About Revision: One Vital Part of My Process.

As you've probably gathered, I'm deep in revisions territory and as I've said before, I like revising. For me, it's the part where I take what is basically raw material and refine and shape.   If the Muses are kind, one may even end making one's manuscript sing with a music reminscent of the celestial spheres … It's always good to aspire, right?  Right!

One very important part of this process for me  is what I call "morning pages." The term "morning pages" originates (I believe) from a book by Julia Cameron called The Artist's Way. I personally found this to be a great book, one every artist "should" have. Years ago I read through the whole book from cover to cover and did most if not all the exercises. But "morning pages" is one of the creative exercises that really stuck.

Basically, what "morning pages" means is that the very first thing you do every day is wake up and write three pages long hand. I do 3 x A4 pages, but I guess A5 or foolscape would be equally okay.

A very important part of the exercise is that you try very hard not to think or lift your pen from the page until you're done. You just write. Sometimes what you write is pretty much rubbish—and that's okay. The important point is that you write. I've done the 3 pages of pretty much blah-blah-blah—but I've also written poems, developed characters, created worlds and ended books as part of those 3 little pages. It's a discipline, sure, but everything about writing is a  discipline (so what else is new?)

Right now, as I'm working through the Gathering manuscript and dealing with issues of plot and character development, continuity and consistency—including threads that go back to The Heir of Night and forward into the next two books in the series—the morning pages are my invaluable ally. Quite literally, they are where my subconscious tells me what its resolved while I've been sleeping (That's why it's really important to do the pages as soon as you wake up.) . I find the process a great start to another day of revision and seriously, if you haven't heard about morning pages or tried them already, give them a go. They may not end up being for you, but you never know—they just might be, too.