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!

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Christy Shuler

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