BEHIND THE SCENES: PART 2

 
An early draft

An early draft

Step 4: The rough draft

Research done, outline in hand, it’s now time to start writing the rough draft. A rough draft is my first attempt at what will hopefully become a book. When I’m writing I know that- without a doubt- most of what I’m writing will change, and that’s okay. You have to start somewhere.

Step 5: Thumbnails

Here is where I start sketching out the initial draft. Thumbnails are tiny little sketches that let you work out the composition of the pages. Once I have a full set of thumbnail sketches I can start moving stuff around. Maybe something on page 32 fits better on page 17 so I chop it up or scribble out a new one until I have a version of my story that works.

FUN FACT: These are actually for a different book. I apparently lost my Dino thumbnails.

FUN FACT: These are actually for a different book. I apparently lost my Dino thumbnails.

Sketching out a larger version

Sketching out a larger version

Step 6: Revisions

Most of writing a book is revisions. My first draft will go through many, many revisions. At this point I’m also sketching out a larger version of the book, refining and revising as I go. When this step is done, I’m ready to start the dummy.