Last week, we discussed how to start writing a cool story. This week’s post continues where the last one left off (as evidenced by the fact that we have the awesome “Part 2” in the title), so be sure to read through that one before you read this.

For those of you who were too lazy busy with very important things (I’m sure) to go through and read Part 1, here’s a quick recap of the first five steps:

• Step 1: Get a cool idea by letting your crazy brain do its own thing for a while
• Step 2: Smelt that idea into characters, a setting, an objective, and a counter-objective
• Step 9: Make a horrible mess
• Step Y: Go skeet shooting.
• Step 4: Draft
• Step 5: Let it age

Now that we have that frankly unnecessary recap out of the way, let’s dive into what to do after you’ve let your first draft age a while.

Step 6: Be Horrified

It’s finally time to dust off the manuscript you drafted. If you hate it now, that’s fine. You can toss the whole thing if you believe there is nothing salvageable, but you can usually take what you like from it and discard the rest. It may be necessary to redo quite a bit of it, but if you were careful with Step 3, that is less likely to be a problem. On the other hand, you may have had some better ideas while the manuscript was busy collecting dust, and you will probably want to work those in.

In any case, reread your first draft and decide what works, what doesn’t, what needs improvement, and what cannot possibly be salvaged. Mark it up. This is a first draft, and first drafts by nature beg to be mutilated. It’s kind of their thing.

Step 7: Assemble a Monster

After mutilating your first draft, you have the basic parts you need for your story. At this point, it’s sort of like building a monster from a bunch of body parts. Some parts work perfectly. Other ones may work well on their own, but need some adaptation to fit with the whole creation. And still others won’t work at all, but may be useful in a future project.

In any case, rework what needs to be reworked until you have something satisfactory. The key here is continuity—the story should function, the characters should feel alive and real, and the setting needs to be truly and undeniably there. Plot-breaking material should be reworked. This is also where you’ll fix the pacing. If some stuff feels like it takes too long, streamline it. If it feels rushed, flesh it out.

To get everything to work, you may need to fashion some new parts, and that could require repeating some of the above steps. That’s okay. You have the tools you need to do it, and the effort is well worth it in the end.

Oh, and you’ll probably have to go over it multiple times to make sure everything works. Patience is paramount here.

Step 8: Unleash It on Your Friends

After Step 8, you have a monster that you’ve crudely stitched together from various pieces-parts. Now it’s time to set it loose on a select group of alpha readers. These should be people you trust to do the following:

• Read objectively
• Give objective feedback, even if it means telling you that some parts just do not work
• Read with a discerning eye—in other words, they know what they’re doing
• Maintain confidences, such as deleting files when they’re done and not spoiling the plot for others
• Actually read the thing from start to finish

Once your monster is done with your friends (or they’re done with it), you can go on to refine it into what it always aspired to be in your head.

Step 9: Refinement

Once you have some feedback, take what is useful and work it into your story. Some feedback may not be useful, whereas other advice may require some significant revamping. However, be careful that the latter is not confused with the former (or in other words, don’t be lazy). If one of your readers discovers a glaring problem with the story, a character, or other issue (or even if they have a really cool idea that would totally fit with what this story is trying to do and it’ssoperfectomigoshwhydidn’tyouthinkofitbeforeit’ssoamazing!), it’s worth taking the time to rework your monster.

This is also the time to refine the little details that will make it presentable in society. This includes stuff like grammar, usage, minor continuity points, clarity, and so on. If you don’t have much of a clue on grammar and usage, work with someone who does to edit it. Once you move on to publish your story, editors will thank you. Also, as a writer, it’s part of your craft to know how to command language cleanly and powerfully, so doing your own editing (or working side-by-side with an expert) will be a valuable learning experience.

Once you have finished refining your story, it’s all set to publish. And there you have it! After days, months, or even years of toil, heartache, and evil laughter as it messes with your friends, you have successfully crafted a cool story.

Enjoy some ice cream to celebrate.

What are your thoughts? Think this is good advice? Think I’m bonkers? Maybe it’s both! Let me know in the comments! Also, please share this article with your friends. All proceeds go toward skeet shooting supplies for monstrous hobbyists. Really.