Last week I posted the entirety of my fourth draft for The Storm. Since that time, I have gone through the draft, marking obvious changes and getting a feel for its overall structure. Admittedly, I was surprised when reading my work to see how much more improvement it still needs.
Specifically, I found that the middle of the story needs a lot of care. The pacing has problems, the escalation is disjointed, and at parts it even contradicts itself. There are several isolated moments in there that I really like, but I wonder if I’m bending too far to try and keep them all in place.
I do, however, really like the beginning and ending of the story. Honestly, if they were in the same state as the middle, I might wonder whether I should give up on the whole thing. But having solid anchors on either side of the troubled middle gives me hope that I can finally bring it where it needs to be.
Moving forward going to take the middle act all the way back to the drawing board. I’m going to outline exactly how I want that to flow, and then I will rewrite it, only incorporating bits and pieces from my past work when and if they fit. And I won’t hesitate to leave out the things that just aren’t working.
But that’s all work for future weeks. For now, here is my markup for the fourth draft.
Give Me Pen and Paper 