Well dear reader, this week I started on a dangerous task. I’m applying new techniques to old work. Recently I submitted my novel Unintended Consequences to a larger publisher. Part of my pitch was that Johnson Farm, my first novel, would be pulled, re-tuned, and updated. The idea is the entire double series will come out under one label.

Johnson farm was a first novel. It came out before I discovered the 1 ½ pass editing technique . It’s a little dated. And, I’ve learned a thing or two since I wrote it. Now, I’m re-editing and rewriting with new techniques and understanding. It will make the book better, but there are real challenges.

What challenges?

Well… I knew there would be updates for some real-world events and changes, and a few things that better tie in with Unintended Consequences and its sequel The Calm Inside the Storm.

I did not expect that I will be doing major rework on my ‘funeral’ chapter. I thought it was the most solid one in the book, and it was one of the first finished. But, I’m finding I may just have been afraid to cut into my ‘sacred cow’.

I definitely didn’t think I would rewrite the post log. When I did my initial work on Johnson Farm’s sequel Going Home the Hard Way I didn’t think the ending of Johnson Farm was a problem. I also didn’t know I would do a ‘side series’ that covered the time span in more detail.

I found those challenges reading the first 40 pages. Since then… I’m planning to split a major chapter and revise each half to better reflect themes in the book and create better tone for each piece. And, I still have the conjunction of Johnson Farm and The Calm Inside the Storm ahead of me (Monday will be fun! In a pass the caffeine and hide the sidearms kind of way…).

Next week I’ll start re-editing the old stuff while first editing the new stuff in parallel. This is where the 1 ½ pass technique will really help. It’s the point where things become really complicated.

Better techniques, better results

Johnson Farm existed before the 1 ½ pass technique entered my life. Editing the first edition would have been faster with the new technique (a lot faster…). Each pass would have taken longer, but I wouldn’t have had to do as many passes. I would have been able to work on big picture issues that crossed the whole book much sooner, because I would find them, think about them, and create better solutions all in one pass rather than taking two or three go-rounds to get them through my thick head. I could have skipped some intermediate steps that didn’t work because I could see the entire project better.

And the benefits keep rolling… Now that I will be editing the old, simple, one perspective most of the way story alongside a second text, the 1 ½ pass method helps because I need to do more meta thinking between the books and within each book. It’s hard to do that when you only work on one book at a time.

The coordination between books will make editing better and faster. It also boosts my confidence for the next step… When I resume work on Going Home the Hard Way while I’m doing the initial writing of the final book of the Unintended Consequences trilogy.

Learning new things, developing new techniques, helps us to do more, create better products, and do things we couldn’t have done before. It can be scary to open old wounds . But, sometimes coming back with new techniques helps us turn mediocre old stuff into something great.

Editing takes work and patience. Good writing takes effort and learning (not just knowledge but learning…)

It’s difficult dear reader. But, I’m doing it. And, so can you!

That’s it for this one. Good luck in your writing, and… I’ll see you next post.