WABWM: The Chapters I Didn’t Write?!

8:15 AM

Current Progress on the revision.

I’m making better progress than this looks like, because what I’m doing now is the full revision including write-in.

I hit a wall, you see. In chapter Eight, I wrote what is going to HAVE to be Chapters 9 and Chapters 10 in three sentences.

At the time, I thought those three sentences were sufficient.

I remember writing the sentences. Being thrilled at the vast panorama of story they unlocked, at the complete intensification of direction and purpose and twist and meaning they handed to me, and the whole thing rolled out in my head, beautiful and perfect and amazing.

Yesterday, I looked through the manuscript for all that amazing stuff that was still in my head. I thought maybe I’d accidentally deleted the chapter that contained it, so I went through Time Machine, all the way back to the day I wrote those three sentences, (or at least the first day saved that included them) and…

…you guessed it. The chapter—chapters—only existed in my head. So I have to write it for real now, and I can’t move on with the revision until I have those chapters down, because they are the core of this book.

So I’m doing the full revision through Chapter 8, and when I get through it, I’m going to do the same sort of modified revision all the way to the end. This is not a wrecked book, (quiet cheer on that). I think I’m actually picking up time versus the initial method I’d planned.

Any time I get on the end is time my editor can use, that I can use, that my ARC readers can use.

So. Onward.

Kick ass on your words. ๐Ÿ˜€

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2 responses to “WABWM: The Chapters I Didn’t Write?!”

  1. SharonW Avatar

    Holly, it must be frustrating to realize part of the story isn’t there yet, but great to know how it has to go. And congratulations on picking up time!

    And here in the wilds of New Jersey, I’m working on asskicking – 746 fresh-baked words today.

  2. Lee Avatar
    Lee

    How many times have I set down to do some work on what I’d already written–genius material I’d already written–only to discover I thought I’d written it but hadn’t?

    Well, okay, that happens every time I’ve written, but, never mind. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Goal today was: 250 words because my arms were too tired to aim high.

    Actual word count: 1,352 words because I heard something today on the radio that set off a chain reaction in my head and I pulled off the road to catch it all on the voice recorder app on my phone before I forgot it all. Then I transcribed the note as soon as I got home. The more I work on developing this story, the more depth it takes on and the more threads appear. As someone who was a poet first and a prose writer second, I’m fascinated by this sustained effort and its results. ๐Ÿ™‚

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