One of the hardest parts about a revision, I find, is simply starting the dang thing. The whole concept is just too daunting. There are so many things to fix, and in my abortive fledgeling novels said fixes are never just a simple one-line tweak but rather involve complicated novel-length rearrangements and convolutions and the memory capacity of, well… an all-remembering thing.

Yeah, kinda fell over there, didn't I? It happens.

So this afternoon I have done what I should have done days ago: I printed out the novel onto paper and skimmed/read it, noting down a very rough outline. (This would be the sequel to Shadow Queen, for those keeping track.) I don't know why I've avoided the print-it-out trick before now, because it really is the best thing to wrap my head around the plot and where I can insert scenes and where I can delete them, and what I wanted to change and what my beta readers think I need to change… In other words, when I print it out on paper, it's not so daunting any more.

So, note to self, for future revisions (because, hey, I'll forget again, in time for the next revision): Stop hesitating. Smoosh the margins and reduce the font and print two pages to a sheet if you must, but just print it out already. You know you need to.