See more book trailers at http://soulenchilada.com/

Soul Enchilada Book Trailer (Bug Version) from David Gill on Vimeo.

The last of the manuscript arrived at 6:06 PM, a day and half later than expected.This bothered my wonderful publisher friends more than it did me because they have deadlines to meet, marketing to do, etc. Me, all I have to do is accept some spot-on line edits and do a little seeding here and there.Plus, here’s a dark secret I’ve never shared: As I did the third revision, I kept thinking, “I’m never sending the manuscript back! Bwahaha! Well, maybe for copyediting, but not after that.”

I enjoyed working on the manuscript too much, and if I gave it up, I’d be expected to start a new book. And we all known that I am a fraud who somehow convinced a group of very smart, able people that I can write a novel.

At 6:20 PM, after letting the manuscript ferment for all of 14 minutes, I opened the envelope then started sorting.Edited pages to the left, unmarked pages to the discard pile. Over 80% of the pages required some sort of edit.I’ll pause here to add that only once in the process of revisions did I stet one of AEV’s suggestions. It was a one-liner that was mildly humorous by itself, but I had referencedit at least twice more in the novel and used it to set up a reveal later (a free Tupperware bowl to the first astute reader who can guess the stet’ed line).

Generally, I used he same process before—cull, reword, and then rewrite. The last three chapters required some cutting, which is easier than writing new pieces. I was satisfied that the last chapter had the new touches AEV asked for (better opening line, more humor, less sap), I let Microsoft Sam read key sequences and the final chapters to me.I found at least six typos in the last chapter, even after proofing it three times. Best of all, I didn’t fall asleep once, and I made my deadline to the minute.

I said in the last post that this was the most difficult revision. So what made it so hard? Not the actual line edits, because although they were numerous, they were minor. Not the cutting because it made the story tighter and saved me time having to recast a few clunky passages. No, it was the finality of it. I knew that when the manuscript went to copyediting, it would no longer be the story that AEV and I had made. It would become a book that was shared with others, and despite the fact that I’ll have to respond to copyedits, my writing would be done: the story that revision 3 created would be the novel Soul Enchilada.

Round Two of revisions was the same as Round 1, but different. Same, in that the editorial notes included line-edits and marginalia, as well as a short editorial letter (addressing two major issues that I’ll describe below). Different in that AEV’s notes came at two different times—the first half of the novel one week, the second half, the next. The notes were only AEV’s this time.

Pass 1: With each half of the manuscript, I culled through the pages. The first step was separating the pages into stacks of“marked and unmarked. The unmarked pages were stacked for shredding. The marked pages were tagged as I read through them. Line-edits were highlighted with yellow. Comments in the margins were circled.

Pass 2: I fixed the line-edits. These were straightforward but extensive. 75% of the pages had at least one change. Most had 5-10. It took about 20 hours to work through them all. I checked off each edit as I entered it into the computer.

Pass 3: I responded to margin notes. Some of them were easy fixes, such as comments about voice consistency or missing beats. Others required the recasting of sentences and sometimes, paragraphs. And then there were those soft passages labeled with “Could Be Better” and “You Haven’t Written This Yet.” AEV learned quickly that those phrases had a chilling effect on me. They also motivated me because I realized she was right, and I like to make my editor happy.

Pass 4: Back to the editorial letter. The two big issues with this version were two scenes that I had created or expanded significantly during the first revision. Issue #1 was about a new scene created to show Pesto, one of the main character’s workplace. AEV liked the second part of the scene, but she thought the first part widened the scope of the novel too much. So chop! Went about 2k words (words that I really liked, as well). After excising that sequence, I knitted the sequence back together and added a few more strokes to define the characters. I created two new minor characters for the scene and like them so much I used them twice in the rest of the novel, so I was glad that AEV liked the part that featured them.

Issue #2 concerned the Convenience Store Scene. In the first draft, this scene was meant to be a transitional bit so that the reader could rest up before the end of the second act. AEV recognized that it could do a lot more than that, so in the first set of notes she had asked me to expand it. In the second editorial letter, she asked me to delve into it even more. The right elements were there, but the scene wasn’t cohesive, and it wasn’t living up to its potential. So back into the Quik Stop we went. I spent six hours and twenty minutes completely rewriting it. Because it was an action scene, the blocking had to make sense. I spent quite awhile drawing the sequence as a comic book and even built a scale model so that I had a firm idea of spatial details. I added another minor character as a sounding board for Bug (the main character). When the rewrite was finished, I gave the scene to my DW (the most critical reader I know). Her first words were “I see why AEV didn’t like this. When are going to start rewriting it?” Grrr. So, it was back into the text. A few hours later, I had something DW thought was passable.

Pass #5: The second half of the manuscript arrived. I followed the same method as above. There was no editorial letter, but AEV wanted me to add more sensory details to the last two chapters, as well as add tension between the two main characters. I did this by expanding two chapters to four while changing much of the mythology in the scenes. Instinctively, I was uneasy with some of the changes I’d made, but I decided to see AEV’s reaction before I edited them out.

The revision ended after I listened to the whole manuscript read by Microsoft Sam. I was able to find many typos and catch several naps because Sam’s droning voice puts me straight to sleep. Note: There were fewer passes this time because the notes only came from one editor and because they were limited in scale. I also learned to streamline the process.

Like Round #1, while I was revising for Round 2, I ignored just about everything except the manuscript. Unfortunately, as soon as the revision was submitted, Round 3 started, and it was the most difficult round of all.

The next two blog entries were are going to be about rounds 2 and 3 of Soul Enchilada. I learned scads about writing doing these revisions. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that I became a writer somewhere during the convenience store scene, somewhere between the Vienna sausages and canned chili. In writing about the revisions, I learned something about myself as a blogger: I don’t want to post about the writing process. I’ve always stayed away from getting too personal in my blog, and talking about the revisions felt too intimate.

So here instead, is my revised post on revision. On second thought, some folks were following the process, so I’ll go ahead and do the posts. In Summary: Revisions 2 and 3 are finished. They were a whirlwind, one that I enjoyed immensely. The book is a better book. I’m a better writer. My editor is worse for wear. The manuscript is off to copyediting, so I can actually read a book without worrying that my own writing will be affected. My to-be-read stack is literally taller than I am.

HarperFriend Alert: Teri Lesesne,

and the Goddess of YA has reviewed Harper author Sarah

Prineas’ The Magic Thief, which strangely is not on my reading pile. Hmm. Where are my car keys?

And Now For Something Different Alert: The American version of Little Britain is being shot in WilmyWood now.