Greetings from NYC’s Spring Break!
We didn’t have any big Spring Break plans this year, aside from a brief road trip to celebrate the start of Passover with my in-laws, so this week has been a combination of work/day camp and “Mommy camp.” “Mommy camp,” in case it’s not obvious, is when I do fun things with my kiddo when school’s not in session. “Mommy camp” means I don’t get much work done…but it is significantly less expensive than traditional day camp. ;) Plus, it’s fun to spend time with my amazing daughter!
Luckily, I don’t have a ton of deadlines at the moment. I’m still plugging away at my romance novel manuscript. In my two work-days this week (while my child was at art camp), I reached a major turning point in my draft. This particular set of chapters doesn’t only mark a significant step forward in my two characters’ relationship. It also marks a point in the revision process where I, the author, am shifting my focus.
Prior to these chapters, I’ve mostly been trimming fat. I’ve been cutting out plot points that, once I got to the end of the draft and assessed the story as a whole, I realized I don’t need. I’ve been speeding up the pacing. Streamlining.
But now I’ve reached a section where I have to start adding, instead of subtracting. Those cut early plot points are making space for more “middle.” Basically, I need my characters to spend more time hanging out, getting to know each other (and themselves). I need them to learn how to be happy together, before things inevitably start to go wrong. (Conflict!)
Since I started revising from the beginning a month ago, I’ve cut about 8,000 words. I fully anticipate adding those 8,000 words back in—but better. I didn’t need them there; I need them here.
This is one of the parts of writing books that I truly love: when you can start to see the big picture. The forest and the trees.
When you can cut something that’s not working without hesitation, because you know it doesn’t belong. When you can look at a scene you wrote months ago and say, “It’s pretty good—but it needs to happen ten chapters sooner.” When you get an idea for a new scene that will illustrate a specific moment along your character’s emotional journey. When you know where you’re going, and you simply have to get there.
I’m going to get there.
But not today. Today, I’ve promised to take my daughter to a new local playspace, and then out to lunch at a cafe. It’s supposed to be nice outside, properly spring-like, so maybe we’ll even get ice cream!
See you next week,
Kathryn