Novel revision

My Goodreads.com buddy said, But what if you don't want to change the story, what if you want to remain loyal to your original premise or the characters/people you're writing about?

It's a dangerous thing, to want to control the show, if you ask me. I tend to follow the story and not try to remain loyal to what really happened. As someone who likes to base fiction on real life, for me, that's just a starting point. My original draft looks far different than what my 7th draft looks like. For me, this is a good thing.

I know authors, though, who say they don't put their projects through a zillion drafts, who say they work to get the sentence, paragraph, page perfect before moving on and then do minor revision. Interesting way to work, but it's not me.

Revision styles are as individual as voice. How do you revise? (Post here, for others to benefit from. I love getting your private emails, but then everyone here can't benefit....)

A question from a listener re: novels....

An email from a podcast listener (who gave me permission to post it here):

Barbara,

I discovered your podcast about a month ago and I have been listening to the old ones first. I am still in September but I am absolutely loving the show!! It is so refreshing to hear writers talk about their writing process. When I first thought about writing, I took up a conversation with a "writing" friend of mine. The friend said I needed to sit down and outline my story, define my characters and so on. The very process became frustrating such that I put my pen down for nearly three years. Then, I decided I would just sit and write--with no idea where the journey would take me--I found this process exciting and I could write and write and write. And now, after hearing some of your interviews, I find that I am not alone--many of your writers have said they use the same process--how exciting!!!

So, thank you. The interviews with agents has also been very illuminating. I am really getting excited about the novel writing process.

I have a question; From some of the interviews you've had with agents, I am thinking that it is possible to sell a novel without even having a completed book to show--is that true? In other words, I can write the query, maybe an outline and a few chapters. If this is true, and a sale is made, then how much time does the author have to produce the entire manuscript? And, is any money disbursed before the entire manuscript is delivered?

Thank you so much for the Podcast!

Rob Rainey

.....

Okay, an answer for you, Rob...
These days, even for most published novelists, partials are no longer possible. Just about all novelists I talk with must write the entire book and before submitting it to their agent. Nonfiction books are most always purchased without being finished, but with a book proposal. Even many memoirs. But novels, no. I wish! It's so hard to know how the writer will pull of the story and characters and ending, without reading it in full.

If any authors reading this have a different experience, please, post it here.

On vacation, you do little revising

Here's what I saw this morning at sunrise from my window.
We're at Mammoth Lakes with our inlaws (at their condo) and while my manuscript is here with me, I've done little with it other than think about it. How can you work when there is so much snow around you, calling you to go out into it? There is sledding, for one. And when you have a snowboarding boy who wants nothing more than to get up in the morning and go directly to the mountain, how can you say, "No. I have to work." You can't.

Although this morning, at--gulp--7:30, he went off with the inlaws to the mountain. I stayed behind at the condo, making a bean soup and doing some minor tasks in regards to revision. I brought a DVD with me: So, Is It Done?: Navigating the Revision Process, hosted by Janet Burroway. A few authors I like are on it--Rosellen Brown, Ron Carlson--and it will be interesting to hear what they have to say about revision (though, again, Carolyn See's method is tops, far as I'm concerned).

I do love the snow (as those closest to me are tired of hearing, I'm sure).

Revision part 2

I'm still at it, more than halfway through with step 2 of Carolyn See's method. I read through the entire manuscript and then started over, detailing each page. It can be painful, but as Carolyn told me the other day via email, it saves a lot of time and mess later.

I've been searching out various methods of revision, and so far Carolyn's is the best.

Revision, according to Carolyn See

No work on the book this weekend, but a firm resolution to begin today, and I did, amazingly.

First I outlined the rest of the chapters--21 through 30--on this roll of newsprint that Travis used to draw on I wrote down the major actions of the chapters.

Then I re-read the section in Carolyn See's book, Making a Literary Life, on writing--in particular, revision. I love that book and I love Carolyn.

I took notes, and I give them to you now, here:

1. Reread the entire mss., making only the most minor of changes. Read, don't edit. You have to know what you have before you can begin sculpting.

2. Read again. On second reading, make a list: What I have/What I need. This should run 10-20 pages for a novel.

*Work only 2 hours at a time. After 2 hours, it's all blather.*

3. The third step is to make a one sentence summary of each of your chapters. (See says her ideal novel is comprised of 12 chapters with 30 pages to each chapter, giving you 360 pages.)

4. Do another "What I have/what I need" list, which should look sweeter and more barren than the first time you did it.

Read it through a couple more times.

Yikes.

So I did my newsprint roll outline and began reading. It's good to not make changes yet, because I'd be crossing out all over the place.

But I do make notes. On the typewriter, I wrote: "Put more food in it." It is, after all, called Starletta's Kitchen. My son, who's been typing on the Hermes 2000 lately, laughed.