Guest Post – My Writing Process – First Draft to Final Copy by Ally Kennen
I’m over the moon to have been asked to take part in this fab blog tour for a brilliant new middle grade book, The Everything Machine by Ally Kennen.
The Everything Machine was released on the 2nd February 2017 published by Scholastic and tells the story of three kids let loose with a top-secret magical machine with a mind of it’s own! It sounds like so much fun!
So for my stop on the tour we are delving into the writing process of the books author Ally Kennan…..
Three kids let loose with a top-secret magical machine with a mind of it’s own . . . What could possibly go wrong?
Olly, Stevie and Bird have just had a very special delivery. It’s a machine that has a name, can speak and is able to print ANYTHING they want it to. How about a never-ending supply of sweets and a cool swimming pool in the shed, for starters?
But is getting everything you’ve ever wished for all it’s cracked up to be?
My Writing Process – First Draft To Final Copy
A book begins with a vague idea, usually something that has been badgering me for years, weeks, days or hours. This idea grows and grows and becomes the thing that keeps me awake.
I always write the first draft in a state of fear and denial. Fear that I don’t know what I’m doing and denial that anything I write now will end up being in the book anyway. This is quite freeing.
It’s not very fashionable for women to talk about how their children affect their work, and one can feel a bit sneered at, but by God! My children affect mine! I haven’t got much time to write because I have 4 children, aged from twelve years down to one year and they are always more noisy and interesting than any book I am writing.
Therefore, when I get a writing window, I go hell for leather. My earlier YA books, BEAST, BERSERK and BEDLAM, QUARRY were all written when I was pregnant and/or had 2 or 3 young children at home. These books have all been described as fast-paced, which I always find funny. I have to crack on with the action before I have to make dinner or wipe up the sick! Maybe when my children are all grown-ups I will write glorious, ponderous prose. With faultless grammar and leavened with multi-metaphors and clever word play.
Not now though!
So I crack on with a first draft, letting the whole thing gallop along. The superb author Mimi Thebo told me to ‘let the wild horses run.’ And so I do. I let them run and run and run until they lie exhausted in a ditch, unable to even snort. This first draft is usually quite quick. Though It wasn’t like this for my latest book, THE EVERYTHING MACHINE, because I had a baby in the middle of it and everything, all the horses, stopped for about six months.
After the first draft the real work begins. The first draft kills off the red herrings, the dead ends, the cliches… It is where embryonic characters form. Where deeper, richer ideas grow…
And the second draft cuts cuts cuts cuts loads from the first draft. It is a bloody massacre. Only the good bits remain. Lots and lots more writing is done, and now, I think a little bit more about the rhythm of the sentences. The landscapes and journeys, the time lapses, the development of the characters. The sewing together. This is when (hopefully) the magic part of writing happens. I have my rough work, now I can deep-think it, and try and make it much, much better.
The third draft is less butchery, more a gentle slapping, and do I Like these people I have created and are they interesting at all? and does the thing really work? And what am I trying to say here? After this draft I usually make someone read it (husband) or I make someone listen (my children)
I get that awful thing, Feedback.
This is always useful. No matter how horrific.
Then I go back and make more alterations and sprinkle some fairy dust and send it to my editor and hope I don’t get sacked.
I am not brave enough to send rough work to an editor. I don’t want them to see the vulgar depths of my abilities… I like it to be as good as possible. I’d rather send the polished diamond than the rough one.
Then there is the to ing and fro ing with the editor, the sharpening and the cuttings and the pulling the whole thing together. It sounds worthy but I do believe in the team work aspect of book writing. I need an editor! I need help! always!
After the edits come the copy edits, then reading the proofs, then BAM, there’s the book.
It’s a pretty good feeling.
You can buy a copy of The Everything Machine here or from your local bookshop!
Or why not add it to your Goodreads here
About Ally Kennen
Ally Kennen has been an archaeologist, museum guard and singer-songwriter. Her dark and thrilling teen novels have been nominated for over eleven literary awards. She lives in Somerset with her husband and four children.
You can find out more about Ally on her website – www.allykennen.blogspot.com
Or why not follow her on twitter – @allykennen
Blog Tour
You can catch up or follow the rest of this fab blog tour at the following stops!
Monday 13th February
Tuesday 14th February
Wednesday 15th February
Thursday 16th February
Friday 17th February
Saturday 18th February
Sunday 19th February
A huge thank you to the wonderful Ally Kennen for such a fab post and insight into her writing process!
Also a huge thank you to Faye Rogers for organising and having me as part of this fab blog tour as well as the wonderful people at Scholastic.
Have you read The Everything Machine? What did you think? What does your writing process look like? I would love to hear from you! Why not leave a comment using the reply button at the top of this review or tweet me on twitter using @chelleytoy!
Happy Reading!
