A Little Hatred, the first book in Joe Abercrombie’s new trilogy The Age of Madness, comes out next week, which means the Lord of Grimdark is hard at work on books 2 and 3. Book 3, The Beautiful Machine, is currently in the initial drafts phase, and the author announced last month that he’s in the final rounds of revision for book 2, The Trouble With Peace.
While many authors prefer to keep this part of the writing grind private (which, hey, we totally get), Abercrombie’s been very forthcoming about his revision process. In an ongoing Twitter thread, the author broke down all the steps he takes to whip a draft into shape. Check them out below!
I have begun my setting pass on the second book in my forthcoming trilogy, The Trouble With Peace. These days, once a book's close to finished, I do three passes through: one for setting, one for character, one for detail of language.
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) August 22, 2019
Most of this is aimed at converting the bland or basic into the detailed, unusual and arresting (as much as I am capable of). With the setting pass I'm trying to keep consistency with previous stuff, and use any stray research that makes me look clever…
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) August 22, 2019
But I'm also thinking about the small stuff, season, weather, time of day, arresting details of a room or outdoor space. Some chapters will naturally have a lot of setting in them – often when a character is new to a place and the experience is novel…
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) August 22, 2019
And sometimes you might have an oblivious character who doesn't notice their surroundings much unless they have to. But often my first drafts are a bit bland and can do with a detail or two, just to make the place feel lived in.
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) August 22, 2019
In an ideal world you might find some feature that strikes sparks from the observer, or adds to a conversation. Does a portrait of some old king strike a nerve? Does a rain squall remind someone of that horrible event years ago? Does spilled wine make someone think of blood?
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) August 22, 2019
Doesn't have to be big stuff. Might just be a word and a thought. Just helps the world feel that little bit more real and the characters more part of it.
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) August 22, 2019
A couple of weeks ago I was talking about my revision process, doing a setting pass on The Trouble With Peace, the second book in this current trilogy. I'm now on to the character pass.
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) September 9, 2019
Again I'm aiming to convert the bland or basic into the detailed, unusual and arresting, but this time the focus is people rather than place. By this stage a lot of this work is done of course, but there's always more you can do.
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) September 9, 2019
I'm looking at thought and narration and trying to bring out and keep consistent the voice and attitudes of the point of view character as much as possible. I want every chapter from a given point of view to feel like it's told in that character's voice.
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) September 9, 2019
But I'm also looking at dialogue. Not changing what's said so much but maybe how it's said – can the word choice, rhythm, structure and style be more distinctively of the character, or tell us something about the character.
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) September 9, 2019
Actions too. I tend to use smiles, frowns, nods, and lots of eyebrows in a first draft, god so many eyebrows, and progressively replace them with more interesting things, hopefully that are appropriate to the character in question, or expose some noticeable feature or tic.
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) September 9, 2019
As with the setting, can we build up personality throughout a scene without big wedges of dedicated description. If someone sits down, might they throw themselves into a chair, perch on it, lounge with arms outspread, legs aggressively splayed etc.
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) September 9, 2019
And can that strike any reaction from the point of view character, whatever that might be. So, voice, personality, consistency, distinctiveness, without overwhelming the flow and pace of the narration. How hard can it be…?
— Joe Abercrombie (@LordGrimdark) September 9, 2019
We’ll update this page with more of Abercrombie’s revision tips once he moves on to the “detail of language” pass. In the meantime, get hype for the September 17 release of A Little Hatred from Orbit Books with some excerpts, which you can find here:
Excerpt 1 (Chapter One) at io9
Excerpt 2 (Chapter Two) at Barnes & Noble’s Sci-Fi/Fantasy blog
