Pond novel, draft two

Hello, friends.

Last we talked, I was bouncing between projects, and this week, I landed: I’m doing a revision of the pond novel.

I sent the first draft to my agent in January. She got back to me with notes over a month ago, when I was still trying to wrap up my revision of Leave. Now that I’ve sent that manuscript on its way and taken a little breather, I’m ready to turn my attention to Ashley’s edits.

This week in writing

I’ve been a Scrivener user for many years, but lately I’ve been contemplating alternatives because I don’t love that Scrivener syncs across devices using Dropbox, and I also haven’t figured out a way to export my work that doesn’t require a ton of reformatting. (I’m sure there is a way; I just haven’t mastered it.)

Since the pond novel was never in Scrivener to begin with, it’s a good test case for a different software. I downloaded a trial of Ulysses, and my plan is to bring the chapters over one at a time and work on each until I’m ready to move onto the next.

Some chapters need more work than others. A third of the book is told from the point of view of a character that Ashley deemed “very, very dull.” Obviously this character needs a major overhaul, so that’s top priority. I’m also toying with changing the setting to upstate New York. And there’s a pretty major plot line that’s not working. So, you know, easy stuff.

To help with this revision, I’m throwing myself back into my Morning Writing Club routine. I’m nervous about this draft, but also excited.

This week in reading

I finished and really enjoyed Claire Dederer’s Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma. This is not a book of easy arguments — the problem of what to do about art you love by artists who have disappointed you really is a dilemma — but I felt like I was in very capable hands with Dederer as she thought it through from many angles.

Now I’m reading Stay True by Hua Hsu and dipping in and out of A Whale Is a Country by Isabel Zapata, translated by Robin Myers. The books are still good!

Wherever you are, whatever you’re working on, I hope your next steps are becoming clear.