The journey from first draft to final manuscript

December 20, 2022 | General

Writing is so much more than putting words on a page. I say that not only as an indie author, where I’m my own publishing house and I have to handle multiple roles beyond creating a story. When I say this, I’m thinking about how much editing goes into making a story better. The journey from the first draft to the final manuscript is long!

Every writer has a different strategy to go from idea to book. In my case, I write down the story first, as full as I can make it—a pretty fleshed-up skeleton, if you will. Then I edit it several times, and then again once my editor and beta-readers give me feedback. And one final edit for good measure. Once, I read that writing happens in the editing, and it’s certainly the case for me.

My debut novel, Seeking Stars (2022), came out a month and a half ago. It’s so interesting to see how much has changed in each iteration. Are you curious to see some of the changes? Then check this out!

Seeking Stars – First page, first draft

Liam knew he needed a break. Despite the burning pain in his muscles and the sweat dripping off his jaw and down his neck, he didn’t mean pausing his training session. He needed time off work.
Growing up, when he imagined himself as a working adult, he saw himself doing some sort of science in some sort of lab. He had a creative side, but he knew the odds of that materializing into a real job were remote at best. Deciding to follow a reasonable path, he got his undergrad, then his Masters, and had started his PhD. Acting had been just for fun; a hobby to keep his mind clear as he waded through academic demands.
It had been his roommate, Logan, the one to convince him to give acting a try. Logan used to joke, “with a pretty face like yours, who needs a PhD to pay the bills?” They had been involved in a theater troupe, putting shows on during summer breaks. While Logan had gone on to finish his degrees, circumstance led Liam through several unlikely doors and he found himself in front of the cameras.
The beep, beep, beep of his tracker told him his last tabata was ending. With one last push, he forced himself to work through the pain burning on every muscle of his body, lunging with a heavy weight plate held above his head. The last three lunges threatened to make his legs give way, but he held his form. He carefully dropped the weight onto the floor; the resulting clunk drowned the sound of his labored breathing for a second.
He stood at the small outdoor gym in his home, hands on his hips, trying to catch his breath. He welcomed the exhaustion, it helped clear the heaviness in his chest. Almost.
Liam replayed his meeting with Coulton that morning. He had done his very best to placate Liam and convince him that he should keep doing as many movies as possible. Ever the negotiator, Coulton had gone as far as to propose a break from action movies and a return to romcoms, as if this could keep Liam from his impending burnout.
“Stopping now will be the beginning of the end of your career,” Coulton had said. “You really have to keep going or everything we’ve done will be in vain.”
Liam had seen it happen more than once, talented people out of work overnight because they got cocky and turned down the wrong gig. He didn’t want to be one of those actors that suddenly found themselves with no work. Despite that, Liam needed to know there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and that the intensity of the last few years would end soon. No matter how many times he tried to get an answer out of Coulton, the older man expertly evaded giving Liam any kind of concrete timeline, such that he still didn’t know if he had to prepare for a year or three more of this mind-breaking pace. Anger threatened to suffocate him again, frustration…

Seeking Stars – First page, final manuscript

Liam’s persona made his living— a really good living, at that. Eight out of ten people recognized his face. Promotional posters featured him across tall buildings, all over the world. Movie trailers centered him as the hero, and his characters never failed to meet his brand of action and emotion, CGI optional. The lead actress always wanted him, and so did millions of fans across the world. Yet none of it would help him now.
His therapist arched her thin eyebrow at him, her eyes focused and bright on his face. It meant trouble; she’d heard something of note and would call him out on it. He closed his eyes to block her out for just one more second. A futile effort, and the only option he had.
“What did I say?” He went back on his words, but didn’t find anything particularly incriminating. He’d said it all before.
I’m the vehicle of people’s income and I end up as currency.
Dr. Linda’s gesture didn’t waver. “It’s not what you said, but how you said it.”
He reviewed his statement again, focusing on his tone.
“Oh.” He scratched his eyebrow before he let his hand fall in his lap, listless.
“You’re still bitter, Liam.”
He sighed. “I guess I am. Can you blame me?”
“Of course not. You’ve worked hard to get here, to understand yourself… but your life still doesn’t reflect those changes. And I think— tell me if I’m wrong— I think that you’re exhausted by it all, in your soul.”
His stomach dropped at Dr. Linda’s words, despite the comfort of her understanding. Emptiness filled his chest now; a concave, vacant space.
“Bitterness, though…” she adjusted her glasses, her focus completely on him. “There’s a certain hopelessness to it, isn’t there? Powerlessness.”
Liam opened his mouth to reply, to defend against something. He didn’t even know what, really, but she lifted her hand to stop him.
“Don’t just jump to talk back. Check in with how you feel, remember?”

Wow. They’re so different! Different scenes, a whole new character that hadn’t been there before… A lot more action, and it’s dialogue based.

If you knew how much I had to cut from the whole first draft…