Stage One Million and Three: Revising a Revision

Today is a writing day and, unfortunately, a rather frustrating one. Having just complete my revision of the first draft of my novel, I have come to the conclusion that it is much too short. I won't tell you how short, because it will embarrass me. But it seems, in my brutal attempt at "trimming the fat" I may have trimmed away about 15,000 words.

Though so far, I've never heard of an author coming up short in content, I'm hoping I'm not alone. I feel that my problem is that although I am writing a novel, in my mind I am writing a screenplay. I find myself so concerned with dialogue, that I miss out on the imagery and the inner monologue. This is my struggle. Sigh.

So now begins the revision of my revision. In this stage, I will read my revision, analyze what needs to be added and hopefully, end up with enough words that I don't embarrass myself when sending it to a literary agent. Wish me luck!

Comments

#AuthorToolBoxBlogHop - 20 Writing Exercises to Get Unstuck

From time to time, it's inevitable that in between those days of ever-flowing creative genius, writers are bound to hit roadblocks. Whether big or small, tiny bits of dialogue, or entire scenes and chapters, sometimes it can feel like an impossible task to carry on. We're just stuck. And while we will eventually work through it, I've discovered through my bouts of feeling stagnant, that there are often ways to accelerate our creative process. For this month's Author Toolbox Blog Hop topic, I'm compiling a list of 20 creative writing exercises to get unstuck. 1. Try another scene and come back later. A number of things could be affecting your ability to write a certain scene, including your emotional state, health, sleep, etc. Sometimes the answer is to simply take a break and return when you're in the right frame of mind. 2. Take out a sheet of paper and write by hand. Writing by hand is known to engage the entire brain, which is why journaling is so of...

#Authortoolboxbloghop Create More Time to Write in 2020: 20+ Ideas to Reclaim Your Schedule

The new year is officially here and like many, I have committed myself to several new goals I want to accomplish in my life and writing career. And while I think goal-setting is admirable, setting achievable goals with a specific, direct path to success is even better. The link between time-management and writing might not be an obvious one, however I find that so often it is the obstacles in my daily personal life that prevent me from advancing in my writing. There have been many lessons I've learned in the past few years that have helped me take control over my schedule and carve out time not only for writing, but related activities that have propelled my writing to the next level. I've compiled a list of time-saving ideas that can reduce time spent on the mundane activities of everyday life. Hopefully some of these will inspire some changes to help you master your schedule this year and spend more time on what you love. Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash Simp...

July #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop: Writing My First Spec Script for Television

Happy blog hop day everyone and thank you so much for stopping by mine. By the time you're reading this, we will be well into the month of July and I will have officially begun my Camp NaNoWriMo project. I'm writing this post at the end of June while preparing my plan of attack over the next 31 days in which I plan to write my first ever spec script for television. If you're not familiar with Camp NaNoWriMo, you can check out this blog post where I go into more detail. In essence, it's a month where writers worldwide dedicate themselves to a particular project of their choosing. But personally, I like to think of it as a giant pause button. NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo have become my sole excuse to put down my novel with its seemingly endless revisions and pause for a month to focus on something new. Somehow doing so under the established framework of NaNoWriMo is easier for me than simply picking a random month of my own choosing, which I know I would never do if...

Christy Shuler

Search This Blog