Ever Forward

As much as I love to hunker down like a hibernating bear through the winter, that type of slovenly behavior doesn’t usually bode well for my writing.

Sometimes it’s out of necessity that I have to shove my own books to the back burner. When I get a big freelance project, I put my own books on hold to focus on the paying gigs. Begrudgingly, of course.

So, after spending the first few months of 2018 doing just that, I’m back to revisions on my Reaper book.

I started this first revision last year. Or was it 2016? Nope…definitely 2017. Yup. That’s right.

The revision process has been pretty good…though I’d liken it to those scenes in movies where the woman goes into the plastic surgeon for a consultation on her lips and he draws big, ugly circles on her nose, lips, eyes, chin, etc. etc.

The method I’m using has seen me go through 16 weeks of pinpointing something different that needs to be fixed. One week, it’s the plot & subplot (Does the main plot get the most weight in terms of chapters written? Do I carry the subplot consistently throughout?). Another, it’s the characters (Are they consistent throughout? DO I need every character I’ve used? Do I need to add more?) Then the setting (is this the best place for this scene to take place? Have I inculded enough setting details to make this chapter come to life?)

And just because I’m working on a specific “week”, it could take me 2 weeks to finish that particular task. Or 3. Or a month! Which means reading my manuscript over about a billion times. No joke.

The good thing is…just as I’m about to use all the notes I’ve made to rip apart this book, this process has shown me that under all the ugly pen marks, there’s a cool story in there…somewhere.

Now I know I need to add more setting details. That a few of my chapters are too similar to others, while some just don’t really have a point at all. But it IS in there, hidden, maybe not totally fleshed out, but it lingers in the shadows, waiting…

So, I continue forward, not so much stumbling around in the dark anymore, but lacing up my shit-kickers in preparation for the next round of revisions when I can really make this book kick ass.