An Open Letter To My Second Draft
Dear second draft,
I'm not going to lie to you; it's getting difficult. We're almost 30k into the rewrite, with a good 50k to go. That includes you, O pesky quest that seems to be hiding from view every time I think about you. There are new scene cropping up all over the place, which I'm loving. You seem unwilling to sit down and write them with me, which I am loving slightly less.
And I may have ever so slightly cheated on you a teeeeensy bit with book two. I know. I'm sorry. I should never have left you for a new character. But, in my defence, it's the same world and mostly the same characters. Which frankly, I don't think is an excuse to behave like a mischievous horse on the set of Merlin. But that's how you want to make your point.
Your current brand of revenge seems to be to make it so intensive to write even one scene that I'm spent before we get on to the next scene which I'm all excited about. It feels a little bit like having the door slammed in my face after I've persuaded you to open it just an inch. As far as revenges go, it's fairly successful. Kudos on the headaches you're inducing on my part.
But we've got to move forwards. There is so much about you that I'm excited about. So much new stuff we haven't discovered yet. So many character who have a new lease of life in this second draft, characters I hadn't even realised were that interesting when they first appeared on the page, a year or so ago. Friends I didn't realise you had. Character that feel like my best friends as well as yours. I don't even have to think when I write your dialogue; I know exactly how you'd react to all the situations we've come across so far. There are scenarios, too, where I don't know how you're going to deal with it. But I am so excited to find out.
I guess what I'm trying to say is - please don't disappear. Because I know by the time we write THE END for the second time, you're going to be so much better, so much shinier, and so so much more beautiful than the first time.
Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go and get us some cake. Then we can get on with the next chapter.
Love, K x
