Hi Reader,

I talk with a lot of writers in the revision process.

I typically meet with writers when . . .

• You have an idea that you are passionate about, a vision that you are determined to turn into a novel you and your readers will love. You can feel the energy of it, an emotional experience you want to create for your readers. There’s a story playing in your imagination, and you want to transfer it, in all its dazzling glory, to others’ imaginations, too.
• You’ve written a draft of that novel. You’ve explored your idea through an entire first draft, chasing down its whims and wiles and pinning it to the page. It’s no longer just a vision in your imagination—it’s a manuscript.
• You’ve read through that manuscript, and you feel its shortcomings. Yes, it’s a lot like the vision in your mind. And also . . . it’s not yet conveying what you want it to convey. You can feel the gaps. You can feel how it falls short, how it won’t create the emotional experience you want your readers to have. It’s a start. But it’s not the masterpiece you envision.
• You revised it—and are still revising it. You make every change you can see that might make it better, that might bring your vision to life. You revise it on the structural level, on the scene level, on the line level. You revise it once, or a dozen times. You revise it with feedback from critique partners, editors, beta readers. You revise it with all the skills and knowledge you build from taking courses and reading craft books.
• You read the manuscript again . . . and it still does not match your vision. The energy in your mind isn’t landing on the page. The story in your imagination is getting lost when you translate it into words. You still love your story. But your manuscript is just okay. You can feel your readers will not be enraptured by it. It’s a shadow of your vision, not your vision come to life.

This point of the revision process is so incredibly painful.

By now, you’ve worked really, really hard to turn the vision in your mind into a novel you and your readers will love.

You’ve poured so much into it—your time, creative energy, money, passion and hopes and dreams.

And it just flat-out sucks that it’s not done yet. That your manuscript doesn’t match your vision. That the gap is still there.

Preventing your idea from reaching the page.

Preventing your story from reaching your readers.

Preventing you from reaching the finish line, where you can proudly declare your novel DONE and send it out into the world.

But just because it’s not there yet . . .

. . . doesn’t mean it never will be.

Put another way:

You’ll get there.

You’ll bring your vision to life on the page. You’ll tell the story in your imagination. You’ll translate your characters’ emotional ups and downs, joys and despairs, into a novel where your readers can feel them too.

You will create the novel that you are incandescently proud to share with your readers and publish to the world.

The pathway between your current manuscript and your vision is almost certainly longer and more challenging than you want it to be.

But it IS traversable. If you have the gumption to traverse it.

And considering how far you’ve come already, I’m betting you have the gumption to go the distance.

Happy editing,

Alice

P.S. Cathryn spent many drafts in this cycle of revision frustration. She had an idea she loved, and she doggedly, determinedly wrote and revised her manuscript to bring it to life. Yet she still felt that gap between her vision and her readers. Here’s how she finally closed the gap and crafted a novel she’s proud to share and her readers love.​

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