I had an “Ah ha” moment today thanks to Ken Follet. I was on facebook and scrolled past a status update from the world-renowned author.
It said – “1st draft is the shape of the drama, ups & downs, triumphs & setbacks. 2nd time around I focus on characters’ thoughts and feelings.”
If that isn’t solid advice, well then I don’t know what is.
As writers we often spend too much time and effort trying to round out our story on the first try. But clearly even the greats don’t do that. It’s important to figure out WHAT is going to happen to your characters before you can even begin to know HOW they feel about it, right?
I wrote this formula down and set it next to my laptop. That way the next time I get bogged down with trying to figure out inner dialog, I can remind myself that I can worry about that later.