Doing Better

So I’m done with round one of revisions, (can you hear the glee in my voice?) and now I’m on to round two. Like I’ve mentioned before I’m doing this book a little different than my previous books. As Maya Angelou says, “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better”. So the more I learn on my writing journey, the better I’ll get. So here’s a breakdown of what I’ve done so far and how I plan to finish this book:

Get It All Down

When I begin my first draft, I work with a short outline—character names, ages—and then it’s all about getting the story down on the computer. My first book, Six O’clock, I wrote longhand in spiral notebooks. My typing skills back then left much to be desired, and I didn’t feel that I could type and think the story through. With Unbeweaveable, and with this book, I am able to type it all up on the computer—something I never thought I would be able to do. When I write my first draft, I don’t check facts, I just keep writing. If I forget a character’s name I just leave a blank space _____ and keep going. Same for children’s names or anything else that I can’t remember. If I write a particular scene and I know that I’m not in love with it, I’ll leave a note for myself, something like, “Not in love with this scene, too unrealistic. Fix on second draft.” But the goal on the first round is to just get the words down, however horrible they may be. I also shoot for a word count of about 75,000 because I know I’ll need to add scenes in the future and I want to leave myself a little wiggle room.

On To the Next One

So on my first round of revisions I start by reading my novel—on the computer—all the way through. Most of the time I’m shaking my head in disbelief and wondering what kind of haze was I under to type such mess, but I don’t fix anything yet. Right now I’m just trying to see if I like the direction the story is taking me. And I did. Yes, it needed a lot of work, but I occasionally would read a scene or two that knocked my socks off and reminded me why I write. After reading it, I begin by fixing typo’s, misspelled names, etc. I’ll fill in all the blanks that the book may have. I also go through and give my characters their distinctive voices, no one talks the same so if I notice two characters that sound too much alike I’ll change it. I pump up the dialogue and fix any scenes where I’ve left myself a note to fix. Then I read it again. I’m still cringing at this point, but I can see a vast improvement in my work.

Off to the Printer

Now on my second draft I print out the pages of my novel. No more computer work here, I like to feel the pages in my hands as I transform scenes. This is my favorite part of revisions. Something about holding 300+ pages of your work makes you feel like you’ve really accomplished something, that all those late nights of no TV watching did not go in vain. It also makes me work harder to make the book better, because who wants to throw away a whole book and start over? Not I. So I read parts of my book aloud, so I can hear how the words sound. Does this conversation make sense? Does something here ring false? Out it goes. (With my trusty red pen of course. Nothing like seeing your manuscript marked through by red ink.) This is also the part where I add description, hoping to really draw the reader in with all their senses. How can I make them smell the banana bread my character is cooking in the oven? Describe it. Or what about the way the light hits the hardwood floors in the morning making them shine like new pennies? Describe it. I get my book printed only on one side and leave the back sides of pages with all my description notations. I also pull out the notebook that I did the basic outline with and begin to draw pictures of my characters homes, nothing fancy, just a basic floor plan so I can keep the story consistent. Does my character have to walk upstairs to get to her bedroom? Do you have to walk through the kitchen to get outside? Those kinds of things help me keep the story alive. I also add to the outline making it much more extensive, going through each chapter, scene by scene. I’ve just started this process, so I’m expecting this to take me about two to three months to finish. (I’d like to have it finished by November. If I’m really good, October.)

Back to the Computer

So now I input everything I’ve written into the computer. Not the outline—I keep that in longhand, sort of like a memento—but all my new red scenes I transcribe to the computer. This becomes another draft in of itself, because as I’m typing I find ways to improve my words, so again, I’m revising. This doesn’t take a long time, maybe a few weeks tops.

Now normally after this point I would give the book to my reader, (hey Mama!) and get her viewpoint. Then it would be another light revision and that would be it, off it would go to my editor. But with this book I’m taking a different approach. I’m adding three more rounds of revisions. Why so many? Because with growth comes change, and if I don’t change the way I write and really take myself seriously, then I won’t reach my full potential as a writer. I’ll let you guys know the different techniques I use when I get closer to that stage.

Any writers care to chime in on how you revise your books?