This is a good thing, right? I’m revising my novel, and working hard on it! But I feel guilty about neglecting my blog. That’s not a good thing.
So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to stop feeling guilty! And I’m going to share with you some things I’ve learned while revising.
1. Set a timer! I got strict orders from my physical therapist not to sit for more than twenty minutes at a time. (Herniated disc in my lower back. Sitting compresses it, makes it hurt like hell.) It turned out that setting that timer was not only good for my back (that and the P.T. have made it much better), it was good for the writing. The twenty minutes was like a MINI BUBBLE! Those twenty minutes go so fast that every time I set the timer I knew I had to concentrate and work hard because soon it would be time to get up and walk around the room, stretch, etc. I am going to keep this practice going, though with Gurjeet’s permission I might expand it to 30 minutes. Try it–a MINI BUBBLE!
2. CUT is NOT a four-letter word! My editor told me, very kindly, that I was too wordy in my first draft. Who me? So she asked me to cut way back–mostly in cases where I said something once and then said it again two more times. Who me? She estimated that I might cut 50 to 75 pages that way. Ever an over-achiever, I cut about 100 pages! O.K., some of it may go back, and I also did add some pages when I wrote new scenes, but I really didn’t mind it at all because…..
3. Save what you cut. Not just for the obvious reason, that you might want to use it again either there or somewhere else, but because if you know you are saving it you will be more ruthless in your cutting. It’s sort of like cleaning out your closet, putting those old clothes you never wear in a bag and then putting the bag in the basement or storage unit or in the corner of the living room until you are ready to take it to the Salvation Army or wherever. You almost never go into those bags again, but knowing you could makes you get rid of that pant suit you last wore in 1995. (This is true. I wore it to my husband’s Pulitzer Prize ceremony. It took me this long to give it away. Nobody, I mean NOBODY say I shouldn’t have done it or you will set me back years in my novel as I search the city for it.)
4. Let it cool. I know that whenever I am away from my manuscript, I come back to it with fresher eyes. So I try to let it cool for a few days or even longer. I asked my friend Sarah Darer Littman how long she lets her novels cool (I asked this on Twitter) and she tweeted back:
As long as possible. Seriously, after a wk, I see some stuff but after 3+ I see MUCH more. Eyes fresher.Depends on ur deadlines.
So I’m trying to let it cool for as long as possible. Which explains my presence here. It also explains my presence under the bathroom sink cleaning out that cupboard that is full of old hair dryers, electric toothbrushes you bought and never used and now have rotted in ways that might make them lethal weapons, dop kits encrusted with soap grime, old medical tests you were supposed to do and didn’t–oh, wait, not everyone has a cupboard like that? My bad.
Maybe I should go update my web site. I swear my kids are not in elementary school any more.
The post Where Have I Been? Revising. A Few Things I learned. appeared first on Deborah Heiligman.
