Lost in the Jungles of Final Revision
by Linda Rodriguez
I’m
in the throes of final revisions. Toss me a lifeline. Or at least
some really fine imported dark chocolate.
in the throes of final revisions. Toss me a lifeline. Or at least
some really fine imported dark chocolate.
There
are several times when writing a novel is no fun. The first is the
middle of the book. Middles are always sucky. There’s no way around
it.
are several times when writing a novel is no fun. The first is the
middle of the book. Middles are always sucky. There’s no way around
it.
They’re
swamps that you just have to wade through, never being able to see
more than a few inches ahead and full of traps, quicksand, and
dangerous predators.
swamps that you just have to wade through, never being able to see
more than a few inches ahead and full of traps, quicksand, and
dangerous predators.
Every
writer I know—and some of them are multiple NYT bestsellers—hates
herself or himself and the book while in the middle. Once you emerge
into the end, the pace steps up, your excitement returns, and you
stop feeling your book is horrible and deformed. By the last page,
you’re in love with it again.
writer I know—and some of them are multiple NYT bestsellers—hates
herself or himself and the book while in the middle. Once you emerge
into the end, the pace steps up, your excitement returns, and you
stop feeling your book is horrible and deformed. By the last page,
you’re in love with it again.
In
the first read-through and the revisions that come from that, you see
problems, but it all looks fixable, and you’re stunned at how
basically good the book actually is—or has the potential to be.
Your beta reader told you about things that need work, but also said
the book was going to be great. So you wade in and start hacking this
off here and moving it over there, cutting out these and adding that,
beefing up this character and toning down that one. You feel like
you’re doing good work.
the first read-through and the revisions that come from that, you see
problems, but it all looks fixable, and you’re stunned at how
basically good the book actually is—or has the potential to be.
Your beta reader told you about things that need work, but also said
the book was going to be great. So you wade in and start hacking this
off here and moving it over there, cutting out these and adding that,
beefing up this character and toning down that one. You feel like
you’re doing good work.
Then,
you start on the final revision. This is not the last editing your
book will get, of course. You’ll do line edits and proof it before
sending it off to agent and editor where they will find new things
that need fixing, and you’ll love them for it. This is just the
final big structural revision before it goes out to others because
anything else will need another good eye. (Every writer needs at
least one good editor, no matter how good a writer and editor she is
herself.)
you start on the final revision. This is not the last editing your
book will get, of course. You’ll do line edits and proof it before
sending it off to agent and editor where they will find new things
that need fixing, and you’ll love them for it. This is just the
final big structural revision before it goes out to others because
anything else will need another good eye. (Every writer needs at
least one good editor, no matter how good a writer and editor she is
herself.)
This
is where you’re making all the major and difficult changes that you
left for later because they were major and difficult. This is where
you’re honing theme and correcting pacing and making sure you use
all the senses throughout and that you keep the reader engaged all
the time.
is where you’re making all the major and difficult changes that you
left for later because they were major and difficult. This is where
you’re honing theme and correcting pacing and making sure you use
all the senses throughout and that you keep the reader engaged all
the time.
This
is where you hack your way into the jungle of book with a mental
picture of how you’ll carve out a gorgeous estate with a palatial
residence, and then you get lost, and your bearers run off with the
last of your food and water. You have to keep moving because if you
don’t, you will sit down and cry as you starve to death.
is where you hack your way into the jungle of book with a mental
picture of how you’ll carve out a gorgeous estate with a palatial
residence, and then you get lost, and your bearers run off with the
last of your food and water. You have to keep moving because if you
don’t, you will sit down and cry as you starve to death.
This
is where I am right now. I have come through this before. I know I
will again. I continue repeating this mantra to myself as I keep
cutting a path for myself. It’s not that I hate the book, as in the
sucky middle. This time it’s that I’m afraid I’ll… Let. The.
Book. Down.
is where I am right now. I have come through this before. I know I
will again. I continue repeating this mantra to myself as I keep
cutting a path for myself. It’s not that I hate the book, as in the
sucky middle. This time it’s that I’m afraid I’ll… Let. The.
Book. Down.
But
I’ve promised to have this done and send the book off, and I have
to make it something good enough to send. I think I’ll have my
husband take me out for dinner, and I’ll buy some luscious imported
chocolate. And tomorrow, I’ll head back into the jungle of final
revision.
I’ve promised to have this done and send the book off, and I have
to make it something good enough to send. I think I’ll have my
husband take me out for dinner, and I’ll buy some luscious imported
chocolate. And tomorrow, I’ll head back into the jungle of final
revision.
Linda Rodriguez’s Plotting theCharacter-Driven Novel, based on her popular workshop, and The
World Is One Place: Native American Poets Visit the Middle East,
an anthology she co-edited, are her newest books. Every Family
Doubt, her fourth mystery novel featuring Cherokee campus police
chief, Skeet Bannion, will appear January 17, 2018. Her three earlier
Skeet novels—Every Hidden Fear, Every Broken Trust,
and Every Last Secret—and
her books of poetry—Skin Hunger
and Heart’s Migration—have
received critical recognition and awards, such as St. Martin’s
Press/Malice Domestic Best First Novel, International
Latino Book Award, Latina Book Club Best Book of 2014, Midwest Voices
& Visions, Elvira Cordero Cisneros Award, Thorpe Menn Award, and
Ragdale and Macondo fellowships. Her short story, “The Good
Neighbor,” published in the anthology, Kansas City Noir, has
been optioned for film.
Rodriguez is past chair of the AWP
Indigenous Writer’s Caucus, past president of Border Crimes chapter
of Sisters in Crime, founding board member of Latino Writers
Collective and The Writers Place, and a member of International
Thriller Writers, Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and
Storytellers, and Kansas City Cherokee Community. Visit her at
http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com
Indigenous Writer’s Caucus, past president of Border Crimes chapter
of Sisters in Crime, founding board member of Latino Writers
Collective and The Writers Place, and a member of International
Thriller Writers, Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and
Storytellers, and Kansas City Cherokee Community. Visit her at
http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com
