I finished my first rough draft of the Thomas Project last week.

I cried as I wrote the final scene, not because I was finishing the first draft, but because I saw, for the first time, the redemption in Thomas’s tragic imprisonment and death.

As I wrote, I had an overwhelming sense that Thomas was not alone. He was not forgotten. God was with him through the whole story, and as his suffering increased, so did his awareness of God’s Presence.

Of course, I was not there in the Tower of London on that hot day in July 1540. I imagined the unknowable details of Thomas’s story, but even as I wrote my version of the story, I felt the truth in it.

Jesus promises to never leave us or forsake us, and I know that his saints are precious to him. I have absolute certainty that Jesus was present with Thomas in the Tower of London and in his death at Smithfield. And as I wrote the final scenes of Thomas’s story, I sensed that same Presence with me too.

And that was a beautiful bonus.

And of course, it also felt like a huge victory to complete the first draft.

I began writing this historical novel in October after I returned from London. At that time I was worried that I would not be able to end it, but I did, after nearly five months of working steadily on it every day.

And now I just need to go back and rewrite it.

Rewriting

I have been looking forward to the rewriting stage, because rewriting is usually an enjoyable process for me, if not more enjoyable than writing the first draft.

This preference for revision-over-creation has caused some difficulties for me in the past because I have killed projects by constantly rewriting and never moving forward, never coming to a finish. This time I decided to write every day, moving forward every day, leaving the editing for later. “Write a crummy first draft,” was a piece of writers’ conference advice that I took seriously. Just write it.

Truthfully, I do begin each day by reading over the previous day’s writing, so I essentially begin the rewriting process as I am writing the first draft, but I never stop there. Every day that I worked on the Thomas project, I added new copy. And by writing new material every day, I kept the momentum going and wrote to the finish.

Yay!

But now, I am suddenly feeling a bit intimidated by the rewriting process.

I find myself thinking that maybe I should read some books on how to do it, listen to a podcast, attend a seminar.

There is always a reason to procrastinate moving forward, and perfectionism seems to be my worst roadblock. I want something to be perfect, so I hesitate to write anything at all. But by finishing this first draft, I have won a very important battle. I fought. I showed up nearly every day for five months (except for the month I took off for travel in February). And now I just need to begin the second battle of rewriting to the finish.

The Plan

I want to fine tooth comb through my writing, making sure that every word choice is beautiful. But I think that may be rewrite number three. This first rewrite will be more global.

To begin with, I want to look at the structure of my plot and see if I can conform it to some sort of standard plot with appropriate action/reaction, conflict, etc. Right now it feels like Thomas floats through his life, and I need to make sure that what is happening in chapter two matters in chapter 60.

I also want to take a really good look at all of the characters in this book, particularly anyone who is historically famous. I can’t have a mediocre version of Queen Katherine of Aragon or Henry VIII or even Thomas Wolsey or Thomas Cromwell. Readers will know these people and I need to make sure that I get them right historically while keeping them fresh. That is a high goal, and I think I might need to go back and do some character analysis on each of them and rethink their voice and characterization.

This will likely add to the word count, which already stands in the 80,000, so I will also need to cut out some material that feels fluffy. I can already think of a few scenes that will need to be dropped, so I might want to think about how I can bridge the plot to make sure there are no holes. But I think that if I tackle the plot issue first, I will be less likely to waste time on this.

So right now my strategy for rewriting the Thomas project will be to reread the whole book, review fictional plot planning strategies, write a new outline using as much of the material already written as seems beneficial, review each character giving special attention to historically famous people and finally go through each scene to flesh out individual characters.

Rewrite one will focus on revamping the structure to make sure the book conforms to an engaging plot structure. Then rewrite two will focus on characters in the book, giving special attention to those who will be journeying with Thomas through the entire story and those who hold historical significance.

If there is a rewrite three, which at this point I think there will be, it will focus on including historical details. I want the finished novel to be saturated in historical details. I don’t want this story to feel as if it could have happened in any European country, at any time in the middle ages, in any castle dungeon. Pursuing this level of excellence is risky, of course, because specificity invites error. But it is the kind of historical fiction that I love to read, and I don’t want to deliver anything less than that.

I realize that I am setting a high bar for this project, and I know that by doing so I am tempting my perfectionism to set up her usual roadblocks. But I am hoping that the same daily persistence that got me through writing my first draft will help me churn through my first full rewrite and beyond.

Deep breath. Good things are coming.