Rewrites from A Cat’s Perspective
Hi there, you don’t know me, but my name is Gracie. I am a domestic short-hair feline. Don’t roll your eyes at me. Felines have sat beside some of the best loved writers in history, from Hemingway to Alcott to Harriet Beecher Stowe. Add Madison Michael to the list. And welcome to my first blog post, #MeowyMadison
I often sit on her keyboard—not a favorite of Maddy’s—or under her glass desk, where I can sun myself and watch her work. Or nap. I am very fond of a nap. To keep her on her toes, I threaten to spill Madison’s coffee creeping up and sliding my paw down the side of one of her favorite mugs until the cup begins to tilt, and Maddy shrieks. I think the game is hilarious, but I’m not sure Madison is as enthusiastic. But she drinks a lot of coffee, so the game continues.
Lately, Maddy’s been talking a lot about editing and rewriting. I can always tell when she Is writing her first draft. Words flow fast, her fingers flying over the keyboard, her mood elated. I get lots of petting and treats during this phase of a novel.
Rewrites and the 80/20 Rule
Not so once Maddy begins her rewrites. Maddy does a lot of rewrites. I’m not surprised when she calls her first draft her ‘vomit’ draft, a time to get an idea, and characters from her mind to the page. She doesn’t worry about form, or spelling, or even research. It’s a free for all that gets cleaned up with rewrites, and rewrites, and editors and more rewrites.
Maddy has said that writing a novel is 20% writing, 80% rewriting, although I am sure she read that somewhere. For this author and feline, that seems to be true. I heard her tell someone she does at least three rewrites of her novel before a reader, even a beta reader, sees it.
I can tell the difference when she is rewriting too. She rolls her desk chair from keyboard to bookshelf, reviewing books of lists, dictionaries and thesauruses. She mumbles more too, and not happily. And you guessed it. Less petting and treats for me.
I tend to slink away to a hiding place in the back of the closet, or under the bed when Maddy does edits. She chews on a pencil, squints her eyes at the keyboard and uses a lot of colorful words too spicy for my young ears. I am only three after all.
I heard Maddy talking to another writer about this during a mentoring session. “So much goes into a story,” she told the first-time author “that it becomes difficult to view it with fresh eyes, with reader eyes. But that is what it takes to create a great story, tearing it down and rebuilding. That means being willing to read and even reread a story.”
I have heard Maddy do this, because part of her process is to read her stories out loud. Some I have heard repeatedly, growing bored if I am honest. Not Maddy. She insists that if she is not willing to stay with a story, why should she expect that her readers will?
And in the end, with the help of her wonderful editors, and me of course, she publishes her very best effort. Today, that effort is Bewildered, a completely revised version of the prequel to her Beguiling Bachelor Romance Series Prequel. Having listened to the old version and the new, shout outs to Nicole at Emerald Edits for helping Maddy produce a better book.
Here’s a sneak peek:
Bewildered: The Beguiling Bachelors Beginning
Two Perfect Men.
Two Best Friends.
One Choice
Sloane Huyler is a spoiled, demanding beauty, and smart as a whip. She’s also lonely; manipulated by grasping parents to marry a man who can catapult them to the top of Chicago society. Sloane striving never to disappoint is on a fast train to the top, Sloane is VP in her father’s business, on the board of a prestigious hospital, and at the top of her MBA class, when she’s offered a mentor to help her complete the program.
Enter two men, both excellent candidates as mentors—and husbands—being served up to Sloane on a silver platter. Finally, a way to achieve all her goals. Sloane suddenly finds school and life very stimulating.
Wyatt Howe, IV, is movie-star handsome, old moneyed, well connected, and a hunk. He has a reputation as a player, but Sloane believes she can claim this prize. Sexy, rugged and enticing, the elusive Randall Parker gives Wyatt a run for his money in the looks and money departments, and in his appeal to Sloane.
Sloane would normally go after both, but these two are best friends. No way she can play two friends against each other. She must choose. Either man would fit her needs, and her father’s, but so far, both have escaped the clutches of any women whose tried to pin the men down.
But Sloane’s not just any woman.
A mentorship program spells opportunity, and Sloane doesn’t plan to waste it. Six weeks doesn’t leave much time to seal the deal. Sloane must choose one man, and fast, without burning her bridges with the other.
How does a woman choose between two perfect men? Especially two men who have plans of their own?
Available now exclusively on Amazon. Want to read it for free? Join my Insiders and I’ll send you my newsletter twice a month and free content, like Bewildered,