Recently, I’ve been doing some story soul searching.  And I’ve learned an important revision lesson… something simple that every doctor knows well: The symptom of the problem is often different from the problem itself.

For example, an upset stomach could just mean you ate too much Chunky Monkey.  Or it could mean you have appendicitis, vertigo, that you’re pregnant, have kidney failure, heart problems… or that you’re making yourself sick worrying that you have one of these things.  So pain in your stomach might not have anything to do with your stomach at all.

Same thing with a story.  Your critique group could tell you, “The dialogue’s not really flowing in this scene.”  And it’s probably true, but it might not be the actual problem.  The real problem could be that you, the writer, don’t know your character well enough to write them authentic dialogue.  Or maybe you’re trying to work information into the scene and it’s coming out forced.  Or that scene should come a lot earlier or later in the book.  Or maybe you have appendicitis.

The hardest part of revision is often tracking down the issue itself.  Because if you just take Tums, it might get rid of your stomach ache for a little while, but the real problem is gonna come back and kick you in the teeth.

Which brings me to the work I’ve been doing with my amazing agent, Michael Bourret.  It’s like he has a story CAT scan.  He’s got a knack for skipping past the symptoms and diagnosing the actual problem.  It’s heavenly.  It saves hours of needless hospital visits and doctors bills… (I’ll leave it up in the air as to whether that’s metaphorical or literal.)  Unfortunately, once I have diagnosis, I don’t always have the cure.  Sigh… I guess that’s what being a writer is all about.  Better go self-medicate.

Posted in Revision, Writing

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