After months of waiting, I received my edit letter for FLASHFALL. Since then, Iâve been fully immersed in the Revision Cave. And since my book is about caving, this is more than a metaphor for meâI have literally been down some freakish caverns for the past few weeks!

My FLASHFALL manuscript in the midst of structural revisions. Sticky-notes in the pile are completed edits!
Iâm currently a week from deadline, (and ironically Iâm in my pajamas, messy hair in a bun, sitting beside a bag of chocolateâthe author deadline clichĂ©) but thought Iâd post a glimpse of what this stage of the revision process looks like. (Ignore the piles of laundry and the fast food bags littering the cave–no judgment during deadline week.)
Every writer has a different process, and mine looks different depending on what stage of revisions Iâm in. Since these are first round edits, they are more big idea, structural revisions. Some deal with plot points, shaping and pacing suggestions, and character and world-building development. My edit letter was seven pages long, and I took each one of Kateâs questions/thoughts and printed it on a card that then went on the Revision Board. This helps me keep my revision goals clear as I work through the manuscript and make sure to address each one.

My edit letter broken down and organized according to things I need to cut, add, develop, or change
At this stage, there is a lot of what my agent calls âthe thinking part of writing.â When you remove a character or scenes, you have to work through how youâre going to âre-connect the dotsâ plot-wise and in terms of a characterâs arc. I like to explore a lot of this on paper (on a printed manuscript and with tons of sticky-notes) before I alter the actual manuscript on my laptop. Some writers are already working in Track Changes (Microsoft Word) with their editors at this point. I have only experienced that with line edits, and this process works well for me.
After this, Iâll have a second round of revisions to make, followed by line edits, then eventually copyedits. During that time, Iâll probably start seeing some cover designs (EEEE!!) and Iâll continue to work steadily on BOOK TWO. More about all that as the process unfolds . . .
If any of you are in Revision Caves of your own, hang in there! Itâs daunting at times, but Iâve found that if you take it note by note, it feels less overwhelming. When I started a few weeks ago, I had over 200 post-it notes stuck to my manuscript and Revision Board. I pulled the last one off yesterday. It was an incredible feeling. But honestly, the best feeling is reading over a new scene that wasn’t there before and feeling the magic in the words, and knowing you were pushed to write something better, with more depth than you had originally.
It’s all worth it. That’s my mantra during revisions. That, and–if you just finish one more you can have a piece of chocolate.
If you need some encouragement, come say âhiâ on Twitter. You donât have to be alone in the Cave. I have lots of chocolate in my little corner over here, and I totally share.
Happy writing!
To see a video of me in this process, click here.
Like this:
Like Loading...