Thursday, September 10, 2009

More Revision Thoughts and Apple Cobbler

Southern Apple Cobbler

It’s Thursday! Today’s Heart Attack on a Plate is sponsored by “Southern Apple Cobbler.” Want to know how much sugar is in this recipe? Pop on over and find out! :)

Revision Notes:

So I’m working on this manuscript that I haven’t worked on since March. I did a quick read-through and didn’t micro-edit at all. My writing friend Jane Kennedy Sutton recommended I treat it as if it weren’t my manuscript. I did that, and it worked beautifully.

During my quick read-through to reacquaint myself with the manuscript, I marked scenes with a simple “weak, good, strong.” If I saw a real problem, I highlighted it in the Word program.

The second go-round:

I went back to the scenes I’d marked as weak and rewrote them. I kept my only vague impression of the old scene…I didn’t re-read it. That way, I had the gist of the scene but rewrote it in a fresh way.

I made notes for additions I’d like to make. New scenes, new subplots.

I realized I needed 20 more pages. I made some quick notes on areas that needed fluffing out.

I still haven’t micro-edited for punctuation, typos, etc. I don’t see any reason to until I’ve put the additional scenes in. Otherwise, I have to do it twice.

Yesterday’s schedule approach for the stay-at-home writer? I did hard writing first (tough revision, scene rewriting, new scenes). Then I did housework. I never did make it to the grocery store. Pros—I felt like I’d accomplished a lot with my writing. Cons-- But I felt like I’d dropped the ball on other things. Oh….how long was this laundry in the washer? Oops. Supper planned? Oops. So far I like Tuesday’s approach of putting pressing household matters first before writing. Tomorrow I’m going to try to meld the two and see how that goes. It seems like that would work out best---but then I’m not doing either one 100% well.