The Magic of the Second Draft

How shifting my mindset turned revisions into my favorite part of writing.

If I ever feel daunted by writing the first draft again, completely frustrated at the mess I’m creating and will have to clean up, may I look at this moment in time and recognize the magic in the second draft and beyond.

I’m currently editing my next book, The Jilted Lovers Club, and I’m noticing all the clumsy things I wrote when I penned the first draft, alongside little miraculous passages that may make it past my red pen.

Editing this book has been a joy. I know the story better now. I know the characters, I know where they’re headed, and I have a better idea of what’s driving them than I did when I first started writing. And now when I edit, it’s with this knowledge in mind. I am now able to make each one of their moves have meaning where before it was just to fill the space.

I used to hate editing. I also used to feel completely stunted in the first draft phase when it started to crumble around the messy middle.

But now? I love editing. I do a ton of writing in the second draft phase. I have fully embraced that the first draft is me telling myself the story, and the second draft is me making it make sense.

What also helps is remembering what a past creative writing teacher told me. We were studying a book and paying attention to some of the foreshadowing that was happening. “That happens in editing,” he said. Once we know the story from beginning to end, we can go back to the start and add in little clues, inside moments with the reader, the parts that make the person reading feel like they’re a part of the story.

This is the magic of the second draft and beyond.

I’m learning that clumsy beginnings are completely acceptable, even welcomed. Perfection, be damned. It’s okay to be a complete mess when starting something new, and there is so much joy in refining that mess until it’s the beauty I want.

I never thought I’d say this, but I think I might love editing even more than writing the first draft.

I don’t just write rambling blog posts, I also write love stories. Find them all here.