(I’m going to cheat and add some words…)
Today I’m feeling a bit like this squirrel sipping at a less-than-pristine pool: my YA revision process has suddenly turned murky. However, it’s what I’ve got to work with so I need to suck it up. (And maybe sometime soon, some kind being will clean and replenish my brain pan!)
Happy Solstice! Happy New Year! Happy Happy!
I’ve been hard at work on revisions and had The Plague for about ten days. I’m just now easing back into life. One good thing about being ill is I could keep a close eye on the feeders and bird bath, and so caught lots of fun activity. Here’s a finch-in-flight in front of a fellow finch.
Here’s a Northern Flicker:
This is our first winter with a heated bird bath and it was the best investment for our feathered friends, especially when temperatures were below zero early this week. I’m always so happy when someone drops by for a drink.
The other day I was working at the table next to the window overlooking the main feeder, the many finches, chickadees, juncos, etc. chirping away, when I became aware of SILENCE. I looked outside and there was not a bird to be seen. Not a one. I scanned the power lines for a predator, and finally located a hawk at the very top of our old maple tree at the other end of the yard. I was craning my neck for a better view when it took flight. Within a minute, birds began to reappear out of the plum bushes behind our fence, reminding me of the Munchkins in Oz.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are . . .”
Cross-posted from From the Mixed-Up Files . . . of Middle-Grade Authors
According to Thomas A. Edison, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
I’m not sure to what Mr. Edison was referring with that statement, but I do know much writer-ly advice disagrees with the sentiment. How many times have we heard that writers should stuff our unsold manuscripts beneath the bed and start something new? Fellow writers, agents, and editors caution against obsessing over one manuscript. They tell us to let go and move on. Give it up, already!
I wholeheartedly agree with that advice in regard to a first manuscript. And maybe even the second. Write those books, learn all you can in the process, test them in the market, and move on. In fact, I’ve pretty much subscribed to the Write Your Next Book approach since I began writing novels. I’d give the manuscript my best shot and then put it away to write another. In fact, I’ve been so concerned with writing the next book I have two drafted novels I haven’t looked at in a couple years; it’s as if I’ve convinced myself whenever I’m not creating brand new work I’m treading literary water.
But I’ve recently realized the Write Your Next Book advice doesn’t always ring true. I wrote and polished a book I love (my fifth) and while writing my next book (a story I was exceedingly excited about, one that’s high concept and has a bigger hook) received editorial input on that fifth book. Conventional wisdom says I should continue with the hook-y work in progress. Exploit the commercial potential and finish that shiny, new book!
Instead, I set it aside and went back to the old. Am I obsessed? Delusional? Clinging to the past? Maybe. But thanks to the editor’s comments I now understand where the story was lacking. I understand why readers weren’t connecting with the main friendship and why they didn’t believe the protagonist’s fear. And because I’ve written a whole bunch more since that fifth book went out, I have faith in my abilities to make the revisions work. I want the story to shine the way it always has in my head and heart. 
So I’m going to offer my advice:
That's my thinking, but I’d love to hear your take on all this. How do you know whether it’s time to move on or take a step back?
I’ve done my yoga,
shuttled children to school,
and consumed coffee and smoothie.
It’s time to tackle those pages.
image from morguefile.com
Most days the Dark-Eyed Juncos are chased from the feeders
by the other birds (mostly House Finches) but today the juncos
are holding their own.
I had great fun watching this one hop and dance about the tree
(I know it’s crazy but it seemed as if s/he was clogging).
© Tracy Abell 2012
And now I’m headed back into the revision cave although I’d prefer hanging out at the feeder. . .
Most days the Dark-Eyed Juncos are chased from the feeders
by the other birds (mostly House Finches) but today the juncos
are holding their own.
I had great fun watching this one hop and dance about the tree
(I know it's crazy but it seemed as if s/he was clogging).
© Tracy Abell 2012
And now I'm headed back into the revision cave although I'd prefer hanging out at the feeder. . .
I. Must. Stop. Looking. Out. The. Window.
© Tracy Abell 2012
Yes, there's blue sky and sunshine and oodles of birds and crazy squirrels . . .
But I have an opening chapter to rewrite. Again.
This second draft is giving me fits
and I'm suddenly the Queen of Procrastination
as I look for something, anything to do besides revise.
But my project is like this shark:
if I don't keep moving foward
there is a good chance the book will die.
image from morguefile.com
Must. Give. It. Oxygen.
1) I am ever so slowly making my way through the second draft of my middle-grade,
2) revising, rewording, reshaping, and re-visioning the story
3) that seemed so straight forward when it whispered in my ear, begging for attention,
4) but for some reason is now taunting me and laughing at my attempts to rein it in.
5) But the joke’s on my feisty muse because I WILL COMPLETE THIS SECOND DRAFT!
image from morguefile.com
May all you also prevail in your wrestling matches, literary or otherwise!
Have a grand weekend!
It's a whole new week filled with possibility.
I've got blue sky and sunshine outside, and a manuscript to revise.
Time to get to it.
How about you?
© Tracy Abell 2009
Wishing everyone a fabulous week!
