Mood: ‘Will You Follow Me?’ By Rob Dougan
Let The Revisions Begin!
I am a few weeks off of my semi-planned schedule to begin the revisions of my first full novel. I just truly began this weekend and really didn’t get too far. Let me try to explain why…
I have written before that this book began as a way for my Renaissance Fair character to leave the group I had directed for almost two decades as a way to say ‘good-bye’. Once that as done it only took a few weeks before I began to really wonder what happened to that character next. So, I began writing it out.
As I got to some 250-300 pages, I began to think there was some real life to this writing thing and even more ideas for what came even after I finished where this book would end. But, here’s The Thing: everything about this book is connected to the fair and group I directed and this would be a short-coming in several ways for a more wide reading audience should I decide to self-publish and be confusing and hard to understand the meaning of several plots and such.
It would be an ‘easy’ fix though, but would require a good bit of re-writing to make it more widely acceptable. So I made myself a promise: I would finish the version that I needed to write, specific to the fair and group I am so familiar with, self-publish it for those in the fair and in my group who would care for a copy, and then do a re-write for wider publication.
As I wrote above, I began revisions this weekend. What immediately became an issue is that, with a second revision in mind already, it birthed a dichotomy in my mind as to how to proceed, and I stopped. This has been a good thing, as my mind has been awhirl with things and ides that hadn’t occurred to me before sitting down in my Writer’s Brain and begin the work.
What Does It mean?
This means a kind of restructuring. Not yet quite sure what that means, but that is where my mind has been the rest of this weekend. With an already good, solid sequel in mind, I can lay better foundations for that as the revisions begin. I think I need to just do the first revision for the people it has been originally aimed towards, but begin a new document with notes of what needs changing, expanding or a full re-write for more ‘regular’ version.
I do not know that ‘no one else’ has thought of the kind of story/stories my writings have taken me, but I sure didn’t think they’d take me where they have! I am glad for it, mind you, it has been quite amazing. Just thinking of what will change (so far) to adjust the story for a wider audience has also lent in a small way as to things or thoughts for the sequel!
I look forward to where this creative adventure and journey take me and these characters…
