I’ll be honest, it’s super cool to be posting about revisions for REVERIE. I’ve spent years watching writers online lament their revisions, conspicuously mourning their success, gif’ing their way through the trials and tribulations of circling a deadline. The usual stricken glitter of writers on the internet.
All that’s fine. I like when people are super public about their process, even if it activated a lot of my envy. That’s mostly what I was seeking, anyway; a glimpse into The Life I wanted.
Anyhow, now I’m one of those people posting about their revisions. Being conspicuous. Stricken and glittering. But I’m not going to use gifs, and I’m not going to lament. In fact…I’m not feeling any of the dread I thought I’d be feeling at this point. I feel…ready? I don’t know. Not ready in a ‘I’ve earned this,’ sort of way. Ready in a ‘I am prepared for this,’ sort of way. Like a boy scout. But with less khaki and a nicer ascot.
Wearing an ascot was my favorite part of boy scouts.
Truthfully, I’ve been ready to revise REVERIE since before it sold. I went on sub RIGHT AWAY with REVERIE when I signed with my agent, largely because I was already talking to editors. As a result, I didn’t get that grace period with my agent to work out some of the book’s rougher bits. I still knew about them. I still wanted to work through them. I knew I needed to revise, but I didn’t have time and, truthfully, I didn’t have the distance.
Now I do. I’ve spent about half a year pondering what I’d direction I’d like to go with this book, and I’ve come up with a plan that I love. I’ve got the summer to get it done, and I know I can do it because I know what I’m doing. This doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. I’m not dumb. It just means I know it’s possible and I have the means to do it without making myself sick.
At some point I’ll post more about the anatomy of this revision, mostly because I want to record my method and then do some comparison, and maybe even it’ll help people. It’s really nothing novel (ha!). I’ll also keep working on the DIY Digital Resources this summer, but those’ll be less frequent now that I have a ~*~*~ DEADLINE *~*~*.
Mostly, I’m going to keep glowing with excitement that I’ve got a deadline. I know I’m suppose to dread it, but right now everything still feels electric and cool. Fault me for me naivete later. I know that dread is coming my way.
But I’m not posting any stupid gifs.