Thursday, December 15, 2011

Think, Think, Think


I wrote a novel earlier this year called House of Ivy and Sorrow. I'm quite fond of it, as are my crit partners who've read it, but there has always been an...issue.

That's the thing with first drafts, of course. They can't be perfect. I'm well aware. But the thing about this issue was that it was pretty important to the book, and I knew I hadn't hit the notes I wanted to. I knew there was something missing. I knew that the biggest revisions would be surrounding this one thing.

Problem was, I didn't actually know how to FIX it.

I could have gone in there and tinkered around, edited it a few times to see if I got closer. This time I didn't do that. House of Ivy, seven months later, is still essentially a first draft. I've cleaned up about 50 pages of it, but that's all before the Big Stuff that needs to change more drastically. For the first time in like...okay, ever...I just let the project sit, having faith that it would reveal itself eventually.

And it did! This month I've been thinking a lot about the book. Not making notes. Not rereading. Just thinking about it, about the issue, about all the different ways to fix it. Time is an amazing thing, because the perfect solution has presented itself, one I'm sure I wouldn't have thought of seven months ago.

I used to be afraid of time. If I let a project sit, the opportunities would pass me by. Or I wouldn't like it much when I came back. Or my voice would have changed too much to keep working on it. Well, I was wrong. My voice and writing always improves, but that's a good thing, and bringing that extra skill to a manuscript never hurts. When I take the time a book needs, I've never been disappointed by the results. Only when I've rushed have I found myself cursing hindsight.

I am SO excited about House of Ivy and Sorrow, especially now that I have those puzzle pieces I felt were missing before. I feel like I won't be going into the revision blind. I feel like I finally know how to make this book what I wanted it to be. And I'm so very glad I waited for that spark of inspiration, even if it took longer than usual to find.

12 comments:

  1. What a beautiful title! And I am glad you found out how to fix it. I am in the process of edits on a first draft and want to scream on daily basis. =P

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  2. First of all, I LOVE that title! Second of all, this makes me feel so much better. I recently finished my first novel and was having such a hard time revising, because I saw the problem but didn't know how to fix it. So just the other day I decided to let it sit while I work on something new, and that scares me. I mean, so much work went into that novel (two years of work, actually) and letting it sit feels like giving up. But you're right, sometimes letting it sit is the best thing for the story, and I hope that's right in my case too :)

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  3. A) You always win with Winnie the Pooh. :)

    B) Yay! I'm so glad it worked itself out, b/c I loved the snippet you posted. (And the title.)

    C) I've totally had this happen too, but stretched out. My first novel had so much going for it, but one big problem: no plot. Took me over a year, and LOTS of think think thinking, to figure out what that plot was supposed to be. (Now I've got it, but I'm still not ready to tackle the revision. For other, unrelated reasons.)

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  4. Sometimes, wait time is the perfect remedy: glad you found the missing pieces!

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  5. - This post couldn't have been more timely! I 'finished' a manuscript early last year and revised, revised, revised! Still, I felt I'd overlooked something, something REALLY IMPORTANT. I'm currently rereading it all the way through -without the critics yammering inside my head and without a red pen. Last night, a little nugget popped into my brain and I've thought about it nonstop today. I think it may be the answer for tying those lose ends together! Thanks for sharing your experience!

    I, too, love that title!

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  6. This is an excellent point, Natalie. I love the "thinking time" part of the revision process. It's fairly easy and painless--no mulling over word choice or wondering if this sentence belongs. You just ponder all the possibilities of the plot and shift things around in your brain. So simple, if you give yourself the time.

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  7. This was me with my first novel too. And letting it sit also helped me know how to fix it (though mine came in the form of a CP telling me the solution). Now I'm muck-deep in another book. I don't know if I'll ever go back (because it would be a complete replot and rewrite), but it's nice to know Pooh always knows best.

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  8. I know the feeling. I've been trying to figure out how to fix something in my WIP for a long time, and I think I just now figured out how to fix it! :) Also, that title is gorgeous!

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  9. This is great advice. Having patience in this business is essential, but getting it is not easily accomplished...at least it hasn't been for me. Thanks for sharing this. And I, too, love the title!

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  10. I so love it when that happens! I hope it goes well!

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  11. Great positive post! ... and great advice. Thank you SO much!

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  12. Great title! And a terrific post, Natalie!

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