A long time ago, I saw a presentation at a writing conference in which the speaker said that the way to revise a book was to finish a first draft, put it aside without even looking at it, step away from the project for a while, then write the book again, still without looking at the first draft. The idea was that the first draft was just you playing around with the characters and situation and figuring out what the story really was. Then you could write it for real. If there was anything worth keeping from that first draft, you’d remember it.

I think every writer in the room, including me, did a full-body cringe at the very idea, but I’ve come to see that there are situations when this is good advice, and I’ve actually done it. I don’t think it applies to every book. Most of my books have been pretty solid after the first draft. It would have been a waste of time to do a complete rewrite. I just did a good round of revision and a round of editing, and the book was what I wanted it to be. But it can be the best way to approach a book that just isn’t working because it means you can get to the core of the story without being tied to the initial draft. You can make real fixes instead of just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. It’s hard to get away from a plot line or structure that’s fundamentally flawed when you’re working with scenes from the flawed version.

One time I’ve done it was with an old “trunk” novel. The characters and situation stuck with me but the book just didn’t work. After years, I pulled it out and replotted and started over. I still don’t think the book matches my idea for what I want it to be, so I may start all over again. Ironically, this was the book I was drafting when I saw that presentation.

I’ve just realized that I’m going to have to do it again with the book I drafted last summer. I was kind of flailing with the plot, to the point that the climactic scene was what I originally planned as the midpoint, characters who were meant to play major roles vanished entirely, and the protagonist was just sort of running around and reacting to things. I’ve been digging into the characters and the world, and I’ve realized that there are some big changes I need to make that will cause even bigger changes down the line, to the point that at least half of the book no longer fits. I may be able to save the first two or three chapters and a few scenes along the way, but the story itself needs to change.

I’m actually kind of excited about this because it means I’ve figured out the problems and how to fix them. It’s getting closer to that perfect story in my head. And I love these characters and this world enough that I want to spend more time with them, especially in “creating” mode rather than in revision mode.

However, this alters my work plan. I’d planned the time for a revision, not a totally new first draft that will require its own revision. I’d also planned to do most of this in October and in early November, but I don’t know that it’ll be ready to write by then. So I need to move around the other book I need to revise and remove a project that was vague enough that I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get to it. This may end up being my January deep dive book. January is a good time for first drafts because I don’t want to go out and do much, anyway. It’s time to burrow under blankets with hot tea and play in imaginary worlds.

The project being taken off the list is a possible Christmas book. Every year, I think it would be fun to spend December playing with a Christmas-set romcom, using my decorations and Christmas music to set the mood as I write. Then I could revise it during the year and have something for a holiday-season release. But I haven’t managed to do that in ages, since Twice Upon a Christmas, because either I end up working on something else more urgent or I don’t quite have a story idea ready to go. What I may do is play with an idea this year — while I’m listening to Christmas music, drinking hot cocoa, and eating Christmas cookies I’ll do some pen and paper brainstorming. I can develop the idea along the way during the year, then next December it will be ready to write, if I don’t have something else I need to work on.