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| Book Revision Central |
Ever wonder how a book gets from a writer's head to the book store? I used to think that they just sat down and wrote it, and then sent it to the publisher, where it was edited, printed, and sent to book stores.
Um...no.
It's not as neat and tidy as all that. It's not smooth. It's not easy. And it's not fast. At least not for me...and I haven't even gotten to the agent and publisher part...YET. (From what I've heard, that's a whole other can of beans!)
Since I'm knee deep in third round revisions on one of my middle grade novels (and having some, ahem, issues with, um, motivation and focus right now...), and I'm doing more intricate and elaborate work on it than I ever have on a book before, I thought I'd share a little glimpse of what this book writing stuff looks like.
First, what got this book to where it's at today?
Well, I wrote the first draft of it (as with all five of the novels I've written so far) during National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo). This one was written in 2014. Then I worked on other books. In 2016 and 2017, I took this book through the revision and critique process with my writing group.
Each month I would prepare 4-5,000 words of the book for critique, get the feedback from my group, and then revise that section based what I learned. In the case of this of this book, I was actually revising and rewriting each section on my own before turning it in, and then revising and rewriting the section again after I got feedback. I also was constantly going back and making changes to earlier parts as we worked our way through the novel. So, I was basically doing round one and two revisions back-to-back.
Once that process was done, I took a break from the book. I went on a revision retreat to learn more about revising. I took an online graduate writing class. I read a lot of writer's blog posts on writing and revising. I read books on writing and revising. I wrote a new middle grade novel and started first round revisions on a young adult novel. Then, I felt ready to pull my middle grade novel back out and start round three revisions.
To be clear, I've never done round three before.
Because even after four years of a regular, real, writing practice, I'm still new at this. I'm still learning my writing process. Like I said before, it's nothing like what I thought it was when I used to say, "I want to write a book someday." It's no longer a nebulous, wispy thing in the air. Now it's a job. It's a process. It's daily work. And my process is still evolving, still becoming. Kinda like me.
I'll be sure to let you know when I get it all figured out.
Anyway, so I created a revision grid, like I learned to do at that summer retreat. This is like plotting your book on a spreadsheet, scene by scene or chapter by chapter (mine's old-school, hand written, cuz...Excel).
Then I translated that grid onto cards that I could move around-- because I felt sure that some scenes needed to be moved, some deleted, some changed, and some added. I wrote every character on a card...some of those need to go, too. Then I went through my revision notes and wrote all the key ideas and issues I needed to address on separate cards.
Then I went back to my original outline for the book and rewrote it. And, finally, I printed a fresh hard copy of the book.
Now, I'm revising.
This round of revisions is a complex Jenga game of moving parts, as well as an intricate weaving of tapestry...trying to pull that one bright red thread all the way through from beginning to end.
I moved chapter two back to chapter one (where it was to begin with), and moved chapter one to chapter two, even thought it used to be chapter three; so chapter three, which was chapter two, will remain chapter three, but will get a massive haircut.
I love my main character's voice in the early chapters but found that it got watered down a bit as the book went on and I got more caught up in the action and less focused on character building. So once I get all the moving part in the right places, I need to go back and do things like make sure her voice is consistent throughout the whole book.
And I have to do things like find any plot threads I dropped and pick them up and finish them, and get rid of characters I don't really need, and make sure that my British character sounds British throughout the whole book. Plus I need to delete scenes and subplots that I don't really need and bolster scenes--like the all-important climax-- that need bolstering.
When I start to think about all there is to do (despite the hundreds of hours I've already spent on this book), my mind starts to spin and I feel the need to breath into a paper bag.
That's when this happens...
I hit a mental roadblock. I tried to power through it, to force things, but it wasn't working. So I went a different route. This is what I call creativity cross-training. I'm painting and playing and trying to off-load the tension and anxiety I'm feeling.
I'm also hoping to get a giant bulletin board to allow for this "card moving" stage without making the dining room table unusable for months on end.
I had my niece, and fave critiquer, take a look at chapter one and give me feedback. Don't tell her but I'm going to need her to beta read the whole thing in April if I can get it done. Here's why: I set a big goal of attending my first writer's conference in May and I want to have the novel ready to pitch to agents while I'm there (a BIG first).
This also makes me want to breath into a paper bag, so I try not to think about the reality of it and instead pretend like it's a far-off thing (it will actually be here in two months...but don't tell me).
Which is why I really need to get back to work. Any time you see me doing something other than revisions, feel free to tell me to get back to work. Just don't be offended when I give you a dirty look and grumble about it. It's not personal. And I swear I actually love all of this writing business. It's just that pursuing your big life dreams is not always easy.
Martha Beck says to break these big life dreams down into "Turtle Steps"...the tiniest possible steps forward. Like, commit to just 15 minutes a day of revisions. But she also says to "Just keep doing what feels most joyful;" and, at the moment, that seems to be playing with art supplies and watching art process videos on Youtube. So I'm doing both. I'm also talking to friends and baking and considering guitar lessons. (Because...of course.)
