Well, this is quite a break that I took from this whole documenting my How to Revise Your Novel Course. Not that I have quit revising, no, I revised. And now I am almost done with the thing. Or at least with typing up all those revisions.
At times it was damn hard, and I had to put the whole thing aside and take a break but I got to the end (almost). So now I have decided to take my ramblings about the book, the publishing process and so on to my other, new, personal blog. It's at http://vannasmythe.blogspot.com/ and everyone is very welcome to visit. I will mainly be discussing my emerging Donning of the Veil Series, of which I have just (kind of) finished the first book-Protector. So see you there!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
How to Revise Your Novel-How Far I Have Come
I am (and have been for the past week and more) finally starting to actually revise my novel. I abandoned this blog for awhile as I waded through weeks 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. But I am now starting the cut of the novel, I am now starting to write the novel I had wanted to write when I first sat down to write it, and I am scared.
Yes, I am scared. I creep along and suddenly have all these other more pressing commitments to attend to and errands to run. But I also have a fantastic overview of the whole novel as a result of taking this course. I know what I want to happen, I know who I want my characters to be and I am bringing them out slowly and step by step, as it is supposed to be. So yes, I love this course, I highly recommend it and there is no way that I would ever be able to have such a complete and through view of my own work. But obviously, I have yet to see if the course will help me get this book published ;)
Yes, I am scared. I creep along and suddenly have all these other more pressing commitments to attend to and errands to run. But I also have a fantastic overview of the whole novel as a result of taking this course. I know what I want to happen, I know who I want my characters to be and I am bringing them out slowly and step by step, as it is supposed to be. So yes, I love this course, I highly recommend it and there is no way that I would ever be able to have such a complete and through view of my own work. But obviously, I have yet to see if the course will help me get this book published ;)
Sunday, March 20, 2011
HTRYN Week 7 Finshed
I've been MIA from this blog for quite a while now, I know. Been busy with other things, which includes revising my novel. And Week 7 of the How to Revise Your Novel course was absolute hell. But I got though it (it took me about a month, though) and I think my final book, or series, rather, will be a lot better for having suffered so.
Generally I am of the opinion that anything good is worth fighting for, though in practice I tend to err on the path of least resistance. And then things like Week 7 remind me of the fact that "No Pain No Gain" is a very true saying.
Anyway, I am breezing thorough the rest of the course now, and will update the blog with my progress soon.
Generally I am of the opinion that anything good is worth fighting for, though in practice I tend to err on the path of least resistance. And then things like Week 7 remind me of the fact that "No Pain No Gain" is a very true saying.
Anyway, I am breezing thorough the rest of the course now, and will update the blog with my progress soon.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
HTRYN Week 7 Update and Free Gift
I am about halfway through week 7 of the How to Revise Your Novel course. I've had a pretty busy couple of weeks and a bit of a hard time getting started on this lesson. It has to do with my chronic February tiredness I think. I go through it every year since more or less forever.
Anyway this is just a little update, and I'll do a full round-up and overview of HTRYN Week 7 when I am done with it. I must just say that I am, as a result of all this dissecting of my manuscript getting to know the story very, very well. I am also falling in love with it all over again.
Oh, and Holly Lisle has recently announced that she will be offering her new course How to Write a Series as a free graduation gift for all How To Revise Your Novel students. So if you're on the fence about whether to take the course, consider this great news and factor into your decision making process. And if you get HTRYN through one of my links, you get the added bonus of a 10% discount!
Anyway this is just a little update, and I'll do a full round-up and overview of HTRYN Week 7 when I am done with it. I must just say that I am, as a result of all this dissecting of my manuscript getting to know the story very, very well. I am also falling in love with it all over again.
Oh, and Holly Lisle has recently announced that she will be offering her new course How to Write a Series as a free graduation gift for all How To Revise Your Novel students. So if you're on the fence about whether to take the course, consider this great news and factor into your decision making process. And if you get HTRYN through one of my links, you get the added bonus of a 10% discount!
Monday, January 31, 2011
HTRYN Week 6 Finished
Alright, finally, I am done with this part! It actually took me 2 weeks, and I worked almost all day yesterday, but I now have detailed info on all the characters that appear in the book. Even those little characters that just open a door for one of the main character. And, like, random people that the characters notice passing by in the street. Well, OK, no, not that detailed. (I luckily don't have any such characters because otherwise I would have to make not of them). Yup, I was going kind of crazy doing this part of the How to Revise Your Novel course. But it's done now and I sure as **** hope that it comes in handy down the line, once the real part of the revision starts. (Note: the first few weeks are just diagnosing the different elements of the manuscript/first draft and seeing it for what it is.)
Week 6, or Lesson 6 of the How to Revise Your Novel course is all about answering the following questions:
And believe me, it is hard work! It also gets quite tedious after awhile. But I also desperately needed this lesson. My characters, especially my main character, are just all over the place, as in cold and unfeeling one minute, and seething with teenage giddiness the next (and I'm not writing YA, nor is my story set in a high school). And many such similar problems. So I desperately needed this lesson, but I think I might have over done it, or done it not quite the way I was supposed to. But, be that as it may, I do now have a much clearer understanding as to the progression of each of the main characters in my novel. And many ideas on how to make it work better in the story.
