Project 2012: First Impressions

My manuscript is NOT crap. Or rather, the first 10% of it isn’t crap. This is a huge comfort as I dive into a long revision. I’ve worked very hard to get my first drafts up to a certain standard. I’ve done the revision read through on many of them and tried to begin chopping them apart and piecing them back together but all of the crap and all of the work involved outweighed my love for the story, or what the story could become. This time is going to be the right novel at the right time.

My writing is NOT pug-ugly. It’s readable and I’m not getting tripped up as often as in previous novels as I read through. Also, I know that I can fix the sentences and words and grammar way, way down the revision line. To get that far would be an accomplishment in itself.

Nobody  is doing what they’re told… because I never got their full story. I’m already aware of two major characters (one the antagonist, one a Very Important side-kick to the protagonist) who do not have the depth and motivation that they should. I’m quite keen to write some back story and some scenes from the POV of these other characters so they can be as fully developed as my protagonist.

I do have a plot. Some parts of the plot fade away mid-story. Other parts of the plot don’t have the oomph through the ending that they could. These are impressions I have from when I finished writing the novel in November and started the read through in January. I’m interested to see whether my recollection is the same as what comes out in my spreadsheet. I’m excited to see what I can make of all the plot threads and weave them closer together to make the climax and ending even stronger.

I’m feeling pretty good about this revision but if it takes me two weeks to read 10% then I might be at the read through for a long while! Now if I print my spreadsheet big enough to scribble on I’ll have plenty of time to read it on my flight from the UK to NZ (and back) at the end of the month.

Thanks to Merrilee’s post Dealing With Problems. Big Problems. When mired in the middle of a revision it’s so important to remember that original spark, or remember the shiny as I like to call it.