Shaping Heroes

Heroes book cover proofs

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Four cover designs, two of which include front and back pages, for Cormier's novel, Heroes. One cover includes a biography of Cormier and book review snippets for Tenderness and In the Middle of the Night.

Heroes handwritten notes

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In these two handwritten pages of thumbnail sketches, Cormier lays out his conceptions of sections of Heroes. The outline is particularly concerned with when characters are introduced and when their backstories are revealed. The comparison between Nicole and the nuns is repeated three times.

Heroes marked typescript

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In these eight typewritten pages of a Heroes draft, Cormier has added handwritten notes for revision. Scenes of Francis crushing on Nicole (called Dominique Cavalier in this draft) feature heavily as do the nuns and Catholic school. Also included are brief mentions of boyhood, French Canadian migration to New England, and the "Wreck" Center.

Heroes marked typescript miscellaneous pages

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Thirty pages of Heroes manuscript, most of which show hand-written revisions and markings. Pages show pasted strips of salvaged sections from earlier drafts. Repeated versions of war scenes sliced with scenes of playing soldiers as children in the street appear. Included is a moment of Cormier writing about his own childhood memory of his house on fire. Frequent mentions of insomnia, eyes, and Francis's crush on Nicole appear. Fragments of Francis's final meeting with Nicole also feature heavily.

Heroes cut and pasted typescript pieces

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Twelve strips of cut sections of Heroes shows Cormier's active revision process where he literally cut then pasted sections as he worked on the Heroes manuscript. Scenes on the Wreck Center sexual assault, Francis's meeting with Nicole after the war, the scene before Larry's suicide, and Francis's suicidal ideation feature heavily.

RELATED LINKS:

How Writers Can Learn From Documented Cases of Revision In this short article on the writers blog, Poynter, by Roy Peter Clark (2010 Feb. 17), the author discusses using published examples of revision from acclaimed writers as truly helpful to the novice writer who wishes to improve his/her writing. 

Deep Revision In this chapter by Meredith Sue Willis from the edited book, Educating the Imagination (1994, Edgar & Padgett, Eds.) published by Teachers and Writers Collaborative in New York, the author muses about the developmentally appropriate process of experimentation and refinement that are revision -- from the earliest days of a person's writing life through adulthood. 

Shaping Heroes