I has a title! And a revision update

[rj_anderson]

The Powers that Be have spoken, and bestowed upon me my final book title, as well as the title for the whole series (which may have the potential to grow into more than two books, if all goes well):

The series will be called Faery Rebels (trust me, it actually does fit), and the title for Book One is Knife, the Hunter. Though I plan to go on calling it Knife out of sheer habit, not to mention brevity.

As of last week I've finished my second round of revisions, which was just as intense in some ways as the first round, but only took half as much time. Either I'm getting better at this, or the book is getting better -- I hope both. But it may interest some of you to know that between those two revisions the book has ended up being shorter by 30,000 words -- bringing it down from the original 104K to a much more standard 74K.

And you know what? I don't actually miss any of those 30,000 words. I always thought that to cut that much I would have to take out at least some things that really mattered to the characters and the story, but now that I look at it again, all I see is a much tighter, cleaner, quicker-moving story that still has all the things I really care about... and some exciting new things I never imagined until these two revisions, but which make a lot more sense than the stuff I had in there before.

I know some of my fellow writers are going to want to beat me to death with their keyboards for this, but it's the truth: I love revision.

Which is good, because I'm still not sure that my editor won't want me to do some more of it before all's done...

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Totally, totally love revision. Oh yes.

[fandoria.livejournal.com]

Those are great titles.

[megburden.livejournal.com]

I love the titles!

Sometimes I love revisions, because it's already there and the story has been told and the questions have been answered, and all you have to do is tweak it.

And sometimes I hate revising, particularly if I've put writing Scene X off until the draft was finished, telling myself I'd go back to it later because it would be tough to write...or if I've glossed over a scene in a hurry because I knew it needed to be just right (the emotional beats, this description, that gesture, the timing) and didn't feel, when writing it, that I was up to the challenge. Then revisions scare me.

[coloradowriter.livejournal.com]

Great news...I'm trying very hard to love revision, but right now, it's making me insane.

[ladyjaguar.livejournal.com]

Revision is one of the most effective learning processes there is. It can be very instructive, if you're receptive to it.

When I had to cut the manuscript of Booking Hawaii Five-0, I realized how much dross there was in it. Plain old overwriting. As a result of the revision, a reviewer called my prose "crisp and elegant."

You go right ahead on loving revision. It's one of your best teachers.

[snickelish.livejournal.com]

Yay on titles! And you know, every time you make one of these revision posts I'm reminded, oh yeah, I really want to read that. So if you ever make a post and I don't say something like that, you can just assume I was thinking it. :)

[olmue.livejournal.com]

Heh heh--it's easy to love revisions once you're at the end of them! Awesome job on cutting words! (Actually, I don't mind the process; the hard part is just when you know you've got to change something but you're not quite sure where the problem is yet. Once I figure that out, things go pretty well.)

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Cool titles--I'd buy 'em in a flash!

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

I also love revision. The worst part of my process is the first draft, getting it out onto the page, because if I stop to rewrite anything, I stall; so I have to make copious notes as I go, and my 2nd drafts are normally so different that you'd have a hard time telling they're both mine. *g*

I adore the whole revising/polishing process.

[deva-fagan.livejournal.com]

Yay, titles! And hooray for feeling good about your revision!

I love revision when I know what the problem is and have an inkling how to fix it. I hate revision when I know its broken and I don't know why or how to fix it...

[anywherebeyond.livejournal.com]

YOU HAS A TITLE! AND A REVISION! WOOT! *confetti and pancakes for you*

[faerie-writer.livejournal.com]

Great titles! :D

[jgurtler.livejournal.com]

Love the titles!

Janet

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

I'm so excited about getting to read this!

[owl]

Yay titles! Faery Rebels is great.

[infiniteviking]

*claps* Great titles. They have a definite ring to them!

Heee. All I can say about your attitude toward revision is: YESSS.

Keep the 30,000

[(Anonymous)]

Keep the 30,000 words on a backup. When you're famous your first book will be reissued in an expanded edition. Not all these words will make it in the expanded edition, but they will form the basis.

Regards,
Shawn
sabigail.blogspot.com

[shoebox2.livejournal.com]

At the risk of nominating myself for a Certificate of Redundancy Certificate, those titles really are great. Also, revisions clearly = coolness. Tracking your progress through the process has in some ways been as rewarding as reading the actual book. :)

[reveilles.livejournal.com]

Revision is the life-blood for me. :)

Congrats on the book titles! I'm not so keen on "Faery Rebels", but "Knife, The Hunter" sounds cool.

Looking forward to pre-ordering them on Amazon! :)