Sigh. More time is needed with my latest revision. More distance, more space, more opportunity to discover new things and see familiar words with new perspective and clarity. I am being forced to recognize that everyone works at their own pace. And that my pace may need some reconsidering too. Some people I know take 4 years to write a book, others a year. A screenwriter friend of mine makes huge changes in his drafts in 48 hours getting them into the production team that wouldn't accept them a minute later. A successful namer I know can name a company with the first name that comes to mind, but will still do due diligence and submit an additional 150 names, spending a week or two stewing over choices, only to routinely have the first name be the winner.
Me? I write slowly. Very slowly. I wander in the dark and doubt myself and don't map until much later and think and rethink and wait, and try and listen to my novel whispering to me and telling me where it wants to go and what it wants to be. But when it comes to revising, I am fast! Once I know what I want to say, I say it. I see problems and changes and remedies very easily. I am able to come up with alternatives and chuck pages without sentiment or attachment. It is a skill that has been used to great advantage on numerous writer collaborations. When it comes to revising I am an idea girl-full of them!
Some people like to take weeks, months off of their revisions. They like to go away for long enough that the writing seems new and like someone else's when they return, they need to do that in order for the words to seem fresh once more.
As I have a very big project coming up that will take me out of the loop and off of the web for a few months in a week or so anyway, I have been asked to try a little experiment. To not revise, but to just think and let my manuscript turn itself over and over in my brain, speaking to my sub conscious, whispering to me late at night and telling me what it would like its final self to be. It will certainly be a big change, and I am curious as to what it will be like and yield.
I'll keep you posted!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
good luck! revisions would drive me batty. luckily you have a great perspective!
Aw thanks Lynn! Revisions are the hardest part for me. And after working for so long on my manuscript, I will admit that I am eager to have it done! But, I am trying to learn pacing and patience. The reality is, after years spent working on the novel, I should allow myself a few more months of reflection, to really make sure it is the novel I want it to be, and that it is done...for now :)
Post a Comment