Good novels, they say, aren't written,
they're rewritten. Some writers do all their revisions in their heads
before they begin, or subconsciously as they write. Their rough draft
is their final draft. Those writers exist, but they're few and far
between. Most of us have some clean©up work to do after we've typed
"THE END."
Two tools you'll find helpful in
revising manuscripts are: a notebook and a shelf. I keep paper handy
to make notes about changes I need to go back and make; I'll think of
a motive I haven't explained or a question I haven't answered – or
that a character hasn't asked, although he should have. In SAGE, I
found that I needed a handy way to indicate family affiliation, since
I identified people by their mothers' given names rather than by
their fathers' last names. So I made a note of that and, when I went
back to the book after a summer vacation, I went through and plugged
in the change. I would normally do that after I had finished the
entire book, but I would normally finish the entire book during one
school year, and SAGE ended up taking nearly twenty.
As for the shelf: It's a good idea to
let a book "settle" for a while, so you can go back and
read it objectively. Be your own critic.
Do any rewriting you think necessary
after this cold reading and analysis. Then get out your notebook
again.
After I've "finished" a book,
I pass it around to several people whose opinions I value, along with
a notebook, and ask them to make comments. I compare their comments;
if several of them have a problem with the same thing, I figure I
probably ought to change that. If different ones have different
negative comments, I change the ones I agree with.
When your book is as good as you can
make it this time, start sending it out.
The four Divine Animals are afoot: Dragon, Unicorn, Phoenix, and Tortoise – the Divine Creature who "forgets" the rules of right and wrong. Hold on tight.
Karol, the hereditary ruler of
Layounna, vanished while hidden away with her lover, leaving her
consort-husband to claim the throne. Shortly afterward, all the
children in Layounna's orphanages also vanished. Ten years later,
Karol's consort-husband claims an obscure young woman as a second
wife, and she also vanishes.
The consort's mother and sister dabble
in dark matters, including blood sacrifice and poison. Opposed to
them are the country's "unimportant" folk, including a
silversmith, a disgraced adept, a shapechanging thief, a couple of
kitchen maids, and at least one cat.
SAGE, one book in three volumes.
Marian Allen, Author Lady
