Revise, rewrite, revamp, torture

...whatever you want to call that process: that's what my writing time is all about these days. To help keep me planted firmly in my chair, fingers on the keyboard (instead of the mouse). and mind on the book, I've joined the Summer Revision Smackdown hosted at the Brimstone Soup by YA author Holly Cupala. I am easily persuaded and influenced; put a word like "smackdown"in the title of an event, and I get scared immediately into doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

My goals are not lofty; it's summer and the kids are out of school, remember? But I do want to get this book polished before I send it out. Soon.

I am almost to the end of this arduous task. Now if only those new passages will stop having that new-car smell, and fit more smoothly into the rest of the book, I'll be good to go.

If the word "smackdown" isn't scary and you need some straightforward questions to ask yourself as you revise, The Most Helpful And Polite Agent Nathan Bransford has put together a list. Ever democratic, he's even included suggestions by his legions of fans.

[Resistance by Mesaj]

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. The above was brought to you by Revision XMA 3000, a new generation of persuasion equipment developed by the Borg Company.