Writing and Stuff

The original and first drafts. (see previous post) As I say there - if you're curious and just want to read it, I suggest you read the next post, not this one; if you then are still curious, and crazy, and have way too much time on your hand, take a peak at the earlier versions. They're not different enough to be truly rewarding, but I at least am finding it interesting...and it's my journal, so that means you're all stuck with it, too. ;)

( The Original Version )
( The Version in the Finished First Draft )

I started revising the novel about two days after I finished it, which means I've been working on it for a couple of weeks now. I've done editing before, including damn serious revision, but it's always been for work, and I've never tackled anything quite like this before. I've done about a quarter of the novel already, and I'm especially editing for length - pretty successfully so far, I've cut just under 7,000 words, including pretty much one entire chapter, and I've moved around some other chapters.

I just realized...that I should be careful about spoilers, since I really do intend to try to publish this damn thing someday, which means some of you might actually end up reading it...so be warned, some of the mystery might go out if you read things like this post... :)
( Read more... )
Well, the above ended up being a long, rambling, mostly for my own benefit description of the challenges and concerns I've been wrestling with in my book. I've probably bored anyone who has bothered to read it to tears by now, but if it's any comfort, I've found the writing of it to actually be really helpful in some important ways. The key thing I've learned about revision:- keeping all of the different things that are important in the novel in my head is really, really hard, and putting some of it down in writing...helps. I'll have to keep doing this. Sorry in advance, everyone. ;)