Greetings from Revisionland

It is rather confusing here. Sprawling, lush hills with roads that twist about, jungles you get lost in, and when you emerge, a searing hot desert.

In short: it's fun, overwhelming, and hard. 

So many ways! I have seen outlining scenes with index cards and writings 20 page outline and highlighting and color coding.

I am also deep in research--something I did not go deep enough, and now my brilliant friend (and writer) has pointed out that my supposed "fantasy" world is like sheer strands of thread that cannot form a tapestry rich enough. 

(She also very rightly pointed out that I needed description. As you hopefully tell, I have been practicing that in this blog post.)

It's really a lot to take in. Because though I rewrote my novel two times already, I wrote them in a Nanowrimo-style madcap dash to the end. And while my plot improved SO much, well, my prose? My characters that sound all the same?

I think I may need to do another kind of rewrite--the scene level rewrite. 

I went to an Office Depot and got myself some index cards. And sticky tabs. And I did not really know what to do with them. 

But just I was getting lost in all these index-cardy tricks and highlighting fashions and color-coding I felt like I had stumbled upon this unwelcome pit of quicksand--

Just as I was writing the title of this post, I was thinking of this very word--revision. Revision. Re-vision. It kind of hit me, made me think for a second. 

I am re-visioning my novel. 

Creating higher standards. Ratcheting up stakes. Making characters move and dance and make crushing mistakes, and pay for it. I am seeing it not in the flat, two-dimensional plot arc I have had for too long. 

I may have to rewrite most of my scenes--but this time, the plot structure is there. I have the foundations and the supporting beams. 

Index cards may help, but what matters most is my vision. 

See y'all,

Christina