Walking Through the Pages

This week I've been pleasantly surprised at the pace of revisions for the current beast I'm working on. I'd already identified parts that needed added or strengthened as I read through, but never expected those additions to come so easily. 

Working through a second draft of a manuscript can usually go one of two ways, torturous or pleasant. Ironically, a story that flowed onto the page so easily is more likely the torturous revision. At least for me, in those instances, I typically love what I wrote when I wrote it and therefore finding fault or necessary changes becomes harder. There's a rhythm to the prose that you are wary to break up. Everything is already so neat and tidy that there is no desire to get your hands dirty.

On the other side are the manuscripts that have to fight and claw their way out, and barely make scratches on the page once they do. These are the kinds of stories you doubt at every chapter. I find these are the easier manuscripts to deal with in second drafts. Perhaps because at the moment of completion, they never feel done to begin with. Plus, I'm never fully confident in the entirety of it, therefore taking it apart in place to build it back up isn't very hard.