“Writing is rewriting… If you fall in love with the vision you want of your work and not your words, the rewriting will become easier.”
– Nora DeLoach
When I first finished this manuscript, I felt like a runner, one of those people that you see on television just making it across the finish line before they collapse in a heap. I really was not looking forward to the prospect of revising it. That would mean looking at it again, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.
Looking at the whole manuscript at once was… disheartening. But I didn’t write the original version all at once, and no one but me was expecting me to revise the whole thing at once, so I decided to focus on one chapter at a time.
As I go through the chapters, ruthlessly cutting my tender words of genius and brutally hacking out whole scenes, I feel like an explorer wielding her machete through an impenetrable jungle. But it’s changing how I see the manuscript. The more I cut, the more I am starting to feel as if I am coming back to the original idea that inspired me to write the story in the first place.
Useful links:
These are some links that I looked up while procrastinating found useful.
All right. You’ve won me over. You enjoy writing fiction, you share useful links, and you’ve even had a book published. I’m going to follow you—even though I don’t read romance books, whereas you seem to enjoy them!
Hi Haerin! I am glad that you’ve found the blog interesting and the links useful. I try to blog about whatever interests me. I do enjoy a well-written romance. Lately I’ve been focusing on reading romances more than other genres, since that’s what I’m writing. I want to see what makes a “good” romance.
I enjoy other types of books as well. I think the only genres I would avoid would be horror or erotica.
My book hasn’t been published yet, but it is under contract. The editor is looking through my revisions to see if she’d like me to revise them further. But no one has popped up to say “Just kidding! We didn’t really want this book after all!” so that’s a positive sign 🙂
I see. I’m still in awe as you’ve travelled a lot farther down the road of publishing than I ever have! I enjoy talking to writers who are or are to be published; it gives me hope for my own future.
If and when your book gets published, make sure to announce it loud and clear! Who knows, I might bend my no-romance rule to try it.
Thank you for following me back, by the way. I think it’s the first time I’ve been followed by a fellow aspiring novelist. I’m grateful!
I’ve just realised that you called me Haerin. Thank you; that is indeed the given name! You must’ve read my self-introduction.
I like visiting other authors’ websites and seeing how they’ve laid things out. I admired the layout of your website. It was a good idea to mention that your name is presented in the Korean style, since writing in English might make people assume the name had been anglicized.
That’s made my day! I put quite a bit of thought into my website, so I’m glad someone liked it.