I’ve begun the process of putting the revisions I wrote in red ink on the first draft of my new novel and, so far, things are going pretty well.

As somewhat expected, I’ve begun to think of things to add to the book and, while I’m still in the opening act (page 18 of the single spaced, 10 point writing) I’ve already added one new segment and am about to add another.

It works, I feel, to help explain things that come later on in the book.

Of course, I’m being deliberately vague here and, who knows, maybe as I get into future drafts I cut down on some of that stuff because I figure out a better way of presenting it or get it presented later in the book without needing to elaborate at the beginning.

Am I making any sense?

I’ve grappled with metaphors to explain the writing process and the one that feels most apt is that writing a book is like doing an oil painting.

You start with some rough image you create on your canvas, perhaps in charcoal, then you add the broad brushstrokes to delineate the colors you’ll feature in your piece.

With oil, you can paint over an area, again and again, and merge colors to your heart’s content.

What starts out as a very rough work over time becomes refined and elaborate. Toward the end, you’re adding in those last flourishes/details.

I’m at the beginning still, but feel like I have a solid foundation to build up from.

We’ll see how it goes!