Recently I’d been under the gun… my own gun, really… to make revisions to a manuscript my agent was expecting sooner rather than later. I enjoy the revision process because it’s my chance to dig in deep and pull the story out from cracks and crevices it may have slipped through along the way. Making revisions gives me the opportunity to add layers to my characters, clarify motivations, ratchet up the tension and spackle any holes left in the plot.
To be perfectly honest, I don’t write fast. In fact, I write much slower now than when I first started writing. The more I know the harder it gets, and though I scold my internal editor for interfering with the creative process, she won’t go away. My muse is hard to please. I take my time when it comes to revisions.
I’m thankful to my pets for their patience.
Sammy: What are you moping about?
Kinsey: I’m not moping. I’m waiting.
Sammy: For what?
Kinsey: Rolls her eyes. You know very well what.
Sammy: Oh. That.
Kinsey: It’s that time again.
Sammy: Mom’s finished another book.
Kinsey: Yep.
Sammy: And you’re waiting for…?
Kinsey: My walk. Ball play time. Treats. The usual.
Sammy: At least we’re being entertained.
Kinsey: True.
Sammy: I never get tired of listening to Mom read her book out loud.
Kinsey: Me neither. She reads it from start to finish and even changes her voice sometimes for the different characters.
Sammy: I like that.
Kinsey: I do, too.
Sammy: So why are you waiting? I thought she sent the manuscript to her agent already.
Kinsey: Nods. She did. Just the other day.
Sammy: Then what are you waiting for?
Kinsey: For her to finish making notes for her next book.
Sammy: And now it starts all over again.
Kinsey: That’s right. And I don’t mind waiting so much. Especially when we get to listen to Mom read to us.
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Karen Duvall is an award-winning author with 4 published novels and 2 novellas. Harlequin Luna published her Knight’s Curse series last year, and her post apocalyptic novella, Sun Storm, was released in Luna’s ‘Til The World Ends anthology in January 2013.
Karen lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and four incredibly spoiled pets. She is currently working on a new contemporary fantasy romance series.
http://www.karenduvallauthor.com/
https://twitter.com/KarenDuvall
Karen, you’re so lucky to have patient pets who respect your work process. And congratulations for wrapping up a new manuscript!