Major Revisions Required

As I've been busy not working on readying my sophomore novel for publication, I've come to the realization that it's going to need extensive revision. Maybe that's why I've not been working.

To be honest, I'm just not interested in the story, not because the story itself is bad, but it's old, ancient in Central Publishing Time (or CPT); almost five years old. To reiterate, my original plan was to publish it as a paperback so I could have a physical copy for myself, not to try to sell copies. 

But it's got many flaws; too many. And I've barely gotten through Chapter One. I'm not interested in rewriting it. I'm barely interested in editing it, but in order to have a final version that doesn't repel me, I'm going to be forced to do it (edit it; not rewrite it).

I struggled with the original opening of my current (good) novel, before realizing that I was starting in the wrong place. For new writers, that's an important lesson. Your goal is to snag readers' attention, not bore them to sleep before they've managed to turn one page (or swipe once on their Kindle). Because I don't outline my stories, I have to "learn" them before they start to take off. Thus, I write and write, hoping to find some kind of hook, and that can take a while to discover. All the back story that began Running From Herself was basically anecdotal. I detailed Leah's negative experiences playing in clubs, because those were going to be her impetus for quitting. But they not only dragged on and on, they claimed too much screen time before getting to the point.

Now with "Not Yet (Re)Titled", I'm in a quandary. Because this is a family saga, it's important to introduce the characters; to provide some grounding to explain why they behave the way they do. But damn! That needs to be interesting! As it currently stands, the MC has a morning conversation with her mom about the forthcoming anniversary party; then Dad and Brother show up, and there's chit-chat, a lot of it passive-aggressive due to family tensions. And probably too much narrative background showing where Brother is in his life. All this, and there are still two important characters yet to introduce!

Since this was only my third novel, I likely took on more than I could handle. While it wasn't vital to show more than basic personality traits, I apparently felt the need to over-explain them. As if readers weren't smart enough to get it.

And now I don't know how to fix it. Obviously, I'd need to do a lot of cutting, while still maintaining some kind of personality reveals. I know how to accomplish that when writing a new story, but with this monstrosity staring me in the face, it's too overwhelming. 

I'm tempted to wipe the entire first chapter entirely and start over. And the entire second chapter. But you see where this is heading. And I absolutely refuse to do a full rewrite.

My solution so far has been to not think about it. Oddly, that hasn't solved the problem. I tried to trick myself into working by adding a blurb to my website about my forthcoming novel, figuring that would make me feel guilty enough to buckle down, but I find that I can simply ignore my website (just like everyone else ignores it). I even described the novel as new and exciting (it's neither), hoping I could talk myself into believing it. I think a better move would be to change my news item from "coming in a month or so" to "coming sometime...maybe...maybe not". Or use the old line, "It's currently with the editor." Invent some old geezer I could blame the delay on.

I've heard and read about authors who say their current project needs "extensive revisions", and I wonder, why even go on, then? I wouldn't. I hate redoing things. If I can't manage to get it right the first time, it's probably not worth it. I've started a few stories that I abandoned, but I never let them get very far before doing so. However, this story is already complete, and once it gets rolling, it's pretty good. I suppose it's worth salvaging. 

Thus, I promise to think about working on it...sometime...maybe.