Decrapification Complete!

I made it through the first round of revisions to Mythos today, my son's fifteenth birthday. Happy Birthday, kiddo. I blogged about my revision process a few weeks back, and as many of you know by now, completing round number one means that my novel is officially:

Yes, that means it no longer smells like a dog park before the cleanup crew arrives. Let's check the scorecard.

Revision Round #1 - Decrap-ification

1. Kill some recycled trees and print the first draft.
2. Read it and take copious notes all over the page. Can't put the check here yet. I'm halfway done.
3. Make all the changes from step #2.

As a result of these revisions, the word count has ballooned from nearly 71k to just north of 75k.In and of itself I'm cool with that. Out went passages that didn't advance plot or characterization. In went an epilogue to tie things up a bit and leave open the possibility of a sequel. This is a pretty good example of what happens in my second draft -- as I write my way toward the end of the novel, I discover more and more bits of back story, plot points, or characterizations I'll need upon revising. Hence, the initial increase in word count.

During the second round of revisions, I expect to remove more than add. Speaking of which, let's revisit what round #2 is all about.


Revision Round #2 - Incorporating feedback

1. Gather all the critiques from the critique group (in this case, my YA writing pals on writing.com).
2. For any editing/grammar nits, revise appropriately.
3. For the "big issues", like characterization, plot, setting, voice, etc., decide if I agree with these points. 

• If I agree, revise appropriately. 
• If I don't agree, but several others do, consider that I may be wrong and revise appropriately. 
• If I don't agree, but only one or two others do, the author wins. (Stephen King rule)

It's an exciting time. Being my own worst critic makes round #2 far more appealing and less painful to me. Plus, I promised my family they could read the second draft. Once Rona finishes Catching Fire (yes, I finally got her to read Hunger Games, so now she's hooked), she'll jump on Mythos.

I think I'll start round two tomorrow. I owe my YA writing buddies some reviews tonight.