Here's some novel-writing tips for the second draft stage of your project. No matter how much of a mess your first draft is - and the first draft of my first book was truly terrible - simply completing it is a big accomplishment - I had a cocktail to celebrate! But the first draft is only the beginning of the journey to publication. It's what you do in the second draft and later drafts that show your craftspersonship or lack of it. The second draft stage where you revise your work is a very important point in the process of writing a book. Engage your critical thinking When writing your first draft, you use your creative mind to get your ideas down and leave your critical mind out of it. It's the fun part where  you immerse yourself in the world of your story and it doesn't matter how terrible it is. At the second draft stage, however, you need to engage your critical mind to evaluate what you’ve written and then revise it.  Though creativity is still important, of course, and … [Read more...]