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.

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.

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.

The notes arrived from Amazing Editor V. on March 4^th via the iconic brown truck. AEV’s editorial letter was brief. She addressed some global issues that she’d marked on the pages of the ms. She also included pages of questions that AE M. and AE S. had. There were dozens of questions, all of them excellent, all of them scary.

Pass #1:
The styles of the editors was obvious from looking at the questions. One editor asked broader questions. The other made very specific suggestions about plot, sub-text, and world-building. Both styles were interesting and both were intimidating. I held their ideas in mind as I worked through the line edits, which honestly, were light. At the time, I thought it was because the text didn’t need so much work. Soon, I realized how foolish that first thought was. The edits were light in some places because those places, which I began to call ’soft spots,’ needed to be cut or completely recast.

Pass #2:
I concentrated on the line edits. I highlighted all of the copy edits, as well as the comments by AEV. Any page without comments got checked off. I put small sticky notes the pages that needed work.

Pass #3:
On this pass I decided to respond to the copy edits. I had been awhile since I looked at the text, and I needed to get back into the flow of the narrative beyond reading it. When I was able to satisfactorily fix any small problems, I checked off the pages and removed the sticky note tab.

Pass #4:
By now, there were about fifty pages needing work. Some of the fixes were simple. Rearrange a paragraph for clarity. Delete a troublesome passage and knit the scene back together. Check page off. Pull stick tab. Move on.

Pass #5:
The remaining sticky-tabbed pages needed serious work, so I decided it was time to respond to the questions from AEM and AES. As with AEV line edits, some of the questions were easily addressed. A change in a sentence here, a deletion of extraneous information there, and I could cross them out.

Pass #6:
But not all of the questions were easily answered, so I decided to rewrite passages in order to integrate the information more seamlessly or more obvious, depending what was needed. At the end of this pass, about 90% of the questions were answered.

Passes #7a, 7b, and 8:
What remained of AEM and AES’s questions weren’t really questions. They were things such as “Can we see more of X’s job?” The only answer that doesn’t require a lot of work is, no, you can’t, which would be an incredibly stupid response. This pass took the longest time, several days, because I had to write three new scenes to show X’s job. The scenes then had to be woven into the narrative and then edited for voice. Crating these scenes answer all but two of the questions. I didn’t answer them because they moot: I’d deleted the offending passages to make room for the new scenes.

Pass #9:
I returned to AEV’s notes and global concerns. She had identified several soft spots in the text where the action slowed or characters misbehaved. I cleaned those out and ended up rewriting a whole chapter.

Pass #10:
AEV noted that the second part of the novel had less sensory texture than the first. I had stripped some of the texture out in early drafts because the males who read the novel complained that the action slowed too much at the climax. I put those sight, sound, and smell details back in. To add more, I went to the local supermercado to do some research on tastes and smell. I walked out with pages of notes, bags of dried spearmint and hibiscus flowers, a colatino (coconut milk and pulp), and a lot of blank stares. I was also inspired by the great memories of my critique partners, Linda and Jules.

Pass #11:
Copy-editing and shaping. I reordered chapters and combined others.

Pass #12:
Copy-editing while letting the computer read the text aloud. It was very effective until Microsoft Sam’s droning voice put me to sleep. Also made notes on dangling or contradictory plot points.

Pass #13:
Fact-checking and plot details pass. I inserted 34 plot points I’d overlooked.

Pass #14:
A final copy-edit and polishing. Half-way through, I began to fear that I was cleaning up my first person-narrator’s rough edges too much and decided to finish with a light copyedit.

Pass #15:
I passed the manuscript on to AEV via email. I was sorry to see my little manuscript go.

Before I received any notes, I told AEV that I loved to revise. After this process, I understand better why. Writing a first draft creates a sense of euphoria for me. I get a sustained rush learning about new characters, exploring new settings, and thinking of really bad puns that never get past the third edits. Well, some do. But the creation of a first draft has a dark side. While I’m drafting, I wonder if the germ of a story can sustain itself for 300 pages. Can the main character become and remain someone I admire and like? Will I be able to find a fresh way of saying things? Can I increase tension and stakes? Will I ever stop overusing metaphors? A deep revision like this one uncorks the feelings of euphoria that were bottled up after the first draft. I wake up ready to dig into the text. I go to bed with possibilities swarming in my mind. I wake up five hours later ready to go again. But because I know someone likes the story, because I know for certain it will sustain 300 pages, and because I adore the main character and love having her around, the experience is more delightful.

And then, like a great sugar high, it comes to an end.

So Soul Enchilada is back with its editors. The gears turn at the desks of the book makers, while the writer starts the neglected laundry, speaks to the attention-starved children, cleans the grungy bathroom, and goes in search of a bowl of praline pecan ice cream and a really big spoon.

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PS. Here are some photos of the process. I blurred the text to keep evil spammers from indexing the drafts.

AEV’s note on the manuscript. The comment about needing for setting turned this page into four pages.

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After Pass # 9. This is a combination of my notes over AEV’s notes. There are four colors of ink on the page. I think I worked on this sequence five times before it felt right.

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Brainstorming for Pass #10. I started with a long list of possible details. A half dozen made it to the text.. Only three survived copyediting.

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This is the fiesta scene after the Microsoft Sam reading. Because it was the last scene I revised, it required more shaping.

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This is the second page of the revised fiesta scene. I put many details back into the text here and added many sensory details. I took some of them out on the last pass because I felt the action slowing.

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After the last pass: This is the current state of the manuscript. You can’t read it well, but I think the page only has one line from the version AEV returned.

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None of this was in the version AEV returned.

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This photo shows how I often revert to my comic book past to block out the physical movement of a scene. I followed this badly drawn spread by writing the scene in screenplay format. I added the dialogue, scene texture, and interior monologue afterwards. This is not the way I normally draft, unless I’m having trouble visualizing a scene. I know, you are totally in awe of my mad drawing skillz.