So, I said at the end of July that I’d resume Block Revision (Lesson 17 from the Holly Lisle ‘How to Revise your Novel’ course,) in September after I was back home from Dragon*Con. It took a few days, but I started on Thursday, and now I’ve got four new scenes blocked out, taking me up to scene 39 out of 57 scenes on my Focus Outline.
It’s going okay so far, but I feel like I’m in stop-and-go traffic instead of cruising down the revision highway. I’ll set the timer for 45 minutes, play the Monastery music, sit down, bang out one scene, look at the next… and have just no idea what I need to do with it. I think maybe I’m just out of touch with the Focus Outline, and maybe what I need to do next is review every card from here to the end of the book and let my subconscious chew on them and figure things out.
Or I may need to get the entire Block Revision layout back on the living room table. I’ve only been getting what I need so far, which includes:
- Alphasmart
- Focus cards
- Completed pages
- Pages yet to work on
- Pens
- Important character notes
- Binder of not-so-important notes
- Beverage container
- Snacks if I can work them into the diet
Then again, maybe I’m worrying over nothing. It took me a while to work up to speed in July, even after the week of preparations I took to make sure I was ready to start on Block Revision.
I’ll get it done. I’m sure of that.
The Kelworth Files 