Revision
Making something better?
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In the guts of it.
Dear Readers,
If I were seriously using digestive metaphors (WHICH I AM NOT) I couldn’t even deign to say I was in the guts of my revisions of my next book, because I’m so early in. The esophagus, maybe. Everything I know about anatomy is from a medical drama.
There is a lot of writing advice out there, but often less about revising, even though revising is where a lot of the work happens. I love Matt Bell’s Refuse to Be Done (even if by a certain point I will NOT refuse, in fact, I will WELCOME the doneness, OK), and recommend it to literally anyone who is revising a book. Still, when I am in the midst of my own process, it often feels so singular and agonizing that the so-called experts could never touch me!!!
My last revision was the kind I like; the book stayed mostly intact except that I kept blowing up sections to add more. Make this conversation deeper, make this moment longer, make this encounter more charged. This current revision, on the other hand, is blowing up sections to make them more but also different and also since these huge things are changing about the plot just be on the lookout for any single thing that could affect it and, anyway, it is like trying to hold a crumbling delicate glass heirloom without dropping a shard or letting it slice into your tender skin. Sometimes I feel fully made of tender skin.
It is good there is so much to focus on outside of this. I can’t explain it (ADHD) but I often do better when a lot is going on and I have to use my time v wisely. There is work and other work and sewing projects and fitness stuff and entertainment. Somehow (ADHD) the more I get done, the more I can get done.
xoxoAmy
Consumption
Listening
After OnlyFantasy dropped, I of COURSE flew through it like any proper Leon Neyfakh cult member, and then I went and listened to all his podcasts (vaping and Bernie Goetz) I hadn’t listened to yet. I cannot get enough of Leon Neyfakh podcasts, OK?!
Cooking
Tinned fish hive, rise up! I loved this crispy sardine spaghetti, though sometimes I do get annoyed when I cook with tinned fish because the best thing about them in summer is NOT HEATING ANYTHING UP TO ENJOY THEM but, whatever, this was delicious.
Watching
I was fortunate to attend an early screening of Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma and had a blast. For everyone poised to comment, yes, it is gory, no, I did not think it was particularly scary, unless you mean about the inherent vulnerability of emotional and sexual honesty, in which case, gird yourself.
Snacking
Obsessed with Trader Joe’s Furikake Snack Mix, which means they are about to discontinue it and I will never have it again.
Books
It’s always ADHD.