photo credit: Gamma-Ray Productions

Two years ago, I thought I was ready to revise my manuscript, which I’ve been working on for several years. With creativity, sometimes, you have to walk away from your work and return to it with a fresh eye.

It took the impending publication of a friend’s book and her cheer leading to take a fresh eye. As you may have read, I’ve been revising in my waking moments–those not filled with children, cooking, cleaning or clients. Taking a look at my work started me down the path reminiscent to my graduate school days: reading, pen in hand, and making comments in the margins. It seemed so, well, old school. I seemed to be spinning my wheels.

Then I remembered, I had requested a book to review…you guessed it, two years ago. But, like the revisions, I hadn’t gotten around to reading or reviewing it.

Darcy Pattison thankfully had sent me her “Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise” (Mims House, $18) and I couldn’t put it down.

Darcy is a writing teacher and an author who conducts Novel Revision Retreats. The book can be used in groups or alone.

How can a book on revision be creative? My bookshelves are filled with writing books on process and what a novel needs. Creativity oozes from most of them, but much of it is theory. Using a fresh eye, Darcy illuminates both the the craft of writing and the process of revising. She lends us a road map, which I’ve found useful. Darcy also has a blog, Fiction Notes: Believe in Your Story…a very helpful site. I am thankful I found Darcy’s book and even more thankful she is letting me review it. (I hope it was worth the wait!)

Now that I’ve re-discovered my novel, Novel Metamorphosis and my fresh eyes will be with me until the revision is done. And I’m not walking away from either.

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