Four months ago, I began plotting A BOY FROM NORRU. And three months ago, I moved to Austin. An eternity seems to have passed in that time, and yet, no time seems to have passed at all. Life has felt that way a lot since the lockdown in 2020.
I finished the first draft of the manuscript five weeks ago. In the two weeks following, I stepped away from it and read a whole lot of middle grade. I’m still reading middle grade now, but my main focus has shifted to revision.
In the past three weeks, I’ve worked through roughly thirteen of the book’s twenty-two chapters. Most of this editing has been in an effort to clean up the writing. But there are also some major contradictions in the plot that I’ve worked on resolving. And character reveals for which I’ve needed to add foreshadowing. And several other things of the like.
I feel more and more confident in this manuscript the longer I work on it. Obviously, there are moments of supreme doubt, but that’s a given in this craft. Overall, though, the quality of the story has continued to improve. I’ll need to take a bigger step away from the manuscript between the second and third drafts to get more perspective. And I’ll need the perspectives of beta readers, too. I hope to get out beta copies before Christmas.
Thanksgiving was wonderful; I am so grateful to have had so much time with family. And right now, I’m writing this post from Dallas. I’ve made a short, last-minute trip up here to visit some loved ones. The timing worked out surprisingly well for a trip so highly unplanned.
On the drive up here, I started listening to the audiobook of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. I’m about halfway through, and I’m eager to see where the story goes. I’m also reading Osmo Unknown and the Eightpenny Woods by Catherynne M. Valente, and I’m about halfway through that book as well. The fairytale opening of that story was magical and beautiful; I can only hope the ending of the story sparks a similar joy.
Out of the middle grade novels that I’ve read in the last month, I think the best have been Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson and The Secrets of Star Whales by Rebecca Thorne. However, I am certainly biased in my opinion. These are also the novels most similar to the ones I am writing. At least that proves I’m following the advice of writing the kind of book I’d like to read!
I had a moment of gratitude a couple weeks ago. I spent the day writing, and I spent the night reading. When I finished, I sat back, and I thought to myself, “If I did this every day for the rest of my life, I would be content with that.” Maybe I’m blinded by youthful naiveté. But most people don’t find the thing that they’d be happy to do forever, and I think I have. Which is cool.
Now, I just have to get to the point where I can support myself through my art. Easy peasy, right? Haha.
Ha.
Wrapping Up
Revision, reading, revision, reading. I’m so close to getting a clean, cohesive draft of this story, and I cannot wait to share it. But these things take time, and I need to maintain my patience. Rushing to the finish line will do me no good in the long run.
But with any luck, I’ll hit my goal by Christmas, and I’ll get to enjoy the festivities with a weight off my chest.
And then, I’ll start working on query material for this one, or I’ll start up a new project, and the process will begin all over again.
– AJG
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