Thank you for writing this. I always feel overwhelmed when I see writers who are managing thousands of words in a sitting on a consistent basis. I love that you keep notes on the process. I’m definitely going to start doing that!
Yessss notes please! More notes! Notes on notes! (said person writing speculative not-so-short short stories with footnotes and considering footnotes to the footnotes [do those have a special name?!])
I really enjoyed reading this. My first novel took me 8 and a half years, constantly rewriting. Sometimes, the joy ar the end of a day. Usually a feeling of meager progress and tired
I started something like this as I wrote my first book. I’m in revisions right now. For me this is the hardest part of the journey —so far.
I like the spare nature of yours versus mine which is in word version. I record similarly but I feel like I am leaving far too much room for notes. This can be hard on the psyche after a session. My mind flayed. My tools—the scythe, the hacksaw, the spoon, trowel, and floss at my side , covered in the performative.
By the time I open the word doc Notes, it is daunting. The pressure of more overwhelming.
I gasped when I read 70-90 drafts!But this is giving me inspiration to go back to the novel I shoved in a drawer 4 years ago after draft 7. Currently skipping back and forth between 2 other half-finished novels and finishing nothing!
The House of Beauty took 10 years from ugliest draft zero to now and I am so sincerely hoping to shave off 5 years (somehow) with the next one so this does make me feel better, thank you hahaha
Love this! As a writer, but an almost pathologically inconsistent one, the reminders of progress, no matter how small, are so important. Grateful for your words.
Reese! I continue to carry so many things I learned from you and when I saw this spreadsheet on your instagram post, it couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m working on gnarly novel revisions right now and this is genius. Useful not only for the current project, but something that will serve me for years to come. Thank you!
thank you! & for me on socials it can help me relax a little about wanting to extensively revise every. word. i put out there. ditto with capitalization. i don’t do it in my books but who knows
I love your passion and need to revise so much! You’re a hero. I’m in a one-book-a-year pattern, and when I submit, I always wonder what it would be like if I had one more year to polish it. Or two or three. Sometimes I feel like I’ve only just gotten the plot and characters where I want them and haven’t had the time to consider every single sentence in the manner it deserves. Though I’m not sure I have the toleration to sit with the same characters for that long. I really look forward to reading one of your books soon.
yes of course! I was starting a new revision from the beginning of the novel, so at the point where I was in the draft the total word count went back to zero
does that mean you re-type/draft out what you’ve written (with edits) in the process of revising it? ive heard of that as a classic, hand-written technique but im so screen-based i wasnt even thinking of that
I remember when you mentioned that you kept this kind of log at Sewanee. I do the same, but I need to add more of what I was feeling/doing. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for writing this. I always feel overwhelmed when I see writers who are managing thousands of words in a sitting on a consistent basis. I love that you keep notes on the process. I’m definitely going to start doing that!
<33
Yessss notes please! More notes! Notes on notes! (said person writing speculative not-so-short short stories with footnotes and considering footnotes to the footnotes [do those have a special name?!])
<333 (& here’s to your footnotes)
Cannot think of a more writerly thing than before you die thinking “but my book hasn’t published!” I think this before I get on a plane every time!
😭 it’s never going to end, i think
I really enjoyed reading this. My first novel took me 8 and a half years, constantly rewriting. Sometimes, the joy ar the end of a day. Usually a feeling of meager progress and tired
“meager progress and tired” ohh yes
I started something like this as I wrote my first book. I’m in revisions right now. For me this is the hardest part of the journey —so far.
I like the spare nature of yours versus mine which is in word version. I record similarly but I feel like I am leaving far too much room for notes. This can be hard on the psyche after a session. My mind flayed. My tools—the scythe, the hacksaw, the spoon, trowel, and floss at my side , covered in the performative.
By the time I open the word doc Notes, it is daunting. The pressure of more overwhelming.
I am keen to put it in this format.
Oh I hope it helps! & for what it’s worth I keep longer-form notes too, but that’s much more intermittent & only when I feel like it
I gasped when I read 70-90 drafts!But this is giving me inspiration to go back to the novel I shoved in a drawer 4 years ago after draft 7. Currently skipping back and forth between 2 other half-finished novels and finishing nothing!
<3
The House of Beauty took 10 years from ugliest draft zero to now and I am so sincerely hoping to shave off 5 years (somehow) with the next one so this does make me feel better, thank you hahaha
<33 (& ah but what you made in those 10 years 💐)
so happy you’re here
<33
Love this! As a writer, but an almost pathologically inconsistent one, the reminders of progress, no matter how small, are so important. Grateful for your words.
<333
Reese! I continue to carry so many things I learned from you and when I saw this spreadsheet on your instagram post, it couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m working on gnarly novel revisions right now and this is genius. Useful not only for the current project, but something that will serve me for years to come. Thank you!
oh this means so much to me, thank you marjee! wishing you every good thing with your novel revisions xx
I’m fascinated by this spreadsheet…
<33
I look forward to seeing how you tick. And also curious about the use of & choice. Is that in your books too?
thank you! & for me on socials it can help me relax a little about wanting to extensively revise every. word. i put out there. ditto with capitalization. i don’t do it in my books but who knows
I love your passion and need to revise so much! You’re a hero. I’m in a one-book-a-year pattern, and when I submit, I always wonder what it would be like if I had one more year to polish it. Or two or three. Sometimes I feel like I’ve only just gotten the plot and characters where I want them and haven’t had the time to consider every single sentence in the manner it deserves. Though I’m not sure I have the toleration to sit with the same characters for that long. I really look forward to reading one of your books soon.
Excited to read these letters! 💕
💌💌
I really love this idea! Altho I’d love to understand how you conceptualized your word count restarting on day 2, if you have time.
yes of course! I was starting a new revision from the beginning of the novel, so at the point where I was in the draft the total word count went back to zero
does that mean you re-type/draft out what you’ve written (with edits) in the process of revising it? ive heard of that as a classic, hand-written technique but im so screen-based i wasnt even thinking of that
yes, I retype everything for years! Toward the very, very end I’ll stop but not until then <3
I remember when you mentioned that you kept this kind of log at Sewanee. I do the same, but I need to add more of what I was feeling/doing. Thanks for sharing!
<3
I so relate to thinking “I cannot die before I finish this fucking book.” Excited to learn more about your process in these posts!
<33