I turned in my 2nd draft of the YA novel I’m writing at the end of the first week of June. Feedback was due in three weeks. I waited an extra week, and the feedback didn’t come. Then there was a strange request to talk. Alarm bells started ringing in my head.

The wind-up is, they don’t like the 2nd draft of my book. Gasp. They really loved the first draft. The character’s motivation, the pacing, the plot shifts, you name it, they hated it in the second draft. I got an email with nothing but  a long list of what was wrong with the book.

So now what?

First, I knew this book was going to be challenging. I was still writing backstory on the antagonists after I had already turned in the first draft. COMPLEXITIES abound.

Second, I’ve spent decades trying to write a novel and never succeeded, so the idea that a draft didn’t work isn’t exactly scary—but I am scared of the deadlines.

Third, real talk, I’m loving being off deadlines! I feel like I’m playing hooky from school or something. I feel so FREE.

Anyway, now it’s back to plotting. We have to look at the first draft and the second draft and come to some agreements on how we will proceed. It’s not the first time that the second draft of something I wrote left my editors a little concerned. But the first time it happened to me, it was with a story. THIS is a novel. 90,635 words of work!

In times like this, it helps that I am a content creator for my day job. We have gotten redirects halfway through and at the last minute. You can’t dissolve into a puddle of tears, you have to problem solve—and I love solving problems.

I’m choosing to look at it as a puzzle as we find our way forward. The hilarious thing is no one ever knows the rocky road books travel. When you get them—all glossy-covered, and typeset—you have no clue how many redirects and U-turns and overhauls they’ve had. They just seem like they are the way they’re supposed to be.

In truth, the book needs the time. There’s another book that will rest on its shoulders. Luckily, the editors are prepared to push the due date and the pub date. I hope the answer will be clear to be when I dig  into the plot. (In the meantime, I’ll enjoy feeling like I’m getting away with murder by having no relentless writing schedule to answer to. Freeeeeddddoooommmmmm!)

Onward!

K.