I started the second draft of Insecticide Two. It feels like a process of zooming in. I started with the wide view. That required reviewing the first draft and updating my outline. When reading the first draft, I made a list of areas that need improvement. This helped me understand strengths and weaknesses of the first draft and made it easier to move forward.
After seeing how many areas I wanted to improve, I decided the second draft was an opportunity to refine the structure of the story. The first step in zooming in was determining the right order of events, refining pacing and making sure scenes and chapters flowed smoothly. This required adding, deleting, and combining scenes.
For the next zoom in, I focused on developing characters and dialogue. The second draft is a good time to focus on character development, including exploring motivations, backgrounds, and relationships. This leads to improving dialogue so characters are relatable and identifiable.
The next zoom was detail. I want to add descriptive details and sensory images to bring the story to life and make it engaging. I think of this as texturizing. What do I want the reader to feel and experience in each scene?
Now, it's time to zoom to the smallest details... the words.
-v
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