Revision

       For the last week or so I've launched fully into the revision of my novel. In the time between completing the first draft and the start of revision I read several novels in an uncharacteristic burst of speed and energy, mainly to get a grip on structure, characterization, and dialogue in longer narratives so that I could approach my own work with a fresh eye. I can say that it has helped tremendously. The weak parts are just that much more apparent, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I've happily taken a red pen to the manuscript, cutting out bad scenes, bad dialogue, bad description, bad everything and begun to expand the narrative, fixing some of the major problems and fleshing out the main characters, many of which were underdeveloped the first time through. Though it is a long, arduous, and some times frustrating process, I believe I am making it a fundamentally better story. Will this book ever be sellable? Who knows. Have I learned a lot about writing and revision? HELL YES!