News Update ~ Condensing My Novel

Being sick has its advantages. No, it actually doesn't, but it gave me a day without the normal distractions of eating and doing other pleasant things. So, what better use of my time than to not have fun and instead pop pain killers and work on my novel-to-novella revisions?

As I sat here with my three prescription bottles at the ready, I forced myself to pull up my dreaded manuscript.  

I'm not saying it's done, but it's damn close. The final read-through will tell the tale. I filled in a few gaps, fixed a couple of things that were disjointed, fleshed out the ex-fiance enough to make him tolerable; tried to clean up the weird writing style I'd employed all those years ago. 

Speaking of which, I don't know if it's a matter of writing experience or if I was suffering some kind of breakdown at the time, but the original manuscript reads like a complete stranger wrote it. I'm going to chalk it up to being green. I wanted to convey the main character's toughness, but I turned her into a cynical bitch. No wonder the one publishing rep who read it rejected it out of hand. I haven't written a character like her since. Tough is fine; being a complete asshole is a turn-off.

In the revision I managed to give her some heart, and her toughness is revealed through her actions. Oh, she still has some infuriating qualities, but at least she's more like a real person now. 

I'll do the final read-through in a couple of days, and if I'm satisfied I'll need to develop a new title and new cover art. I'm not about to jinx it with the ghost of past failures. 

In my delirious state, I'm as excited as I can summon myself to be. I honestly didn't believe it could be done. A 60,000-word novel is now a 35,000-word novella. That's really long as far as my novellas go, but no one can say they aren't getting their $1.99 worth. 

This is one I'm going to monitor (once it's published) for reader reaction. It's unlike anything I've written. I don't plan on promoting it, but someone may find it and give it a whirl. It could happen. 

And now I'm off to swallow a couple more Ibuprofen.