Revision Update
U No Longer Works
How long have I been revising?
But in actual time it’s been three weeks. A one week break and two weeks revising.
The first week I read through the book, made notes, wrote an outline, wrote a synopsis then edited the synopsis, moving scenes around and adding some to make the story better (hopefully).
Using the revised synopsis as a road map, I decided to dive head first into the “rewrite the book step,” while incorporating my notes.
The U no longer works on my keyboard.
There’s really no better physical manifestation of how this process is working for me.
After one week I completely rewrote 10,000 words. It’s true when Matt Bell says, “you’ll find it unbearable to retype a bad sentence, but you won’t be as hard on anything you copy.”
But at what cost Matt?
He is very upfront in the book that this will take a long time, and he’s right.
The past chapter I’ve tried a hybrid. I’m still going through every line and changing it where needed, incorporating my notes, etc, however there has been some copying and pasting. But I also don’t feel like hiding in a cozy Christmas book, so maybe it will work. Time will tell.
What I’m reading:
Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
Delightful Christmas Rom com to pull me out of my revision and post Emily Henry book funk. (Funny Story was excellent btw).
What I’m watching:
Sugar on Apple TV. Amazing, Colin Farrell is so good. Great mystery! I have theories but totally not sure how it will shake out.
What I’m listening to:
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing. It’s my absolute favorite writing podcast and I listen every week. They have so many amazing resources for writers—a Beta reader matchup, a comp line, Q and A’s, and you can submit your query letter and opening pages to be critiqued. On this episode they read and critiques my cozy mystery I wrote (and sadly shelved) last year.
Recently, a fellow writer recommended the Your Next Draft podcast by Alice Sudlow. It’s excellent. So many good tips.
I particularly love this episode.
Books that take up space in my brain way after I read them:
The one I’ve been thinking about lately is Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman. It’s short stories (framed by Albert Einstein dreaming) of different ways time could work. In one time moves slower the higher you go, in one there’s only one clock and people line up for miles to glimpse it, in one no one remembers anything so in a sense there is no time. It’s beautiful.