I’m at an interesting stage with my WiP.
I revised around two-thirds of the story after creating an excel spreadsheet with details of the changes needed to each scene. Then I read the revised chapters and realised before I continued, the characters needed to be deeper.
They were already demanding extra plot twists, telling me they wanted messier lives. I listened and for the second time with any manuscript, I allowed a little panstering. But after reading the revised scenes, I knew I had to do more before continuing my rewrites for the last third of the story.
I planned to put the WiP away and return to it later.
But my creative juices are flowing. I keep coming up with ideas for further revisions to certain scenes, and ideas for new scenes which will help my characters be more complex. I’m making notes about these further changes directly in the manuscript, at the various points these changes are needed.
None of these affect the main story, they just add layers to make that story a hell of a lot more interesting.
An earlier draft of this work had been assessed and I was told I focussed too much on nostalgia and not enough on plot. It was the advice I needed as I often felt the plot wasn’t perfect.
I started my revision using the Snowflake Method.
It’s my ‘go to’ now every time I start a new novel. It involves thinking of your characters in terms of what they want subconsciously, consciously, and what their epiphany will be — well it involves much more but that is an overview. What ends up happening is, even though you have a clear plot after starting with this process, you keep revising as you write. It’s both a satisfying and obsessive procedure.
My assessor’s other suggestion is also being realised.
She told me that while the overall question in this novel is whether Mae and Ken will get back together, it’s not the theme. All my other work has a theme, or a message I want to relay to my reader. Somehow, I overlooked it this time.
In the current draft it’s clear I’m just being nostalgic, a point highlighted in the final line of the piece. But my assessor suggested that perhaps the overriding theme is, ‘What is friendship?’ This idea was already weaved into certain parts of the story, but the changes my characters want for themselves examine this question further.
This manuscript will be put away at some stage.
My usual three month gap between completing this draft and returning to revise and edit will still take place. And after these revisions another three months will need to pass before I get to a stage where, while reading it fresh, I know little needs to be changed. That’s when it will be submitted to a publisher.
For the moment, I’m really enjoying putting my characters into dilemmas where they are being manipulated, or they question their desires, or believe they are helping a friend by sharing gossip. All those things which either build stronger relationships or diminish them.
And all for the cause of a good story with a message.
OTHER BLOGS ABOUT MY 90s PROJECT
Researching the Sydney Gay Scene of the 90s
I’m replacing an entire character
Starting a new novel
Writing about music without infringing copyright
kevin klehr 