I've been reading Stephen King's On Writing and he's got quite a lot to say about the redraft phase. He explains his working method. 1. Write with the door closed, just for him and create a 1st draft as quickly as possible 2. Put the book in a drawer and don't look at it for 6-12 weeks, work on something else 3. RedraftI quite like this approach. I've found myself writing quickly, rereading and correcting typos etc. and then sending out and I've always felt that a proper redraft process would help me a great deal.Imagine I've written my first draft and then buried it in a drawer for a few weeks. Once I pull it out what practical steps should I carry out (beyond just reading it).What should I practically do during a redraft phase? Should I transcribe each word and literally rewrite? Should I read and edit?
I’d say there several ways to approach it, but here are two ideas I share with my students.
Defamiliarize yourself with your first draft by re-reading it out of order. Read paragraphs randomly, looking for weaknesses in clarity and organzation. You may also find typing errors or grammatical errors more easily this way.
Before you re-read your draft, make a loose outline of what you think you wrote, noting where you think you made your main points, plot highlights, tone, etc. Compare the outline to the draft. You may see areas where you can improve or follow though on your original intention.
