Revision: Like Driving in the Dark with Your Headlights On
Photo by Joshua Woroniecki on Unsplash
Revision is my favorite part of writing a novel. Even so it can still feel like an overwhelmingly huge project at times.
After I finished my character interviews, I started with a number of smaller changes, like making sure there’s a good mix of dog breeds and a balance of female and male dogs. I also renamed several characters with more contemporary names that kid readers will find more appealing.
These changes could have waited until the end, but they gave me a sense of forward momentum. A quick and easy win.
Then I moved to the biggest piece—the character arc for Shadow, a secondary. From her interview, I learned more about her history, which helped me understand much better how her arc echoes the main character’s arc. I needed to revise scenes to clarify that.
I also cut out another “mean” character and give those few scenes to Shadow instead.
I realized that I didn’t need an overt antagonist—aka the “mean” character. The story needs a force of opposition, but that opposition doesn’t need to be in the form of a villain or bad guy. Shadow could function as a force of opposition.
As I wrapped up my work on Shadow’s arc, I was feeling pretty good. I’d made some big changes that ripple throughout the story. I thought the hardest work was done and that I’ll sail through the rest of my revision.
If I’d been listening closer, I might have heard the Universe laughing.
When I opened up my notes document, the one in which I organized all the feedback from my agent, a sense of overwhelm washed over me.
I’m nowhere near done with this revision. I have all of these other characters to worry about. And the magic piece, and amping up the humor and the emotions. And, and, and …
Deep breath. Deep breath. Deep breath.
Then I looked at the separate document I’ve named “Approach to revision for Chester.” Inside I have a list of steps to take.
For example:
Do interviews with all major characters.
Establish the timeline of Chester’s death, amount of time in Big Beyond, when Mason goes to visit Zoey, etc.
Change character names as needed in the manuscript.
Change the dog breeds as needed.
Go through the ms and pull out Ruth and leave notes about what can be changed as a result.
When I complete a step, I cross it out. I love doing that. So actually, those list items look like this now:
Do interviews with all major characters.
Establish the timeline of Chester’s death, amount of time in Big Beyond, when Mason goes to visit Zoey, etc.
Change character names as needed in the manuscript.
Change the dog breeds as needed.
Go through the ms and pull out Ruth and leave notes about what can be changed as a result.
Reviewing my list of items reminded me that the key for me to avoid feeling overwhelmed at the complexity of revision is to break things down into more manageable steps.
Instead of “evaluate every character’s arc,” I need to list the remaining characters who need this attention.
My dog character Birdie is one of them. She’s my “mentor” character. (She’s based on Heidi, our first German Shorthaired Pointer.) I need to clarify what’s at stake for her and eliminate some early info dumping.
Because I’ve already interviewed Birdie and worked through all of Shadow’s scenes, several of which include Birdie, this is not nearly as big of a lift as revising Shadow’s arc was.
My list of steps helps me focus on one small section of the road ahead, just like headlights at night.