Three weeks ago tonight, I received an edit letter outlining all the major (and minor) changes I needed to be thinking about as I revise my YA novel. But what does a traditional track revision look like in terms of work? Well, I’ll give you a hint: it’s more than moving commas around.
AHEM *fetches reading glasses*
Here are my projected stats for this revision:
CUTS: 12 scenes, 3-4 threads, ~4 characters (+1 with almost no page time)
COMPLETELY NEW MATERIAL: 10 scenes, 17 other significant* insertions
MAJOR REWRITES: 15 scenes, plus 12 with substantial adjustments
LINE EDITS: *delirious laughter* 80+ tweaks of substance, X more for fine details, & a large, uncounted number of cuts.
*significant = in terms of creative brain power, not necessarily length
There will be other changes that are harder to quantify, too. But the bottom line is: I know my book is going to be much stronger after this.
That makes me a happy writer.
Julie Israel 