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kateelliottThanks to all for the congrats in the previous post announcing that Cold Fire (Draft Two) has gone to the editors, from whence it will emerge with editorial revision requests.
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twinsuns asks: I'm curious about how much normally changes after the editors look at a draft. I guess it depends on each individual story and whether it's the first of a series, or a sequel? For example, do you think a debut novelist would need to implement many more changes to satisfy the editors? Or if the author is able to really justify why they've written something a certain way, it doesn't matter?
Cold Magic was my 19th novel (I think). I was working with an editor who was new to me, as it were, and she asked for a lot of changes, clarifications, cuts, etc. I think her initial editorial letter was, like, 6 pages single spaced. This was followed up by a 2.5 page single spaced letter that started with the comment on the lines of "all those changes you made were great and the book is fabulous. Now here is some other stuff . . ."
So while there are experienced writers who can turn in publishing ready drafts, I'm not one of them and I never have been. I need a lot of drafts, I need breaks (however brief) between drafts, and I prefer a fair amount of feedback. That's just my way. I guess one might say I need distance (of whatever kind) and re-visioning (ability to look at it from another angle or with "other" eyes).
With Cold Fire I am not sure what to expect.
One reason I love turning in a Draft Whatever to the editor is that for a few days/weeks/whatever I can clear my brain of the idea that I'm working on book that has to be turned in to an editor. I don't know why this matters, but somehow it does.
My goal for a draft that goes to an editor is that I turn in a solid, strong draft that has a few things I'm still mulling over to deal with. Sometimes I'm just not ready to deal with those things. I might need to do a little more research or I just want a few days off to rest.
Or I might need a week or two weeks' distance so I can do another cycle of trimming and cutting, or so I can go through chapter 25 ONE MORE TIME to sharpen the three major conversations into the proper layers to drive forward into the second half of the book. As a for instance, chapter 25 is what I call a "turnover" chapter -- not as in something to eat, although now that I think about it, food is involved in this scene in an important way -- but because the book is moving with a certain kind of focus and direction and then something is introduced that is going to shake down all the way to the roots of the plot at this point. In other books, I sometimes have a reversal or twist as a turnover chapter -- in Cold Magic, the turnover happens right around page 200; in the Sword of Heaven duology there is a midpoint emotional crisis that is the turnover (and which also involves sex! what could be better!)
The draft of Cold Fire I have just turned in to my editor I'm calling Draft Two, but in fact some parts of the book have been rewritten many more times than that, while the final chapter is raw first draft (and my raw first draft is not pretty, let me assure you).
I have a couple of things I already know I will be working on for what I'm calling Draft Three. There's a creole that I have to entirely rewrite (the version I'm using now is a "placeholder") and I need to cut more, as always, and there is some detail work I need to get more precise on. Also, as I just said, the last chapter is more like the Cliff Notes version; plus the second to last chapter, the climax, needs another draft, but I wanted to get it in to the editor at this point.
Now is my time to need my distance and my break, even though I have a hard copy of the current draft sitting next to me and I STROKE IT SOMETIMES just for the pleasure of doing so.
So, peoples, make my day: what is your revision process?
(if you have questions, ask them; I'm in an unusual situation now where I have some time to answer questions if there are any, and I'm thinking of trying to get through some backlog of questions/postings over the next week or two)
twinsuns asks: I'm curious about how much normally changes after the editors look at a draft. I guess it depends on each individual story and whether it's the first of a series, or a sequel? For example, do you think a debut novelist would need to implement many more changes to satisfy the editors? Or if the author is able to really justify why they've written something a certain way, it doesn't matter? Cold Magic was my 19th novel (I think). I was working with an editor who was new to me, as it were, and she asked for a lot of changes, clarifications, cuts, etc. I think her initial editorial letter was, like, 6 pages single spaced. This was followed up by a 2.5 page single spaced letter that started with the comment on the lines of "all those changes you made were great and the book is fabulous. Now here is some other stuff . . ."
So while there are experienced writers who can turn in publishing ready drafts, I'm not one of them and I never have been. I need a lot of drafts, I need breaks (however brief) between drafts, and I prefer a fair amount of feedback. That's just my way. I guess one might say I need distance (of whatever kind) and re-visioning (ability to look at it from another angle or with "other" eyes).
With Cold Fire I am not sure what to expect.
One reason I love turning in a Draft Whatever to the editor is that for a few days/weeks/whatever I can clear my brain of the idea that I'm working on book that has to be turned in to an editor. I don't know why this matters, but somehow it does.
My goal for a draft that goes to an editor is that I turn in a solid, strong draft that has a few things I'm still mulling over to deal with. Sometimes I'm just not ready to deal with those things. I might need to do a little more research or I just want a few days off to rest.
Or I might need a week or two weeks' distance so I can do another cycle of trimming and cutting, or so I can go through chapter 25 ONE MORE TIME to sharpen the three major conversations into the proper layers to drive forward into the second half of the book. As a for instance, chapter 25 is what I call a "turnover" chapter -- not as in something to eat, although now that I think about it, food is involved in this scene in an important way -- but because the book is moving with a certain kind of focus and direction and then something is introduced that is going to shake down all the way to the roots of the plot at this point. In other books, I sometimes have a reversal or twist as a turnover chapter -- in Cold Magic, the turnover happens right around page 200; in the Sword of Heaven duology there is a midpoint emotional crisis that is the turnover (and which also involves sex! what could be better!)
The draft of Cold Fire I have just turned in to my editor I'm calling Draft Two, but in fact some parts of the book have been rewritten many more times than that, while the final chapter is raw first draft (and my raw first draft is not pretty, let me assure you).
I have a couple of things I already know I will be working on for what I'm calling Draft Three. There's a creole that I have to entirely rewrite (the version I'm using now is a "placeholder") and I need to cut more, as always, and there is some detail work I need to get more precise on. Also, as I just said, the last chapter is more like the Cliff Notes version; plus the second to last chapter, the climax, needs another draft, but I wanted to get it in to the editor at this point.
Now is my time to need my distance and my break, even though I have a hard copy of the current draft sitting next to me and I STROKE IT SOMETIMES just for the pleasure of doing so.
So, peoples, make my day: what is your revision process?
(if you have questions, ask them; I'm in an unusual situation now where I have some time to answer questions if there are any, and I'm thinking of trying to get through some backlog of questions/postings over the next week or two)