And I'm reminding myself of my mantra for this year, from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Live in the sunshine,
Swim the sea,
Drink the wild air's salubrity
Until next time, go pursue your big life dreams...
and don't forget to cross-train.
It's not as neat and tidy as all that. It's not smooth. It's not easy. And it's not fast. At least not for me...and I haven't even gotten to the agent and publisher part...YET. (From what I've heard, that's a whole other can of beans!)
Since I'm knee deep in third round revisions on one of my middle grade novels (and having some, ahem, issues with, um, motivation and focus right now...), and I'm doing more intricate and elaborate work on it than I ever have on a book before, I thought I'd share a little glimpse of what this book writing stuff looks like.
First, what got this book to where it's at today?
Well, I wrote the first draft of it (as with all five of the novels I've written so far) during National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo). This one was written in 2014. Then I worked on other books. In 2016 and 2017, I took this book through the revision and critique process with my writing group.
Each month I would prepare 4-5,000 words of the book for critique, get the feedback from my group, and then revise that section based what I learned. In the case of this of this book, I was actually revising and rewriting each section on my own before turning it in, and then revising and rewriting the section again after I got feedback. I also was constantly going back and making changes to earlier parts as we worked our way through the novel. So, I was basically doing round one and two revisions back-to-back.
Once that process was done, I took a break from the book. I went on a revision retreat to learn more about revising. I took an online graduate writing class. I read a lot of writer's blog posts on writing and revising. I read books on writing and revising. I wrote a new middle grade novel and started first round revisions on a young adult novel. Then, I felt ready to pull my middle grade novel back out and start round three revisions.
To be clear, I've never done round three before.
Because even after four years of a regular, real, writing practice, I'm still new at this. I'm still learning my writing process. Like I said before, it's nothing like what I thought it was when I used to say, "I want to write a book someday." It's no longer a nebulous, wispy thing in the air. Now it's a job. It's a process. It's daily work. And my process is still evolving, still becoming. Kinda like me.
I'll be sure to let you know when I get it all figured out.
 |
| I'm old and so are my methods |
Then I translated that grid onto cards that I could move around-- because I felt sure that some scenes needed to be moved, some deleted, some changed, and some added. I wrote every character on a card...some of those need to go, too. Then I went through my revision notes and wrote all the key ideas and issues I needed to address on separate cards.
 |
| Genius: Using boxes of old business cards as note cards |
Now, I'm revising.
This round of revisions is a complex Jenga game of moving parts, as well as an intricate weaving of tapestry...trying to pull that one bright red thread all the way through from beginning to end.
 |
| Chapter Jenga |
I love my main character's voice in the early chapters but found that it got watered down a bit as the book went on and I got more caught up in the action and less focused on character building. So once I get all the moving part in the right places, I need to go back and do things like make sure her voice is consistent throughout the whole book.
And I have to do things like find any plot threads I dropped and pick them up and finish them, and get rid of characters I don't really need, and make sure that my British character sounds British throughout the whole book. Plus I need to delete scenes and subplots that I don't really need and bolster scenes--like the all-important climax-- that need bolstering.
When I start to think about all there is to do (despite the hundreds of hours I've already spent on this book), my mind starts to spin and I feel the need to breath into a paper bag.
That's when this happens...
 |
| Indoor Art Picnic |
I hit a mental roadblock. I tried to power through it, to force things, but it wasn't working. So I went a different route. This is what I call creativity cross-training. I'm painting and playing and trying to off-load the tension and anxiety I'm feeling.
 |
| Dining Table...Need Bulletin Board! |
I'm also hoping to get a giant bulletin board to allow for this "card moving" stage without making the dining room table unusable for months on end.
I had my niece, and fave critiquer, take a look at chapter one and give me feedback. Don't tell her but I'm going to need her to beta read the whole thing in April if I can get it done. Here's why: I set a big goal of attending my first writer's conference in May and I want to have the novel ready to pitch to agents while I'm there (a BIG first).
This also makes me want to breath into a paper bag, so I try not to think about the reality of it and instead pretend like it's a far-off thing (it will actually be here in two months...but don't tell me).
Which is why I really need to get back to work. Any time you see me doing something other than revisions, feel free to tell me to get back to work. Just don't be offended when I give you a dirty look and grumble about it. It's not personal. And I swear I actually love all of this writing business. It's just that pursuing your big life dreams is not always easy.
Martha Beck says to break these big life dreams down into "Turtle Steps"...the tiniest possible steps forward. Like, commit to just 15 minutes a day of revisions. But she also says to "Just keep doing what feels most joyful;" and, at the moment, that seems to be playing with art supplies and watching art process videos on Youtube. So I'm doing both. I'm also talking to friends and baking and considering guitar lessons. (Because...of course.)
And I'm reminding myself of my mantra for this year, from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Swim the sea,
Drink the wild air's salubrity
Until next time, go pursue your big life dreams...
and don't forget to cross-train.
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