Revision is a complex topic. It’s a complex part of the writing process! And that process is different for every person and every story. No lie, it’s that last bit that frustrates me most. WHY does it have to be different for every story? I’ve done this before, can’t I just slap the same methods and processes on it and call it a day? No?!
Now, I’ve been on this precipice before. In the Valley of Death is not my first novel. Depending on how we define “novel” it’s my 6th or 8th novel-length work. And with those earlier projects, there were other, earlier, more youthful and naive and blissfully innocent posts about revision. You can read my most recent one, about Something Sulfurous (aka Tavi) here. Or you can go way back and read this one over on the old blog.
Point is, I’ve been around this particular block a time or two. So, why am I rehashing the subject again? Well, because, lamentably, magnificently, every project is different. Though I’m not going to reiterate the minutiae of my process here, I would like to discuss how this book is different from the others, and what I think (hope) that means for the final product.
In the Beginning...
I relish beginnings. I love blank pages bursting with potential, with mystery and wonder and the promise of earth-shattering discovery. I differ from a lot of writers in this, at least from what I’ve read. It seems that the first, blank page is intimidating to some. Taunting even. I don’t feel that during the rough draft. Rough drafts are euphoric, exploratory and free of judgment.
Where I feel most cowed by the book is on day one of revision. The day when I sit down to read the monstrosity I’ve slapped together to see if it’s really worth all the time I’ve spent. If it’s worth even more time to shape it up into something palatable to others. Spoiler Alert: It always is.
Usually this step comes after at least two months of separation, where I’ve pointedly ignored the novel in favor of television and video games. But I’m not doing that this time. This time, I’m doing something very different, against a strong consensus of advice. I finished the book last Monday. I read the book this Monday. Revisions start tonight.
Why this deviation? Why this risk?
Well, partly because I want to. Historically, when I finish a rough draft, I’m exhausted, wrung out from the arduous task of birthing a book. I need the break. But this time I feel fresh. Eager and ready to comb back through tens of thousands of words and rip them to shreds.
I am NEVER eager for revision.
The other reason is that, I already took a break from this book. When the house blew up (ok, it didn’t blow up. It had a pipe fail, but still.) my writing ground to a halt. There was no energy left to write, not in any meaningful way. There was no momentum. It took a long time, but I finally embraced the break, and did my best to just mentally survive the devastation of my home.
When I returned to the book, which had already been “close” to done – as I insisted for months, lol –I found that I knew exactly what happened in the end. A super clear impression of everything that happened and what that meant for my characters. I just had to write my way there.
And as I picked out the trail of words that would lead to this particular peak, a piece of my brain kicked over into revision mode. It took notes, mulled over problems, and helped clear the path just a little. By the time I reached The End™ I already had a vague revision plan in place.
So, here I am, not even two weeks out from finishing the rough draft, not only ready, but eager to dive in to the grisly, surgical act of revision.
Operation
Another way this book differs from those in the past, is that I’m using more structural tools than I have before. I tend to shy away from structure, especially while drafting. I don’t like to be pinned down or penned in by an outline.
And yet, just days after finishing this manuscript, I sat down and wrote an outline of the book I had so far, from memory. Then I went back through it and identified where things didn’t make a ton of sense, or where there were gaps I could take advantage of. As I mentioned, this book gained a lot of clarity in its final stages, so there’s a lot of subplot/character arc things that need to be introduced and incorporated in the front half of the manuscript.
For instance, I have to rewrite the first two chapters. Completely from scratch, basically nothing I have now will stay. Not that long ago this realization would have devastated me. Today, I’m eager to get those new words down during my crit groups sprint session tonight.
I also have a series of vignettes that need to be strategically placed throughout the manuscript. I have only written the first and the last of them. The rest need assigned their locations and written in. I can’t wait to explore these scenes and see their affect on the novel at large.
There are entire scenes that need cut, their replacements merely lines in an earlier passage. There are timelines to solidify and travel sequences to tighten, and so many little things that I can sprinkle in to bring this book to life. I have so many ideas!
And, there’s research to be done. Yes, more research. That’s one of the joys(?) of writing a Historical Novel. Even if it doesn’t end up on the page, as the writer you need to know about it so you can write from a solid foundation. So when you decide to tweak the historical truth in favor of an emotional one, you can at least say it was an informed decision.
There are currently 11 books on my desk, on facts ranging from frontier recipes, Kalapuya culture and history, and vampires in lore and literature. And that’s just in addition to the notes I have from last October’s visits to the Oregon Historical Society Museum and Research Library.
This is the hard work. The glorious work of birthing a novel and then dissecting it, flaying it, and padding it up just enough to make it the best it can possibly be. Right now I feel as if this is the best part of writing a book. I have never, ever ever, felt this way about revision before.
Does that mean I’ve made it? That I’m a real writer-person now?
Hospital Stay
When the book is in fact book-shaped, when it is about as true to the vision as I can make it, I send it to Beta Readers (my crit partners, mostly). This is the recovery room of revision. I get a break, the manuscript gets a new care team, and when it comes back, we’re ready to tackle whatever comes next.
Usually, fingers-crossed, my Betas don’t find anything utterly book-breaking by this stage. I know there’s a variance of opinion on this, but I only send my book to Betas once I am at my wit’s end with the book. When I cannot fathom what else it needs, even though I can tell it needs something.
That’s when I pass it off to my brilliant writing community and let them open my eyes. In the past, Betas have identified endings that don’t quite stick the landing, or plot lines that are too thin to pay-off. Things that I can improve simply by adding or tweaking lines. They sound like big problems, but they rarely are.
They just required an outside perspective.
Post-Op
Once the guts are back and sewn up where they ought to be, once the blood is cleaned and the gloves are off, then we get to the truly fun and exhausting part: Polishing.
Polishing a manuscript is a lot like physical therapy. It’s repetitious, reading over the lines again and again until you think you might go mad from the boredom. It’s hard work, requiring discipline and commitment. But it’s also satisfying as fuck.
When you rework a line from something functional into something that sings? Something that evokes emotion and captures the very essence of what you’re trying to say, not just in this moment but in the entirety of the book? It’s magic.
Polishing is when I get to see the book I imagined from the very beginning come to life. It’s when you take all the long months (or maybe years!) of hard work and begin to enjoy the thing you’ve made. This is also a great opportunity to cut, if that’s a priority. My books are typically thin and I tend to add words in revision, but I don’t think that will be the case this time.
93k is already a bit hefty. In fact, it’s the most words I’ve ever committed to a single (original) project. I’ve put more words into some fanfic I’ve written, but that’s usually a collection of vignettes and smaller pieces into a larger, over-arcing whole.
This is one, cohesive book. Or at least, it will be, when all is said and done. But I’ve a ways to go until then. And it all starts tonight.
Wish me luck, Bloggos!
BZ
