Back Story . . . or Revisions Redux

You may recall that I've been doing revisions on Spence and Sadie. Probably you think I should have got them finished by now and be halfway through another book. Some writers undoubtedly would be. Sadly, not this one.

I am wallowing in back story -- the stuff that happened to Spence and Sadie before they were ever a twinkle in a writer's eye. And it's the back story that I've had to revise. That was where the editor had her hang-up. And that was what we spent a week discussing -- and finally more or less agreeing on.

But agreeing and doing something about it are two entirely different things. Saying something will work and actually making it work integral to the story and the characters and not just "tacked on" is tougher than it looks. In this case I practically had to go back to their conception. Literally. Well, maybe not that far, but in Sadie's case back as far as high school. And really, though he wouldn't admit it, it would have been about that time -- when Sadie was in high school -- for Spence, too. And then I had to rework the precipitating event SUBSTANTIALLY.

And, of course, everything that follows then undergoes a transformation too. My first editor called this "the ripple effect." It is -- but in the case of Spence and Sadie it's a ripple the size of a tsunami.

But I think I've got it now. At least the back story holds together. It feels as if it could have happened (but for my money, so could the original version). And what's happening now is a result of that -- and who they are now. Even so, there's a lot of restructuring involved to get them to where they need to be in chapter four. Then I hope the sailing gets smoother. But I won't know until I get there.

Writing -- it's an adventure.