First Draft and Celebratory Champagne

Late in the evening on Labor Day, I finally wrapped up the first draft of Project Kingdom. I popped the champagne, invited over some close friends and threw some steaks on the grill, and promptly put the printed beast onto the shelf with all of my other work.

It wasn’t easy. I wanted to jump right into editing, to maintain the momentum I had built up in August and early September to carry me through the writing period most easily described as “hell.”

But I gave the story some time to breathe and myself some time to recover. Like a cooling off in a relationship, I tried to occupy my time.

I made up for all those late nights drinking and writing by going out, drinking and not writing.

I started playing golf, poorly.

And I got back to reading. I had forgotten how much I enjoy reading, and I put down at least 6 books in the last two months.

But, in the back of my mind, there was always that nagging voice complaining, “Hey man, don’t you have a book to edit?”

You can only shoo that voice away with whiskey for so long (but be damned if I didn’t try.)

So, as November crept into existence, I made up my mind to get back into the process.

I took my manuscript out of the cube shelf it was resting on and moved it to the steamer-trunk-cum-coffee-table. I let it taunt me there for a few days.

I took the cover off the first volume and reverse it, so I could pull printed chapters off individually without unseating the entire work.

And I told myself, repeatedly, “I’ll start editing…right after I finish this television show/movie/book.”

Saturday turned out to be blissfully quiet. I cleaned the house, started the laundry, and did some grocery shopping. Following that, I picked up Project Kingdom and realized just what a mountain I had in front of me.

It has quite literally been years since I read the prologue (which was way too long at 1500 words) and the first few chapters (which failed to introduce the characters and set up the motivations for the remainder of the book…oh and foreshadowing, I needz it).

So, after getting jacked up on coffee, I grabbed my green pen and started carving.

Mighter than a nerdy double entendre

I trimmed and rewrote the prologue, taking it from a bloated and unnecessary 1569 words down to a tight and cracking 400.

It wasn’t so bad, this rewriting thing.

I then immediately jumped into chapter 1, completely rewriting the beast. The rewrite successfully defined the protagonist (and changing the spelling of his name), painted a clearer picture of the initial setting and amplified the violence.

I also used the F word on the first page, which may or may not survive further edits.

I’m hoping to move through Green Pen edits – fixing plot wholes, characterization, mechanical errors and shitty writing – by the end of the year, end of January at the latest. From there, I’ll pick up the red pen and push through heavy copy edits – fixing grammar and cutting down on the word count – and I’ll hopefully be submitting this bad boy to agents in the Spring.

You know, as long as the publishing industry doesn’t collapse by then.