The First 10,000 Words

I almost have 10,000 new words in my revised draft of my novel. Woo! I’m aiming for a total of around 80,000 words.

It feels like this has taken me such a long time after using routines, such as NaNoWriMo and the like, where I would crush thousands of words each day. But, this is a revision; this is a rewrite. I am making my book better and more effective. I am working with a writing routine that works for me and this book in its current form.

What have I found in this current 10,000 words? Well, it’s a completely different story from what it had been. My main character has a much stronger internal conflict, the backstory doesn’t need to be as obvious to understand her thought processes, and the antagonist is turning out to be more sympathetic in the beginning which is absolutely necessary for what I’m going for.

As I had mentioned previously, I am chopping half of the original plot because it was unnecessary and a bit confusing so I need to refill that wordcount eventually. By taking the time to completely re-write word-by-word I have been able to really assess which points are serving my novel and which aren’t. I’m immensely glad I’m doing it this way rather than flying through a revision by only doing surface level updates to realize later on that a vital theme didn’t make it through.

The first draft truly was telling myself the story. Themes and plots came up by the end that I knew were true for the whole thing and needed to be woven in from the beginning. The same was true for the beginning, things that I thought were brilliant from the beginning desperately needed to be changed as they didn’t make it to the end.

So far, I’m enjoying revision/re-writing. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite part. There’s something I just can’t let go about the visceral joy I have over creating something from absolutely nothing in the first draft.

Do you enjoy revisions? Have you tried a style of re-writes that you re-type everything?

Happy Writing!

Rachel