The Messy Truth About Love: Revision
Now that I made the announcement in my newsletter, I can widely share: The Messy Truth About Love is a return to Cantos and to familiar characters, specifically Seth Peters from The Ugly Truth. The story jumps ahead four years after his accident. He’s transferred colleges and is trying to start over, and who does he bump into? Hannah Fleming.
As I revise The Messy Truth About Love, I find myself feeling the gaps, knowing there are pieces that need to be placed, and not sure how to do it. This requires returning to the “drafting” by exploring character arcs and understanding motives. Just this morning, as I was rinsing my hair in the showerI had an “ah ha” moment about one of the main characters that made things clearer.
I love this part of the writing process, even if it can be frustrating. Why? Unlike drafting, the blueprint is already there. Now, it’s about finding the missing points, restructuring them to work harder, developing characters and plot points so they have an impact. Revising is like seeing the whole picture, but filling in the gaps. The difficult part is struggling to see the gaps, or knowing they are there, and not knowing how to fill them.
I am putting a lot of pressure on myself to do this story right (Okay. Yes. You’re right. I do that with every story I write). This is a little different for different reasons. First, there are existing characters in an existing world. People who have loved the Cantos Chronicles will definitely have expectations. It makes me anxious that I’ll mess that up somehow. I want to add to the tapestry of this world. Second, this is set in a new adult world of college versus the young adult world of high school. That changes things significantly because college and adulthood has its own complexities and what if readers aren’t ready to see Seth as a man making adult choices? Third, I want to make sure the story is awesome, but then that’s always my hope with every book I write.
Look, I’m probably overthinking it all, but then, I probably wouldn’t be a writer if I didn’t.
Is there a book you enjoyed that was a favorite character revisited?
