Revising A Novel Is Not For the Faint of Heart

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First: I finally settled on a name for my second novel.

Could I get a drum roll?

Thank you! The title for the second volume of The Motherhood Circus series is…

Revisions are coming along nicely. Sometimes it feels like I do not have much left to do and other times, I feel overwhelmed by the items still on my To Do list. This is my current action plan for everything I need to do before I send my novel into the world:

  • Excessive Details Pass: Tighten up the amount of details I give about characters and setting. During the first draft, I tend to skip the descriptive parts and then in later drafts, I go back in and flesh out the characters and setting. My editor pointed out that I sometimes get carried away and stuff in too many details, so I need to go back and fix that.
  • Syntax Pass: I need to take a look at the length of my sentences and make sure I balance long sentences with short ones.
  • Go through The Novel Editing Workbook to make sure I didn’t miss any big revisions.
  • Proofreading Pass on Prowriting Aid
  • Take a long break from the novel. I have plans to use this time to do fun shit. And by “fun shit,” I mean finish decluttering the damn house. But hopefully I’ll also have the time for a few hikes, some arts and crafts projects, and a trip or two to a museum. I’m aiming for at least a two week break, and if I can stand it, an entire month.
  • Design the cover. I can actually start working on this now that I’ve finally settled on a title. I am allowed to work on this during the above-mentioned break.
  • Another Prowriting Aid Pass. Maybe. At some point, this does more harm than good.
  • Read the novel out loud.
  • Format thinks like text messages and emails.
  • Format for publication on Vellum.
  • Publish!

Eep! I don’t want to jinx myself, but I think I’ll be able to go on break from my novel in mid-October and then, fingers crossed, publish it before the kids go on Christmas vacation.

Right now, I’m feeling good about my novel. Tomorrow, I might hate it. Then I’ll love it, and back and forth, until I finally can hit publish and stop thinking about the damn thing.