I am surprised, again, to find I am making progress on the revision. On days when I have more time to write, this revision is my top priority. On days crowded with work and family commitments, I still take a few minutes to consider where I am and where I am going with this revision, which tends to help me stay on track.
One surprise is that I am getting fresh ideas for this novel, new scenes or glimpses into characters, even after so much work on previous plans and drafts. Revising the novel to one limited point of view has sparked most of the fresh ideas, including filling in some (likely) missing details.
Of course, I have had the experience in past revisions of generating a new idea, description or detail that I integrate somewhere in the text, only to cut that exact line mercilessly during the editing process. So I do not know right now if these new ideas are flowers or weeds :). Nonetheless, I learn even from what I cut.
reader. writer. 