Mary Kole on Revision

As I began  the revision process for my second middle-grade novel, I went hunting for advice on select agents' and editors' blogs. Mary Kole, associate agent with Andrea Brown Literary. Kole writes really good stuff on her kidlit.com blog site, including "Some Thoughts on Revision." You're not revising right now? You will, so I advise you to file this one away.

The Joy of Revision

The first draft is done. It's rough. It's supposed to be. It sits at sixty-three thousand words and 264 pages. Slogging through all those blank sheets of paper was the hard part.

I sit here rubbing my hands together at the prospect of the next step: revision. The framework is there. Now for the nuances, the character idiosyncrasies, the deepening of POV, the tears, the giggles, the snorts--the layers that breathe life into the story. Revision!

First Draft, DONE!

 

Sunday is my older grandson's birthday. To celebrate, I finished the first draft of my second middle-grade novel manuscript.

He stood at my elbow and looked expectantly at the computer screen. "So now you're done with it, Gran'ma?" I hated to burst his bubble, but I had to be honest.

"No, sweetheart. I'm just beginning."

"What do you mean? I thought you said it was done."

I explained that only the first draft--the raw writing of the thing--was done, that now came multiple revisions. "And I need to cut approximately five-thousand words."

"That sounds boring, Gran'ma," he said, as he walked out of the room. I decided not to overwhelm him by describing my search for an agent. After all, he's just turning eight. 

Happy birthday, Reuben!

Addendum:

No, that's not a picture of my typewriter. I use a computer (though much of my initial writing is done in a Moleskine notebook with a good-quality pen or mechanical pencil). I just love pictures of old typewriters and other "writerly" schtuff.