WIP update
Crossed 90k with the revisions phase of my WIP during the month of September. I am not focused on editing words (though obviously some of those are changing). I’m working on filling out story elements like characterization, sensory/setting details, tension and conflict arcs. Both the big external plot about magic and the smaller relationship plots between Luce, Caron, and Jace and these characters and antagonists. I’ve written several scenes that I hadn’t written during the first draft. Some were already noted with comments “need a scene here to do X.”
Since the first draft was “telling myself the story,” I’m not terribly disturbed that I have missing scenes. Sometimes I just skipped something that felt not ready yet in my head, letting my subconscious stew on it a bit longer, but I never got back to it because I got distracted by something outside of my writing. Others were discovered only now, as I’m reading through now that I know where it all ends up. I realize that I need to build the underpinning for a later development, or I should foreshadow something, or create a mirror of a scene I wrote later to deepen some emotion or tension.
The revision stage has also been an opportunity to see and understand some of the themes that the story has. Many developed organically from bits of dialogue or descriptions I wrote when “in the zone” of a writing sprint. Not being allowed to take back words I’ve written - I do not edit during a sprint - means I only get to look at some bits of prose long after the fact, separated from the euphoria of writing. While this can lead to groans - oh, my god, I really wrote that? - much more often I find an essential piece of character or situation has unconsciously made it to the page, and that essentialism is inescapable now, so I must develop it further, either there or elsewhere.
I have also been able to start things I want to “pull through” into book 2. Articulating that also lets me know which threads need to be finished, and which need to be only developed to a certain point, so that they are left to be carried over. It has further helped me shape exactly what part of the epic plot book 1 will be, and where book 2 will have to begin.
Autumn
Amazingly, autumn has arrived to Florida with actual autumnal temperatures. The humidity is lower than it has been in years past. And the average daily temperature is about 10 degrees cooler. This has allowed me to spend more time out of doors. I’m a bit of a sun-powered person and recharge best whenever I can combine down-time with sun-time. A walk in the mornings has always been a part of my day, but at the height of summer, it’s inadvisable to do any of that past about 11 a.m. in the morning.
My midday walks are back. Taking a lunch bag to my neighborhood park, I can look at the fallen leaves and the wildlife, and just, well, observe a bit of life. This opportunity to slow down and look at the world helps me figure out what makes a particular detail common or unique, try out descriptions, consider emotions. I can then apply that skill to my writing. So it’s timely that I’ve moved from draft writing to revision editing in my WIP.
Colorful details
In the same way that autumn creates piles of colorful leaves, working on descriptions is all about finding the unique details to add that make a beautiful, and complete, mosaic.
One way that I revise is adding sensory details. My natural first senses, probably like most writers is what can be seen and heard. A more complete picture happens when I add details of smell, touch, and taste where it will deepen the emotional resonance or the immersion in the story. Changing “brown” to “mahogany” for example relates something to the color of wood and adds nuance not only of its color (sight), but also of its implacability (hardness). Applied to eye color, for example, mahogany could add the layer that the POV person thinks they are being judged, not merely looked at. Conversely, if the “brown” is changed to “fawn” that’s implying a softness, a delicateness, or an innocence, perhaps, in the person being described.
Here’s one such piece I enhanced this past week, from the opening scene:
When he stepped close, she kissed his head. The natural scent of his body, though not quite as soothing as baby smell, steadied her.
“Are we going on vacation?” Jace asked.
“No. We’re moving.”
“Why? I didn’t mean to get suspended!”
“Just means we can get sooner where we’re going,” she said, trying to sound light with her forced smile.
“But my friends–”
She grasped his shoulder, squeezing it to keep her own hand steady. Jace looked from her hand to her face. At the tears in his fawn-colored eyes, she consciously gentled her tone. “Trust me that I’ll explain more once we’re safely away?”
After studying her face for a moment, he frowned but nodded.
Her throat loosened and Caron smiled, ruffling his tawny hair. Sincerely, she said, “I love you.”
“Love you, too, Mom.”
If you want to hear me reading this, head over to Lara Z Reads.