Writing Process AKA Revision Hell

I'm in the revision cave right now AKA revision hell.

I just read chapter one and all I can think is WHAT THE HECK WAS I (not?!) THINKING?!
I mean, I definitely threw everything and the kitchen sink in this thing. I know there's a heart of a good story here, and when I'm done it will be so much better, but OH DEAR GOD this sucks so bad.
And the good thing about this is I've been through the revision process enough now to know it's okay. I'll get through the this sucks part and get to the this is magic part.

If you're lucky enough to be blessed with the first draft muse genius, embrace that gift. I am not that lucky. Funny thing is way back when I started writing, I thought I WAS blessed with the gift of awesome writerly greatness. I mean, hello, my fourth grade teacher told me so, my mom told me so, my best friends in junior high told me so, my professors told me something I took to be so but now see as something completely different.
Even funnier thing, when I first started self-publishing I STILL believed in the greatness...sort of.
I'm learning though.
I mean, I believe in zeitgeist for sure. In the magic where the stars align and everything just flows and you finish a book and say holy cow, that was freaking amazing.
BUT zeitgeist is a rare and beautiful thing.
And in what I just read? The closest thing to zeitgeist was me closing the iPad because I needed a break to come write this down.
Revision hell is a good thing. Usually it's where the magic happens.
At least it is for me.
Because my first couple drafts, especially of my suspense novels, are more detailed outlines. And sometimes they're more of a hodgepodge of ideas that may or may not work. Mostly because my plots aren't always hammered out before I start writing, so I'm exploring, discovering, learning the story while I'm writing.
I usually have a better grasp on my characters, thank goodness.
So yeah, I'm in the revision cave with a plot that makes me wrinkle my forehead and wonder what I was thinking, and characters who are telling me to take a deep breath because figuring that out is what revision hell is for.

I hope I survive! JK, I know I will.

FYI: My steamy contemporary romance One Night In Vegas debuts tomorrow on kindle. It concludes the It Started In Texas series. I survived revision hell with it and then some. :) Tomorrow's book birthday newsletter is made up of 12 romantic recipes. You can subscribe with the link at the top of the sidebar!

Happy writing and reading.
Liz Lee