Yes, procrastinatory is a word, even if my spell-check doesn’t agree. Trust me, I’m an expert on this subject.
Anyway, as you know, I’ve been revising my novel. In fact, my fingers are itching to get typing on my next novel, and I can feel my brain starting to plot it out below the surface. But I’m trying to be focused and get this revision done before I move on, or it’ll never be done.
The revision is really an up and down process. I had a good spurt on Monday: I took the train to go visit my father and for the first time ever (really, I’m usually not a hi-tech writer) took the laptop on the train and edited and revised away during the journey. That made the time absolutely fly by and I also got a lot done – to be honest, I’ve contemplated doing the same thing on the weekend but without getting off at the end of the train trip. No internet access certainly makes the revision process a lot easier. (Remember, I’m a capital P Procrastinator).
During this whole revision process, I keep asking myself (quite essential) questions like what this novel is actually about. The good news is that I’m getting better and better at answering that. The next question I keep asking is, will other people care about these characters? Will they actually want to know what happens next? I’m trying to give them lots of reasons too, but, you know, I love these characters, so it’s hard to imagine what a stranger will think of them and whether or not they’ll care. I’m trying.
One big thing I’ve learnt is that, contrary to my earlier beliefs, I think I’m a “detailed planner” kind of writer. I do write much better (and it’s a whole lot easier) when I have a good structure to follow. I wrote the first draft without that, but now for some chapters I’ve had a detailed plan for the revision (because the revision is truly major), and words flow much more easily then. The lesson: for novel number two, I’m going to plot the whole thing out beautifully before I begin. That should work well with my goals and plans anyhow, because I want to do the first chapter for the June deadline of the Writing Show’s first chapter contest, and then get ready to write the whole novel itself during this year’s NaNoWriMo.
Enough procrastination. I’m on the last couple of chapters of the revision and I’m going to create a train in my living room. That is to say, I’m going to take the laptop to the couch, turn off the wireless connection and get revising. I will sit there until it’s finished. (No, my fingers are not crossed behind my back as I type this). Just wait and see!
