Revising, Yet Again

Diesel’s new buddy Tango, who is in disgrace over an episode with a bird’s nest

In my last blog, I announced that ECW Press had declined my second novel, and I was looking for a new publisher.

I’ve made a big change in plans since then.

Two weeks of mulling over my manuscript led me to an important conclusion. A Clear-Cut Case isn’t ready for publication. It needs another round of revisions.

Lisa Cron’s Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Ten Speed Press, 2016) helped me see my novel’s major flaw. “A key rule of thumb is this: if at any point your protagonist can simply decide to give up without suffering great personal cost due to her inaction, you do not have a story (136). In my first novel, Jeannie is the potential murder victim. Someone wants her farm enough to kill for it. In my second novel, however, she could walk away from the murder investigation at comparatively little cost to herself. I need to raise her stake in the game.

And so, I’m revising. Again. The setting and characters won’t change. And the plot will remain essentially the same. But I will change my focus. Give Jeannie a stronger reason for her involvement. Increase the obstacles to her success. Force her to work harder. And tighten up the ending to her quest.

These changes will require more backstory,  more conflict, and more subplots. And, since changes have a domino effect, they’ll require rewrites of large passages of text.

The process will be time-consuming. And it will take a lot of a lot of hard work.  But there’s a silver lining (I hope).  I’ll gain experience that will help me write a better third novel.

In the meantime, I’ll sandwich novel revising with gardening. And with praying for rain.