Early Drafts and Illegible Handwriting

When I write, I do a lot of drafts. I’m lucky if I can keep it under double digits of drafts before I feel comfortable querying a publisher with anything I’ve written. I start with what I call a plotline draft, which is really an outline of the plot, but with a few written out bits if there’s something I already know to write or actually can think of something clever and don’t want to forget. Then I try to take that to a very rough written draft, followed by a true First Draft. Some times this goes well, usually by this point I have a few chapters I can generously call a First Draft, mostly chapters that are still at the Rough Draft Stage, maybe one or two are still Plotline or in need of being rethought as Plotline level. The point is there are still many more drafts before I show it to readers I know for comment, and then the true rewriting work begins.

The majority of these drafts are changes made on screen with the electronic file. But for big rewrites, I need to print it out and read it in hard copy. Usually this works out, but sometimes it leads to problems like this morning’s. 

There’s a note I wrote on a manuscript I can’t read. It seems to say “Detpalm” or perhaps “Detlara” or maybe “Aetpalta.” That last one sounds like one of the early Saxon kings but this is on the manuscript and not in notes from my research.

When I read this section now I don’t see what’s wrong about it. I’m tempted to just skip it, but part of my mind is like, “I know this Ian guy pretty well, and if he had a problem with this when he read it last night, we better fix it.” 

And then I’m like, “You know him, you might tell him his hand writing is rubbish.”

And I reply, “You’re not so clever yourself.” 

And then I realize the bar fight that’s about to break out in my head is still all me and that I’ve distracted myself for thirty minutes writing this blog entry and I still haven’t the slightest idea what the hell a “Detpalm” is.