Revisions, revisions

I made it through the read-through of my novel, and at first I felt really overwhelmed by the revision process because I’ve never revised a novel before and it’s quite daunting. I still feel somewhat overwhelmed, but I also have a lot of ideas for new twists to try with the plot, developing my characters more, and overall rounding out the book better. The good news is that I do like it, and I think it’s fairly entertaining (but I’m still going to raise the stakes and focus in on the characters emotional journey’s a lot more). Something about my main character Fern’s voice has always been super clear to me, and I genuinely like her as a character, so that really helps. I think if I didn’t have that, I would feel a whole lot more lost right now.

I thought I could share some of the resources that have been helping me with this revision so far. Firstly, Alice Kuipers book Spark has been hugely helpful for me not only in the revision stage, but also last winter when I was starting to think about writing for kids and teens. I randomly saw the book in one of my favorite bookstores in Santa Fe and bought it, and it pretty much launched me onto the journey of writing picture books and middle grade. The book covers all the details of writing for kids and young adults, and offers resources for further learning. In her chapter on revision, she shares some questions that she thinks about as she reads through her first draft - questions that have been helpful for me in figuring out how to start with revising. Just a few good ones are: “What is a reader looking to find out by reading this? One chapter in, is enough happening? Narrative Arc - has the character found what they want?” She also has a great breakdown of what to look for with line editing, which I will definitely be using when I get to that step.

Alice recommends a website called Writing the Other that offers classes and resources about bringing diversity into books, especially if you’re writing from a life experience that you don’t share. Taking some of their classes is high on my list to do during this revision.

I also stumbled across a writer and writing teacher named Lauren Kay on Instagram, and she has a ton of really useful free resources on her website here. I’m using her character interview worksheet to help me flesh out my characters, because right now the only character that I feel really strongly about in my book is Fern, and the rest feel sort of one-dimensional to me. Lauren Kay also has worksheets for figuring out your plot points to keep readers engaged, pacing worksheets for revising, and all kinds of other ones that I haven’t looked at yet.

I’ve still been able to access the recordings for the SCBWI conference I did in July, and I’ve been trying to watch as many as I can before they take them down in the middle of September. Last night I watched a presentation that the author Elana K Arnold gave about connecting with your characters (just what I needed!). It was super useful and interesting and she shared some of the essential questions that she asks about her characters in every scene, not just the story as a whole.

What do they love?

What do they hate?

What do they fear?

What do they want?

What do they want to avoid?

Elana also highlighted the importance of embodying your characters, or in other words bringing their bodies onto the page to make them more real. She had a really excellent example from one of her books of two little sisters squatting next to each other and eating. One sister nibbles her bread and the other sister “is not a nibbler” as Elana said. Squatting and nibbling are such great descriptors that can give an immediate sense of the character. She also talked about the concept of “psychic distance,” which is a term another author came up with to describe how close you feel to a characters experience. I wish I had written down the examples she shared, but basically it’s the difference between writing “In the winter of 1860 a man stood in his doorway” to “Henry hated the cold, stinging wind that winter brought.” So this is something that I will be looking for as I revise the draft, too.

Elana shared that instead of asking herself if she likes her book or if it’s good or bad, she asks herself if she is “satisfied.” Currently, I am not satisfied with my book for several reasons, but I like that way of thinking about it. I plan to go through each chapter, asking myself these questions that I’ve shared and investigating whether I’m satisfied as a whole. She also shared that she feels like she has a novel when the has three different ideas that she can weave together into a book. I was thinking about this and trying to figure out what my three different things are that make my book, and I think they are: 1. Celtic magic and myths, 2. Grief and feeling your feelings, and 3. Being vulnerable in relationships to build family. I didn’t always feel that clear on what the point of my book was as I was writing the first draft, so one of my goals with the second draft is to really hone in on that.

Maybe at some point in the revision process I will share a look at first draft pages and how I’ve edited them into the second draft, if that seems interesting to anyone on this journey with me!