Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, couldn’t put Humpty together again.
It’s a familiar nursery rhyme we’d all likely committed to memory before we could even walk, right? And it’s also the only way I can describe exactly what my current novel looks like right now.
Ok, so in a previous post I mentioned how I needed to cut a few words from my manuscript to make it more marketable in the middle grade genre. At first I was terrified – I had to cut how many words? Then I thought about it and realized it was a good thing – cutting things down would only make me focus in on the most important parts which would help get the story as tight as possible. And I still feel that way.
Except for the fact that at this exact moment in time, it’s broken. Like, really broken.
I’m on a full read through revision and am making notes of key points that accidentally got deleted in my chaotic slasher frenzy. And those notes are piling up. *Gulp* I’m absolutely on board with all the cuts I made. They were needed. The story drags a lot less and I can see a difference in the momentum overall. I’m excited about how it’s going to turn out.
It’s just that right now it’s sort of a big pile of mush. There’s a lot of work to be done before it will be put back together again. So. much. work. Just the thought of it makes my pulse race and palms sweat. Ugh.
But it’s going to be ok. I know it will be. It’s hard to see at the present moment, when all I can envision are the hours (read: days/weeks) of work that lay ahead. Still… it will happen. In time. And then it will be so much better than it was before.
And I will be thankful.
A year from now this will all be a distant memory and maybe I won’t even remember that my sweet story about a little orphan girl that became a princess had at one time shattered into a million tiny pieces.
It will be ok. I will be ok. Eventually. Until then, I’ll be in my hidey-hole in revision mode.
Happy reading, friends!