Over the last thirty years, I’ve gotten really efficient at revisions. I have my simple, streamlined system, I go through once, I go through fast…
And all that shit broke down with THIS book, because I wrote the wrong novel.
I got sidetracked by a character who is wrong for the book, wrong for the world, wrong for the worldbuilding, wrong for the plot… and very, VERY wrong for the future of the series.
Worse, I centered the novel around that character.
This isn’t case of removing some ancillary stuff. This is a case of saving what can be saved (IF I’M LUCKY, about a third of the manuscript), totally replotting new story into the places where the old story was, and tying what I can save in with the new stuff smoothly.
Done for the day, but today was progress by inches.
Ooof, this sounds a little bit like she-who-shall-not-be-named … the, what was it, FBI agent? From… World Gates? I just turned 50 and my memory is worse than ever!
Ah, yes. A previous book-wrecking nightmare. Yeah, this is that. And I’d say your memory is hanging in pretty well.
Every once in a while, these damn people show up in the story, looking all fantastic and wonderful. And then wrecking everything they touch.
And the options are kill ’em or delete ’em and write something new.
I’m taking option number two.