Revision Prison and Mona's Return #SupportIndieAuthors #HugAnIndieAuthor #barrioblues

It has been like that this month: Exaggerated expectation and then sadness regarding the revision of my novel. In the past, once I set a schedule, it took me over two years to write The Harvest (which I am re-titling because someone already used the titles I was planning for my series). I have no idea why I thought I could revise it in a few months. The funny thing is I was giving a reading of Not Your Abuelita's Folktales, and I got asked by a friend what happened to that story. I said, "I'm revising it this summer and hope to pitch it in September for Pitch Wars." You know that sound a deflating balloon makes? Insert it here. 

One thing I am sure about, once I revise this one, the next one will be easier. At least that is the hope and prayer.

This week, I put my big girl panties on and decided to outline a novel revision plan--like I would for a short story revision. I set an outline for issues I am going to work on, issue by issue. This list, of course, may make no sense to you, but it does for me. My characters are well-developed, I think, but here is what I landed on. 

• Verb tenses (I changed the verb tenses of Alan's point of view and the inconsistency in the chapters drives me bonkers.)
• Character Main Goals
• Plot
• Vacuums (thanks Grant)
• Conflicts
• Narration
• Character Development
• Dialogue
• Theme
• Symbolism
• Proofreading
• Chapter Divisions

I am reading the novel once over and making side comments, probably changing the verb tenses. Then, going through the list. I'm taking part of the advice from Stephen King from On Writing (which is not a conventional book about writing, but is really insightful) and Grant Hudson's How Stories Really Work. The second book is pretty amazing and analyzes what constitutes great fiction. So, for the foreseeable future, I will be in revision prison.

This week, I am also finalizing Mona's Return. I have a great editor going over that piece, so the Kindle book will be out August 1. The printed version, probably a little after that. 

So frowny face, smiley face.

You have any advice for successfully revising a novel? By all means, share some useful comments.

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