William Kowalski wrote in “Self-Help for Budding Novelists” in the February 2012 The Writer:
We don’t possess all the skills needed to write the novel we have inside us until just after we’ve finished it. Why? Because each book is a world unto itself, with its own rules and quirks, and until you’ve written the last word of the last draft, you won’t have complete mastery of it. By then, of course, your skills are redundant.
Reading Kowalski’s article this week inspired me in my own revision work. I’ve learned a lot over the years about revision and the way I do it best, and indeed, it’s true that each piece or book is its own world. My work on Perceval’s Secret focused on clarity and heightening suspense, and it wasn’t the first revision by a long shot. My work on the second novel in the series, Perceval’s Shadow, demands its own approach. Why?
I am working with only the first draft, the only version in existence at the moment, instead of multiple revisions. I expect it could take me longer to produce a second draft. Here are my steps for the Perceval’s Shadow revision process:
- Rewrite prep: I plunged into the novel’s working file where I’ve accumulated notes, ideas, and interesting articles relevant to this book. I read through everything. To my surprised delight, I’d left this file in excellent shape in 2007 when I’d finished the first draft and put it away to ferment. I had written summaries of characters, a master list of characters for the series, a calendar of action, characters by chapter, a detailed outline and lots and lots of handwritten notes. This step is done.
- Assessment Read-Through: I’ve just begun this step. I simply read through the first draft from beginning to end, marking my thoughts and questions on the manuscript. I also note grammar issues, word choice issues, issues with logic, clarity, use of adverbs and the verb to be. I check my facts and research. I underline verbs that need re-thinking. In a broader sense, I note character development and continuity, dramatic momentum, narrative structure, and oddball dialogue. Finally, I set specific goals for the second draft.
- The Revision: Paragraph by paragraph, chapter by chapter, I’ll work my way through the novel, improving the prose, heightening suspense, clarifying action and motivations, and adding any details that will enrich the story and characters. I’ll use all my notes plus the assessment read-through comments to guide me. I’d originally thought this would take 6 months, but now I’m thinking it could take longer. This novel has 22 chapters and a solid, straight-forward structure.
- Have I achieved my goals? This step occurs, actually, at the same time as Step 3. When I finish a chapter, I read it aloud several times over 3-4 days. With each reading, I hear the rhythm of the words and the flow which affects the pace for reading. I double-check if vocabulary is character-appropriate, if dialogue sounds natural and moves the story forward. I also want to use more metaphor or simile in this novel wherever suitable.
So, this is the plan going forward. I’ve already made notes about the changes I made in the first novel that will impact the action in the second, as well as noting a couple changes in action in the second. I’ll be making notes as I revise for plot points or details that affect the third novel’s story.
It sounds so simple. As much as I love revision work, however, it’s still the hardest work in writing a novel. The first draft is fun, the second is probably the hardest for revision, and subsequent drafts are really more like polishing rather than major revision work. At least, this is how the first novel went!
I have my expectations, too, that I will need to keep in check. It doesn’t really serve the novel to set one’s expectations too high and unrealistic. So, my only expectation: Trust in the process and the imagination….



Fiction vs. Nonfiction — Or is it really a competition?
The novel itself exists as a skeleton of a story. The structure forms the bones, the plot points the joints on which the story turns. I left some scenes incomplete because I hadn’t a clue how to complete them. Now I have a better idea. I’ve also noticed several places in the story so far that I chose to summarize and they need their own chapters with action scenes. They need to be shown, not told. A big hole is at the beginning before Evan leaves Buenos Aires — I need to spend some time with him, his “cousin” Alicia, and his manager, Nigel. I shirked, in the first draft, developing his psychological reactions although the bare bones are there. I’m now halfway through the assessment. I expect to finish it by the end of the month, if not sooner.
Also this week, I’ve worked on nonfiction. I’ve begun another blog
under a pen name over at Google, entitled Eyes on Life. It’s commentary about life on this planet. Related to the blog, I’m working on op-ed essays to submit to U.S. newspapers. Slipped in here and there, I’m working on my Mensa regular monthly essays and developing stand-alone essays.
How did I get so caught up in essays? Good grief. And I’m already encountering schedule problems. I could use about 36 hours in a day instead of 24.
Anyway, the job search led nowhere. Over thirty months and nothing. I decided to bite the writing bullet and return to freelance writing, but in a different way. For some time now I’ve dreamed of having my own newspaper commentary column. You know, like the ones in the op-ed pages. With the retirement of Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes, and then his death, I’ve felt a cosmic push to follow that dream. My approached is two-pronged: the Eyes on Life blog and writing op-ed pieces in the hope of snagging a column offer.
Following this column dream is a HUGE risk, of course. The way I look at it, though, the job hunt was a risk with absolutely no guarantee, and I think I have a better chance of success with my column dream. The Dooms have descended: is my writing good enough? Will anyone want to read my ideas? Why am I putting myself through this? What do I do if I fail? What do I do if I succeed?
As a professional writer, I’m used to dealing with The Dooms. In the past, I’ve worked at reasoning with the doubts and fears, or boxing them up and packing them away. I know what they’re about and their source. Recently, with the help of Harry Potter, I’ve realized that I need to use the fear, channel it into positive, constructive action. After all, there is a lot of energy associated with anxiety and fear.
One thing I have noticed since I started on this path: I’m happy. I’m no longer worried and obsessing about money or finding a suitable job. I should be worried about money, and it mystifies me that I’m not. But that’s OK. Now, I’ll have the energy to obsess about when I’ll finish which essay for which paper, blog posts and work on the Novel 2 revision….
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Posted in Fiction, Nonfiction, The Dooms, The Writing Life, Writing
Tagged andy rooney, commentary blog, commentary column, essays, Eyes on Life blog, fear, Fiction, nonfiction, novels, taking risks, The Dooms, Writing