Third book in Kenneth Fenter's "Ruin", "Bee Tree" series in re-write stage

I have begun the second phase in the process of writing the third novel in the series that began with The Ruin: A boy's quest to rebuild his self-worth by seeking refuge in the wilderness.

A story of any kind goes through many steps. First comes the idea. Then writing the idea down. Forming it into the story. In the beginning it might be a short story. In the case of The ruin it began with a short story about a boy being chased down the road one night by his brother and a neighbor. That led to a short story about a fight at the grade school. In the beginning these were autobiographical and were used as samples to get a writing group started. Over a period of time the number of these short stories grew, still autobiographical.

At some point the kernel of an idea began forming of a novel. Many of the short stories became the basis of ideas in the novel, but could not be used in the novel. Those short stories, however were used in association with other short stories written by my siblings and formed a body of work which we published about my families history over the 17 year period we owned a farm on Summit Ridge Colorado. Which incidentally became the setting for the novels that I did end up writing.

The process.

Once the story or idea is on paper then the decision has to be made. It is going to remain a short story, turned into a poem, fleshed out into a full novel with sub-plots, full cast of characters, message, scope, etc.

The next step is the first full draft. This may be written in parts and assembled in various orders until it fits, or it may be written from start to finish with tweaking after it is done.

And then the hard part. Re-writing. How many re-writes depends on many factors. In the bee tree it took many. The first draft was a short story with only the main conflict. Then a re-write with the bee-tree and swarm capture, and third major re-write the quinceañera ceremony.

Finally comes fleshing out and proofing ad nauseam.

So now I have the first rough draft of the manuscript done and on the first re-write. Some chapters may disappear. Some new chapters may be written. Some characters may be created, names change, situations change, plots twist differently. It is now time to ask myself "what were you thinking two months ago when you wrote this?" check facts again, again, and again.

coffee break is over....

best wishes,
Kenneth Fenter