And now I am off to start Week 7. I'm still going through the instructions, but it already looks like a lot of work. I am really looking forward to it, though!
Week 6, or Lesson 6 of the How to Revise Your Novel course is all about answering the following questions:
- Who is each character?
- Why is he/she in the book?
- Is he/she Main, Secondary, Stand-in, or Redundant?
- Should you keep them, make them work harder...or delete them?
- How does he/she matter?
- How can you get readers to relate to them... the way you WANT them to?
And believe me, it is hard work! It also gets quite tedious after awhile. But I also desperately needed this lesson. My characters, especially my main character, are just all over the place, as in cold and unfeeling one minute, and seething with teenage giddiness the next (and I'm not writing YA, nor is my story set in a high school). And many such similar problems. So I desperately needed this lesson, but I think I might have over done it, or done it not quite the way I was supposed to. But, be that as it may, I do now have a much clearer understanding as to the progression of each of the main characters in my novel. And many ideas on how to make it work better in the story.
And now I am off to start Week 7. I'm still going through the instructions, but it already looks like a lot of work. I am really looking forward to it, though!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
HTRYN Week 5 Finshed
I have not been updating is blog very much in the past couple of weeks, I know, but I have been editing. I finished Week 5 the previous Sunday and started Week 6 on Monday. but I have not gotten very far with it. I really should spend the entire day today working on it, but I am not so sure that I will. I tend to procrastinate in this way and I have had a headache for the past couple of days, not a bad one just an annoying one.
Anyway, Week 5 of the How to Revise Your Novel course is all about conflict. I had to find all the major conflicts in my novel and decide whether they were deep enough, good enough, barely there, or non-existent. I also had to focus on whether the conflicts were resolved and whether they even matter to the story. And CONFLICT doesn't simply mean two people arguing either. And I did notice that I tend to understand conflict as two people arguing, or that's how I end up writing it, anyway. Though I do have the other type of conflict, the more subtle one of the "something standing in the way of what someone wants" kind.
But my book is, in so many ways, a first draft and all that it entails. I did not develop the main idea fully, I left a whole bunch of important things out and I will have to rewrite and add a lot. But at least now I have this HTRYN blueprint on how to go about finding problems. In other words, I have an entire editing plan.
The way the HTRYN course is set up, is that it breaks up the novel into manageable parts based on each important element. in this way you are not faced with a daunting task of editing the entire novel all at once, since you get to focus on only small parts of it. And eventually, by the end of the course everything gets put together. I really can't recommend it enough!
Anyway, Week 5 of the How to Revise Your Novel course is all about conflict. I had to find all the major conflicts in my novel and decide whether they were deep enough, good enough, barely there, or non-existent. I also had to focus on whether the conflicts were resolved and whether they even matter to the story. And CONFLICT doesn't simply mean two people arguing either. And I did notice that I tend to understand conflict as two people arguing, or that's how I end up writing it, anyway. Though I do have the other type of conflict, the more subtle one of the "something standing in the way of what someone wants" kind.
But my book is, in so many ways, a first draft and all that it entails. I did not develop the main idea fully, I left a whole bunch of important things out and I will have to rewrite and add a lot. But at least now I have this HTRYN blueprint on how to go about finding problems. In other words, I have an entire editing plan.
The way the HTRYN course is set up, is that it breaks up the novel into manageable parts based on each important element. in this way you are not faced with a daunting task of editing the entire novel all at once, since you get to focus on only small parts of it. And eventually, by the end of the course everything gets put together. I really can't recommend it enough!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
HTRYN Week 4 Finished
I am officially done with Week 4 and have already started with Week 5, but that's a post for another day. Week 3 of How to Revise Your Novel is all about identifying the Plot and various Subplot, as well as the possible NotPlots. I tried my best, but am still having a bit of a problem wrapping my mind around how the concept of plot applies to my novel. Could be just that I am not thinking hard enough about it though. I also have a tendency of wrapping several subplots in with the main plot in most scenes. But I must say that the theory that Holly Lisle teaches is helping me to slowly unravel and get to the heart of what the important elements of each scene, as well as the novel as a whole are.
The other problem that I am facing, as I go through the novel is that it is only part 1 or 2. As such, there are a lot of things hinted at, but not followed through on. I also think that this revision might entail writing the second part as well, and possibly combining the two into one. But I'm still trying to not get ahead of myself.
I also might have breezed through Week 3 a bit to hastily and as a result have not really completed that task as I should have. But I'm not doing it over. And I sincerely hope that it doesn't become a problem down the road.
The other problem that I am facing, as I go through the novel is that it is only part 1 or 2. As such, there are a lot of things hinted at, but not followed through on. I also think that this revision might entail writing the second part as well, and possibly combining the two into one. But I'm still trying to not get ahead of myself.
I also might have breezed through Week 3 a bit to hastily and as a result have not really completed that task as I should have. But I'm not doing it over. And I sincerely hope that it doesn't become a problem down the road.
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