A Good Mistake!

I've been laboring under the impression that THE NOTORIOUS KNIGHT is due in New York on November 15. It's been going relatively well, but as the remains of the fingernail on my right index finger will attest, I was getting a wee bit stressed about the deadline, which is par for the course. However, I haven't checked my contract lately, so this morning, fearing that I might be wrong, suddenly worried the deadline is actually Nov. 1, I looked at my contract.

My book is due November 30! Oh, kaloo, kalay! Two "bonus" weeks! Picture me grinning.

Does this mean I'm going to change my self-imposed deadline to get the entire first draft done by the end of the week/weekend? Nope. It means I have extra time to edit and revise before my editor sees it and makes suggestions and I revise some more.

What will I be looking at when I revise pre-editorial submission? The development of the romance -- does it make sense? Have I shown why the hero is drawn to the heroine and vice versa? In other words, why do they fall in love with that particular individual and not somebody else? Does that development seem believable? Are the characters believable? Do their actions/motivations make sense as I've described them?

There's a conspiracy afoot -- does that make sense that way I've described/portrayed it? Do things happen in a realistic manner? I know some people think romance is just pure fantasy, so things happening in a believable, realistic, even logical way is not a concern, but I'm not one of them.

What about my secondary characters? Have I introduced people in the beginning, then "lost" them? Have I introduced characters in the second half who should appear in the first half now? What about the suplot romance? Does that seem believable?

I know I'm going to have to add more description. Where and of what?

These are just a few of the things I think about with revisions; more crop up as I go through the manuscript. But once I know exactly what's going to happen (which I only know after I've finished the first draft), everything else seems easy, or at least easier.