- Blueprints
- Skeleton Draft
- Muscle Draft
- Skin Draft
In another life, my name was Frankenstein--building bodies from corpses and amniotic fluid up. Now, I'd like to think I've chilled the fuck out and only play God in my fantasy worlds. I find if I make a skeleton draft first (just get it out beginning to end regardless of how terrible it is) and revise chapter by chapter in layers, I have a higher chance of finishing a manuscript.
This might not work for you but it is, what it is. On average, I'll go through three drafts so:
Blueprints - I am in between a pantser and plotter. I like the freedom of letting a story shape itself, but I absolutely must know how it ends and what are some key landmarks that will get me there. If I don't, I can guarantee that I will not finish that MS. Using a three act structure, I outline the basic arc for the external world (main plot) and the protagonists internal journey. I will also include subplots if I know them. I plan to make a blog post later to explain this step in detail.
Skeleton Draft – It will primarily consist of dialogue, some detailed scenes where I was in the moment, have lots of things skipped, etc but it’s complete. Usually a low word count of between 20k-30k and I have a separate word doc filled with half-formed ideas for later. After it's done, I read the whole thing and use track changes to make notes.
Muscle Draft – This is where I take that Skeleton and retype the whole thing. I'm not kidding. Usually, I do this by having to word doc windows open side by side. Everything I skipped is filled in, in order, characters are fleshed out (descriptions & backstories), I add in Five Senses Descriptions. The word count should double, if not triple during this process.
Cutaneous Draft – Now, its time to print this baby out, and give it some cool tattoos with a red pen. Sentence level edits; grammar, typos, making sure the language is doing what I want it to and is as effective as it could be. I pay particular attention to emotion – making sure the main character’s internal dialogue has well-rounded moments of reflection. If the word count is still low, I brainstorm ways to pad it (highly unlikely that it will be needed at this point)
Skin Draft – Only if I need it. For example, if I send out the MS and it’s not getting the response I hoped for, I’ll find a critique partner (or pay for someone to write an edit letter) then fix it. I usually only do this ONCE. Too many cooks, as they say.
And that's my process!
What about you? How do you ensure you will finish your manuscripts? What methods do you use when writing?
This might not work for you but it is, what it is. On average, I'll go through three drafts so:
Blueprints - I am in between a pantser and plotter. I like the freedom of letting a story shape itself, but I absolutely must know how it ends and what are some key landmarks that will get me there. If I don't, I can guarantee that I will not finish that MS. Using a three act structure, I outline the basic arc for the external world (main plot) and the protagonists internal journey. I will also include subplots if I know them. I plan to make a blog post later to explain this step in detail.
Skeleton Draft – It will primarily consist of dialogue, some detailed scenes where I was in the moment, have lots of things skipped, etc but it’s complete. Usually a low word count of between 20k-30k and I have a separate word doc filled with half-formed ideas for later. After it's done, I read the whole thing and use track changes to make notes.
Muscle Draft – This is where I take that Skeleton and retype the whole thing. I'm not kidding. Usually, I do this by having to word doc windows open side by side. Everything I skipped is filled in, in order, characters are fleshed out (descriptions & backstories), I add in Five Senses Descriptions. The word count should double, if not triple during this process.
Cutaneous Draft – Now, its time to print this baby out, and give it some cool tattoos with a red pen. Sentence level edits; grammar, typos, making sure the language is doing what I want it to and is as effective as it could be. I pay particular attention to emotion – making sure the main character’s internal dialogue has well-rounded moments of reflection. If the word count is still low, I brainstorm ways to pad it (highly unlikely that it will be needed at this point)
Skin Draft – Only if I need it. For example, if I send out the MS and it’s not getting the response I hoped for, I’ll find a critique partner (or pay for someone to write an edit letter) then fix it. I usually only do this ONCE. Too many cooks, as they say.
And that's my process!
What about you? How do you ensure you will finish your manuscripts? What methods do you use when writing?
