It’s Revision Update Time!
Welp, to paraphrase an Aragorn /Β LoTR meme from forever ago (see The Very Secret Diary of Aragorn, Son of Arathorn π ) the short version of the revision update is, “Still not done. … Not done yet.”
While we could leave it there, I thought you might be interested to know that I have divvied the revision up into seven (7) main tasks. Although not necessarily of equal size, in the past three (3) months I have completed two of them. (Hurrah for Team Revision — that’s me, myself, and I, just by the way. π )
Task 2 was one of those I thought might be shorter. I even dared tell the inestimable Kate, WALL series editor, that I thought it would be straightforward. Ha! Talk about leaving oneself open to those cantankerous and contrary muses!
In fact, it involved the painstaking unpicking of a whole section (think of it like a patchwork quilt) and restitching the pieces together in an alternate configuration. A much better one, I have to say, but there may have been curses and gnashing of teeth in the process… (I couldn’t possibly confirm or deny, of course.)
Now, I’m on to 3 and 4, which although not completely joined at the hip do largely go together and form a large part of the first half of the book.
However, before I leap in, I’ll be reading the whole shebang through, warts and all, from go to whoa. This is something I always do, usually as the first revision task, but in this case Tasks 1 and 2 were both in the last section, which I wanted to get to grips with while it was still fresh from completing that go-to-whoa narrative.)
I always read in printout form, too, for a number of reasons. No, it’s not just to show you all that there really is a manuscript, although that’s undoubtedly a collateral benefit. π
The main reason is to gauge the overall flow of the narrative, so although I can annotate the manuscript (ms) with suggested editorial and structural changes, the printout encourages me to keep reading — and I absolutely cannot make any changes to the electronic ms until I’ve read the whole.
Eschewing the electronic ms for read-through purposes also mitigates against endless reworking of a single sentence, or worse, a solitary mot juste — as well as providing a fresh lens on how it’s all really working. And yep, I really do find text can read differently from screen to page, just as speaking it aloud can also be very helpful in spotting and resolving redundancy and other infelicities.
So that’s the next task, and although the muses always have the last say, I am hoping it will prove something of a “great leap forward”, revision-wise. I’m also excited to have reached this stage and am really looking forward to settling down with those printouts. (With some coloured pens handy, as I’m pretty sure they’ll be needed — they always have been with the other books!)
So-o, although like Aragorn, Son of Arathorn, I’m “not King—or done—yet”, I am deep in “making it so.” (I know, I know, mixing my genre classic metaphors, but one of the things I’ve always loved about the specfic genre is that it’s so mash-able—and always funworthy. π )
I’ll be back in three (3) months, if not sooner, to let you know whether the “great leap forward” has panned out. All digits pretzelled it’s not a “fall flat on my face” (or worse, sword) experience!
Speaking of Read Throughs…
You know there’s a dedicated Facebook group by and for The Wall Of Night series’ readers, right? If you don’t and want to find out more, or need a refresher, you can check out details here.
The group is independent of me, although I love to support their endeavours, but they’ve recently let me know that — heartened by my completing the go-to-whoa narrative — there’s to be a Great Reread and Read Along of WALL #1 to #3.Β
So I’ll be posting details on Thursday, for any and all who’re interested.
Excelsior!