On Novel Writing VI

Revision on my short novel is going a bit slower than I anticipated and hoped. While I’d hoped to be nearly complete with the process this week, it’s Wednesday and I’m only a quarter of the way through the manuscript. But the process is proving effective. I’ve caught and corrected three or four typos in the first fifty pages. I’ve also fleshed out ideas and added about 2,000 words to the text so far. I’m primarily rephrasing sentences that I don’t think flow or read well, and revising adjectives and verbs that don’t quite accurately express the meanings I’m striving for. As an example, I changed the clause “Anastasia sneered” to “Anastasia snarled” not only because Anastasia doesn’t have a personality that would “sneer,” but because “sneer” implies a deceitful, devious, wicked attitude while “snarled” conveys the appropriate amoral animalistic aggressiveness that suits the scenario. Furthermore, “sneered” evokes a sense of languid pacing while “snarled” implies immediacy and suddenness. My revision process may be taking a bit longer than anticipated, but I’m being careful to examine every word to make sure that every sentence reads the way I want it to.