I had to go back to the proverbial drawing board. This is completely normal, by the way, but I did waste a good couple of weeks line-editing chapters that didn’t actually make the final cut.
3) DO manage your own expectations.
There isn’t really a tactful way of putting this, but when you do read your manuscript through for the first time, remember that it’s JUST a first draft; it’s likely to be riddled with clichés, clunky bits of writing and continuity issues. (Honestly? It would be weird if it wasn’t.) It doesn’t make you a bad writer, it just means you’re like every other author on the planet. And that’s OK! It’s all part of the process. I can guarantee that all the writers you know will have written something equally toe-curling at some point in their drafting process. Nobody but you ever has to know that those dodgy similes or over-used plot devices ever featured in your writing!
So there you have it. If you keep this advice in mind you should be able to successfully skirt the edges of the Second Draft Slump and get your first round of edits off to a positive and purposeful start. Enjoy that three-week break from your manuscript, and if you’d like to receive more editing tips and grammar snippets, subscribe for free to my Substack by clicking on the button below.