Well, I'm still revising Emergence and, not unexpectedly, it's going slower than I'd hoped (about 1/2 the pace necessary to meet my goals) this year so I thought I'd tell some of the general issues I'm finding.
The main issues are:
1) re-evaluating character relationships. Emergence was my first novel, written in the 2006 NaNoWriMo and then put aside for some time. Now that I've gone back to it, I find that all the 'good guys' seem too 'nice' to each other. Despite coming from diverse backgrounds, with different personalities and different goals, they all got along very well. Extremely well. So I've gone back and created more tension between several characters and where there was the hint of tension I've tried to draw it out.
2) re-envisioning the setting and scenery. Again, because it was written very quickly, I used whatever images and ideas came to mind. Upon revision I'm finding that feels lazy and generic, so I'm putting more effort into creating interesting ideas, while staying with the original vision.
3) cleaning up thin or incomplete plot-lines. yup, another one from the fast writing category. So far I'm in the early stages, but I'm trying to strengthen several of the secondary plot-lines that start early. Shortly, I'll be entering into the realm of the frayed plot-lines--I know of at least two secondary plot-lines that were forgotten about during the finished stages the first time around. Obviously they will have to be tied up.
These, of course, mean that the revision is essentially like re-writing the story, as they affect everything that comes after. And that means it takes as long to do the revision (or longer) than it took to write the thing in the first place.
Anyway, it's all part of the process. And, I have to admit, creatively filling in the plot-holes gives the same 'little victory', high-five feeling as creating the plot lines in the first place.
So, onward I march, page by page toward the end. It's not in sight, but I feel it just over the horizon.
Edwin
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