OMG wait three books for every one? Baby I'm finally there!!!! Also, I might have my religious concepts muddled, but I THINK I'm just in revision purgatory, not hell.
Oh wow, this is SO relatable!! I completed edits with my publisher about a month ago, and I'm still finding it hard to believe that I don't have to gear up for another big revision. This novel started in 2018, and it's been nothing but big revisions—so many I've lost count! This novel didn't begin as a thriller—in fact, the missing person who is at the center of the final version didn't even exist in the first couple of drafts. Each revision has brought the suspense closer to the surface, but I honestly never thought I'd truly ever be done. I DREAM of getting it right in the first draft! But I know that isn't in the cards for me haha
Inexhaustible as long as you are alive? Patricia, darling, I am alive and I am *exhausted* ... what about *that*? Also Agatha Christie continues to amaze, the more I learn about her. I tell my students that the "real" writing happens in revision because that's where choices get made & solidified--magic things happen in drafting, but it's in revision where that magic has to settle in.
Part I. Yes, exhausted! But maybe it's the kind of exhaustion where your brain is trying to tell you to quit, that it's done and can't go any further, even though there's still gas in the tank. (Athletes often talk about this--overriding the supercautious executive monitor!) And Part II. Revision as the real magic and the real writing. Joyce Carol Oates says she spends more time revising than writing. So why am I complaining?
I am rewriting a general fiction novel…it SAYS draft 4 on the document but, um, that’s a little misleading. And I’ve revised the outline several times, too, trying to save myself some work.
At some point I might have to admit this one just isn’t gonna work.
With my two mysteries, I rewrote once each time with just a few changes. A big change in the first book had to do with the love interest, not the mystery plot.
I think every book and writer works in a unique way.
OMG wait three books for every one? Baby I'm finally there!!!! Also, I might have my religious concepts muddled, but I THINK I'm just in revision purgatory, not hell.
Oh wow, this is SO relatable!! I completed edits with my publisher about a month ago, and I'm still finding it hard to believe that I don't have to gear up for another big revision. This novel started in 2018, and it's been nothing but big revisions—so many I've lost count! This novel didn't begin as a thriller—in fact, the missing person who is at the center of the final version didn't even exist in the first couple of drafts. Each revision has brought the suspense closer to the surface, but I honestly never thought I'd truly ever be done. I DREAM of getting it right in the first draft! But I know that isn't in the cards for me haha
That’s amazing, Kristin! And now that we know how much books probably will change, does it make a first draft harder or easier? I’m not sure!
Inexhaustible as long as you are alive? Patricia, darling, I am alive and I am *exhausted* ... what about *that*? Also Agatha Christie continues to amaze, the more I learn about her. I tell my students that the "real" writing happens in revision because that's where choices get made & solidified--magic things happen in drafting, but it's in revision where that magic has to settle in.
Part I. Yes, exhausted! But maybe it's the kind of exhaustion where your brain is trying to tell you to quit, that it's done and can't go any further, even though there's still gas in the tank. (Athletes often talk about this--overriding the supercautious executive monitor!) And Part II. Revision as the real magic and the real writing. Joyce Carol Oates says she spends more time revising than writing. So why am I complaining?
I am rewriting a general fiction novel…it SAYS draft 4 on the document but, um, that’s a little misleading. And I’ve revised the outline several times, too, trying to save myself some work.
At some point I might have to admit this one just isn’t gonna work.
With my two mysteries, I rewrote once each time with just a few changes. A big change in the first book had to do with the love interest, not the mystery plot.
I think every book and writer works in a unique way.
That's so interesting, Shelley! Another data point to prove just what you've said here--maybe every book and writer are different.
Sending you good luck and good vibes.