The Dreaded 2nd Draft

Writing that second draft is a killer. The story is all there, inside your head but now you have to do it over and over and over until it's polished to perfection.

I think my mind has gone numb. I know what happens next, I've read and reread all 125, 331 words until they've become tattooed on my brain. I want to move on. I want to be free to write the next story.

There's another big D word out there and it's what I need to exercise now; discipline.  That thing that makes us do what we should do and not what we really want to do.

No wonder Hemingway drank. It was probably due to that second draft.

I'm on chapter 3 for the 2nd or maybe it's the 3rd round. Then it goes on the shelf for a bit... not intentionally! Then I bring it back out and start over.

 Ok, NANOWRIMO is fast approaching so it's either finish it now or it might push into next year. The first time I pushed a book through to the finish line I scheduled it. Up at 6 am every morning and right to my desk. Write till 7 or 7:30 and then work that full time job. So, it's time to straighten up, put writing back on the schedule block and just do it.

First I have to clean off my desk. It's always best to have that writing spot to go to where the world doesn't intrude.

Second make a tracker. Visual aids always help. When you can look up and see that progress it helps to see how far you've come and how close the finish line is. Anything here works from a calendar to just a list with dates.
Third? Is there a third?

What do you do to get through the polishing process and ready for publication?

Writing Ideas & Organization

Every good writer has ideas. The problem arises when there are too many ideas or we lack the ability...commitment... to see the idea through to a full length novel. (Or novella if that's how you fly)

Always before I had a full time day job or I was raising kids and doing car pool every day. I barely had time to think, let alone actually write something that wasn't just a few pages. I have a few books finished but only in first or weak second drafts.

Now I'm unemployed and if I ever wanted to make writing my job now was the time to give it a go. I don't need to make a million dollars but to get a little income rolling would be rewarding.

I have dozens of books outlined. Ideas are easy. Taking them through to perfection...not so much. I know I have a tendency to want to get it done now. I'm from New Jersey. We do everything fast here; talk fast, walk fast, work fast. Not always a good thing. Especially when writing.

I write it start to finish, read through and edit. Then print out and edit line by line. Enter those edits into the computer. Read through start to finish send to editor. Get it back, fix what ever needs fixing and then off it goes to the editor...hopefully for the last time. (Not always the case, but it seems to be working.)

So what's your magic? One draft or two? The process?
How long does it take you to get a book from start to end?