The Third draft of San Francisco begins today.

My baby now weighs in at a tidy 75,281 words, and I expect the final version to come in around 80,000 words or 400 pages. I’m pleased, with the plot, love the twists, romance and the adventure, and find the world of 1850 completely entertaining.  I’ve taken to reading the morning edition of the Alta California for that day in 1850 with my coffee.  History is so fun.

The biggest changes in the second draft came from reading and re-reading Donald Maass’s book’s. I attended a day-long Maass workshop in January, sponsored by my local RWA chapter, right after I ripped apart draft 1. That draft suffered from many of the problems he discussed in his books and in the workshop: flimsy secondary characters, trivial dialog, ho-hum locations. And this from a book set in the glittering gold rush! YIKES! I had work to do and I did it in the second draft, but that’s not enough.

What Maass says is not that different from what any good writing instructor says. However,  he speaks my language and that’s key. When I read his books and reviewed the examples, I saw what made them work. So I can use the information. So often, I read instructional books and cannot figure out what in hell they’re talking about.

You must be unafraid to bring your life and experiences onto the page.

This is my next step for San Francisco as a story and a universe, and my theme for the third draft. An excellent writer cannot just observe the world and write only what she sees,  she must write what she feels. She must write her personal pain, humiliation, and  joy and that of others. This is not easy, it’s invasive. It’s uncomfortable.

It often takes pacing around the house and occasional tears.

My heroine is stranded far away from everyone she loves and understands. She doesn’t know how to act or dress. She doesn’t have any money, a job or a skill. She doesn’t have anyone to protect her nor does she particularly want to be protected. She is a self-reliant woman of the 1990′s in an upside down world.  She doesn’t know how she got where and when she is, only that she’s there, her daughter is hopefully safe at home, and she must get back. Somehow.

That is what draft 3 is all about. I expect that March will be a rather painful month.