Last week, I posted my original query for A BEGINNING AT THE END, then titled THE PAUSE in 2012. I mentioned intense restructuring and revisions. Since some of you asked for details, here's a thread of what it entailed. (Some spoilers of ABATE ahead) https://twitter.com/mikechenwriter/status/1286704943265587207

So, how do you totally deconstruct a previous MS and rebuild it from scratch? Short answer: it's not easy. You need to be flexible and get rid of what's not working. I've become a much better writer because of this, and I don't think I could have pulled it off 5-7 years ago.

It also really, really, really helps to have an agent with a sharp editorial eye like @ericsmithrocks. Not every agent brings that into the relationship, which is okay if you want to focus more on business. But I need someone who can be a creative partner.

A brief history of the MS from 2011-2013: while the story structure stayed the same, the tone shifted quite a bit. It originally had more satire and snark. So the tone itself was a bit lighter. This shifted in 2012 with an R&R request to make it "an adult THE AGE OF MIRACLES."

That request shifted in my overall writing approach. It became much more than "About A Boy in the apocalypse." In fact, those tonal possibilities fundamentally changed the way I write and really granted permission to dig deeper. I still carry that with me in my work going forward

Structurally, it had been 2 POVs: Krista (whom I've always viewed as the lead) and Rob. No flashbacks and no insertions from news articles etc. The Greenwood Cult didn't exist, though there were allusions in worldbuilding to things like that. It was a very in-the-moment story.

When Eric pulled this off my shelf in 2016, we were looking at what to do if HERE AND NOW AND THEN didn't sell. he liked the characters/world but it felt very limited in scope and the world seemed SO BIG. So he started off his feedback with one specific homework assignment:

"Read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel." And it wasn't because of similar themes, it was because it's a masterclass in playing with narrative structure. I read it specifically with an eye on how POVs broke up, timelines jumped, and extra worldbuilding was added.

After I read that, we discussed new POVs. Moira was obvious "She's a pop star in the apocalypse, she's too interesting to be a support character." Eric also suggested Sunny for a sense of innocence in this new world. That meant adapting a 7yo voice, which was its own challenge.

Eric and I also discussed World War Z's use of news reports to add to the world. I drafted 5-6 reports/speeches externally, then began to attach some of them to the idea of this death cult called Greenwood (named after Gail Greenwood of @bellytheband, who is fucking badass)

Also, he was very clear -- keep the word count under 100k, preferably under 95k.  The original MS was at 95k. So basically anything added required cutting elsewhere.

To insert Moira/Sunny into POVs, I made a MASSIVE spreadsheet of each chapter w/ POV and characters. Balanced pacing was key, so I looked at which scenes would emotionally work from Moira/Sunny and how to space it out. Some existing chaps had to be cut to give THEM solo chaps.

Further chaps had to be cut/consolidated because I had to fit in flashbacks. I'm very math-based with this, so I decided on 1 major (1k words) and 1 minor (200-400 words) flashbacks per act (act 1/2A/2B/3 structure). This had two challenges.

First, flashbacks had to thematically be appropriate to the moment (e.g. Rob thinks of Elena when he's at the speed dating bar). Second, they needed to find a story spot so that flashbacks weren't jammed in too closely together so the narrative kept moving.

I actually drafted the flashbacks standalone, no consideration of placement. The idea was to pick very key moments in each character journey and write those out, then find a good fit. They're character turning points while informing the world in various points in time.

Inserting them ultimately led to a lot of combining/consolidating. E.g. the elevator scene between Rob/Krista was originally overblown at 3 chaps with NO backstory flashbacks details. It's much more efficient now, born of necessity but it creatively works much better.

At this point, I turned it around and awaited for Eric's feedback. Spoiler: when he gave it, I sat on it for a week because I was too scared to open. I specifically remember opening it while waiting for my wife to pick up an order on our way to a friend's kid birthday party.

But he (and then-intern @mylifeisemilyy) loved it. He gave minor notes and we polished on top of that. It was ready for submission. Then @MichelleEllise at Mira offered on HERE AND NOW AND THEN and this went back on the shelf for a year to be considered as book 2 of the contract.

When Michelle finally read it, she had two big notes before accepting. 1) more flashbacks in the first half 2) more news reports to deepen the Greenwood subplot. The idea was that such a large cast needed more of those to really feel the characters/world before 2nd half momentum

That meant more consolidating for space. As I did this, I got the idea for the final epilogue from adult Sunny. Not just to show that they made it as a family, but also to tie the Greenwood plot to the main plot. Even as a late-game add, it might be my favorite part of the book.

At that point @MargotM7 took over. I delivered a revision based on Michelle's notes, and Margot read it cold to avoid bias. Her revisions were minor, mostly leaning into some additional beats and answering some worldbuilding questions. The heavy lifting was already done.

And that is how THE PAUSE became A BEGINNING AT THE END. It was, as you can see, a pretty bumpy ride. The hardest parts came from reading 2011 material and being objective about it, and asking myself honestly if I could really cut it. It was "kill your darlings" 1000x over.

The easy part was writing new scenes with these characters. By 2017, I knew them inside and out. Slipping into their voices was easy and those actually drafted quickly. Finding space and fitting those in proved to be the hard part. But doing so ensured tight pace to keep it lean

I hope this offers some guidance on reworking shelves MSs. If you really love it, you'll find a way to make it work. But you need to be VERY honest with yourself and accept outside feedback. If you're precious about it, you won't be able to elevate it past its original state.

When I told  @jsinsheim about this rev, she said "that sounds like a writer decathlon" and it really was! But the result is worth it. I've been through so much with these characters that I don't know if I'll ever love a MS as much. But I don't want to go through this again!

And for more nuggets of background from A BEGINNING AT THE END, make sure you tune into my convo with @KMcWilliams17 next week, hosted by @AndersonsBkshp! /FIN https://www.crowdcast.io/e/55so28hg/register