No wonder Heno and I can’t sleep tonight. Full moon. The nights of fanged vampires, furry-skinned werewolves, and itchy penned writers with their canine friends.
Having missed my commitment to a Saturday posting, I can publish this blog entry by 5:00 a.m. Hawaii readers will think I posted late last night?
I spent Friday-Saturday on a marathon revision act– scouring my manuscript with Pinesol and 3M scratchpad. (The pun between scouring sponge and note pad was unintentional, but I’m keeping it as is.) A workbook exercise had suggested reading all the first paragraphs– checking for dramatic beginnings. Having copied and pasted all 61 micros, I read them with horror. (Drama queen comments okay– it’s a full moon!) Three were set to go; 10-12 were almost within grasp of the high bar; the remainder… “Oh, God of Creativity, please pay us a visit!”
My beginnings read like condensed versions of Charles Dicken’s openings. As Harper commented to their grandmother Nikki, “Bor-r-ring…”
So Revision #7 was all about “starting with action.”
And so it goes. My coach Darien chuckled when she commented that her novels typically involve some 20 revisions. On that comment a month ago, I choked. Today, I’m wondering how many revisions past 2-0. Will I finally arrive at “Done?” Or will I inevitably surrender with The Stones to “I can’t get no– satisfaction?”
