By Aleina Smith ’27, staff writer
The LVC English and creative writing department hosted “The New Work Series” featuring Abby Lavery on revising her novel on Tuesday, April 14.
Lavery, a senior English, history and creative writing triple major, is working on revising her novel project, “Fatefall.” This young adult fantasy novel has been in the works since 2022, and Lavery is currently working on her third draft of book one. While revision has been her least favorite part of the project, it’s a special and essential part of the process.
“I think my favorite part of the revision process might just be the learning aspect,” Lavery said. “In a way, I’m exploring the possibilities of a new stage of the writing process, and it has been really interesting to learn different revision strategies.”
The revision process as a whole is extremely repetitive—especially on such a big project—and it can be hard to find the motivation to sit down and want to write when it feels like a chore. “Fatefall’s” first draft was over 140,000 words, and after almost eight re-reads, Lavery is struggling with the will to write.
“A few years ago, I listened to a lecture by Brandon Sanderson where he said that he requires his advanced creative writing classes to write 35,000 words a semester,” she said. “I wanted to try it for myself and ended up setting a goal in the 2024 spring semester to write 500 words a day.”
Since making this goal, plus the addition of filling out a spreadsheet, Lavery has been able to keep up with her goal and keep progressing on the project. She also mentioned that having something consistently “new” added to the project keeps things fresh; from a new Pinterest board or playlist to a new idea or fresh eyes on the piece.
“All of my workshop classes have been the most beneficial by far,” Lavery said. “Any time you’re getting someone else’s eyes on your work, it highlights all the problems you didn’t notice in your work before.”
Lavery has also had the assistance of the LVC English and creative writing department to boost her project. Something very helpful for her is Dr. Holly M. Wendt’s reverse outline template provided in their fiction workshop class.
Throughout the process, Lavery has also learned new aspects about herself that have changed her as a person outside of writing, too. Revision has taught her to be patient and give herself grace.
“I’ve always been a perfectionist, and in the past, I’ve had a bad habit of taking criticism personally even when it’s not,” Lavery said. “Now that I’m deep in my revisions, I think I’ve started to understand that critique of my work is not a critique of me as a person.”
Lavery also knows the ins and outs of rereading and advised on how to stay engaged.
“Write the kind of story you want to read,” she said. “You are going to be rereading and rewriting in what feels like a never-ending cycle, and it’s important that your story remains exciting to you.”
As the reviews editor for LVC’s “Green Blotter,” Lavery also knows the importance of practice to improve.
“No words are wasted words,” Lavery said. “Words aren’t wasted if they’re helping you to practice and improve.”
Truthfully, practicing and improving as well as revising and rereading, are all part of what it takes to outline the best revisions in red.