For me, the return to TDOA has been much anticipated. It’s a story I am really, really excited about. I’ve been working on it for a couple of years now, it’s evolved, it’s grown, it’s something I really am proud of and eager to work on again. So coming back to it in the break between my drafts of another story has been a real joy.
It has, since I last touched it, undergone a minor overhaul, necessary for its progress and strength. The changes were not so massive that all previous work became redundant and that it all needed piecing back together again. But changes were necessary that did mean rewriting and restructuring. Again, nothing major, just more work to keep the story going in the right direction.
I haven’t touched it since I made those adjustments, so coming back to it has both been familiar and very involved. It’s always such a joy being able to go through your previous draft and not feel like too much has to change, you’re quite happy with it and how it’s written, because that means you’re getting to a point where you’re ready to send it off, to seek publication.
But then you get to the points that do need changing, especially if you’ve gone back through your plan and your structure, and you decided things need adjustment. That’s where the work in redrafting comes, and that’s not always easy to tackle. When it’s a blank page, it can be intimidating because the work isn’t done yet, but there’s also total freedom to get your thoughts down, to know you can come back and make it better later.
That person who has to strengthen it though, who has to make it better later, is you, just an older version (whether that be days in some cases, or years in others). Maybe that’s why some people find it so difficult to move on if they’ve written a sentence they aren’t truly happy with, because they know they’re the person who’s going to have to fix it later, so why not just fix it now? I can make all sorts of arguments against that, but the one I will always talk about most is that time away, breaks from whatever you’re writing, are often the best source of improvement; you might know something isn’t great then and there, but you can’t fix it. With some time away and a fresher perspective, you might be afforded answers you didn’t have at the time.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t tough work, even if you have given yourself and your mind the space it needs to improve. For the most part for TDOA, the changes haven’t been too much in the micro, it’s more in the macro that things have changed. With that being the case, a lot of this draft has been focused on making sure the bigger themes are referenced more often, that setups for the future are made earlier so nothing comes as a surprise (well, I’d like there to be some surprises for the readers, but nothing that doesn’t make sense, nothing that’s shock value that hasn’t been carefully led up and alluded to beforehand).
There are things that do need changing, additional chapters and the moving around of sections to get everything where it needs to be. With these additions, it does mean there might have to be more drafts before it’s ready. But that’s fine. I never want to send something off unless I’m confident it’s the strongest version I can make it. Future changes might come with outside critique and fresh opinions from editors and agents, but I always want my work to be at a place where it’s as ready as I can make it, and putting in the difficult work with rewriting and restructuring is how you get there. You’re not going to get those big, important changes when you’re moving around commas or changing the flow of a sentence. Those changes that really strengthen the story come about when you’re putting a lot of that effort in.
Sometimes it’s tough and you might sit there, staring at the page, knowing it needs to change but not quite knowing how, maybe even begrudging yourself for being able to see those weaknesses or having made those changes to the plan and plot. But once you get there, and you put in the work and things start coming together, you get the reward of knowing it’s stronger. And there’s nothing better than that feeling, than that joy and pride at what you’ve put onto the paper.
So this next draft of TDOA has been and will continue to be (as we’re not through it yet) a mix, of being happy with chapters and not editing too much, and then heavy edits and even adding extra chapters too. In that way, it’s engaging, it keeps me paying attention. Though I do very much look forward to being able to go through it and feeling it’s ready, which doesn’t feel too far off if I’m being honest. But I won’t set myself any deadlines and say anything concrete just yet, because things can always change, and maybe I’ll have an epiphany in a couple of months about something that would make this story even stronger, and then more work will have be done.
I think it’s interesting to think about creative projects like that. Isn’t there always the chance that you will wake up one morning with an idea that’s ideal for the story, that brings pieces together better than you had planned before? What happens if those ideas come when the story’s already sent off for final edits, what if it’s published? For me, I believe that once a story is sent off and readers have it in their hands, you won’t think about the story in the same way, you won’t consider it still one of your works in progress, but one of your completed stories, there will be a shift in how you perceive it.
Maybe readers will come up with interesting theories that you wish you could have had, and maybe there will come a day where an epiphany occurs and you’re like, wow, that would have been good if I’d come up with that whilst I was still writing it. But that’s the nature of growing and creativity, you should always strive to be better and stronger, and that’s why, I suppose, it’s possible you could have epiphanies maybe when it’s too late. The way I like to think about it is, you created the best version of that story that you could at the time. Maybe you could do it better years down the line, but that’s not the point. The point is that you made it when you did, and you gave it everything you could, and the story that came out fit you at the time of creating.
That’s where I am now with TDOA, and I can’t wait until the day I feel I’ve given it everything I can so I get to share it with other people too.
Robyn x
R. A. Howard 