I'm still alive, and Revising

My sister is coming to visit this week, which is exciting, since she hasn't been able to do that in many years (I have visited her, but not the other way around). And my 10YO called me from school to say he was sick as soon as he got there. (I did pick him up. He was green. Have you ever seen a person who really looked green before? Well, now I have.) So I don't know how much I'll be around here. But I have been busy, mostly entertaining people over a rainy spud harvest (which is finally over) and also revising. So, revising thoughts:

It's always interesting to get feedback from a handful of people all at one time on a manuscript. Interesting to see how on some points, everyone says the same thing (and those are the things to address!), and yet on others, readers are split half and half on either loving or hating it. (I guess in those cases, you listen to the ones who get your vision most closely.) Over the past six months I've been told the following about the same ms:

Your MC sounds too old.
Your MC sounds too young.

I really felt for your MC.
Your MC was so distant I couldn't connect.

This book is too plot-driven for me to represent.
This book is too character-driven to succeed.

Seriously. Talk about not knowing what to do! I think I've fixed the middle problem, but the others...well, nobody likes every book, so I guess I have to file those under Personal Taste. In any case, I'm nearly done with this revision, feel like the book is a lot stronger, and am hoping that I've finally gotten the major issues worked through. Which is good, since last night the MC of my WIP showed up in my mind again to tap his foot and suggest maybe I get back to him, hm? That he has a lot to say, and I need to be taking notes. That book is a lot lighter, the MC a lot chattier, and the whole story just seems to flow faster, so I'm looking forward to getting back to it.

Back to the feedback on the revised book, though--one surprise I've had is readers bringing worldviews to the text and superimposing them over what I've actually written. (Specifically, the Nicene Creed interfering with ancient Egyptian religion.) I am realizing that worldbuilding doesn't just mean coming up with and explaining the world your characters inhabit. Sometimes it means adding extra road signs at key points to highlight differences between your book and diehard ideas that readers can't easily let loose.

Finally, as long as we're talking about writing and revising, check out this link to a page of JK Rowling's outlining process for the Order of the Phoenix. I do this when revising, although I don't think I could ever plan this thoroughly before writing, like she does. The woman is brilliant. Obviously.

migraine :(

My 10YO crashed for like, five hours when he came home. He DID stay up late last night (he, along with PMB, are my non-sleep boys). And he feels better now. But just now he was telling me that when he woke up this morning, before he started feeling sick, his eyes were "fuzzy," "like when you look at a bright light and then look away but you can see it blinking still." "Like what happened last summer when we were at Grandma and Grandpa's." And now I remember the same things.

And then he had a headache.

And then he felt sick and threw up.

And then he crashed in a deep sleep.

I didn't know kids this age got migraines. But I think that's what it is. He does have more headaches than the other kids. (He also has worse eating and sleeping patterns than the others.) Hopefully this is something we can prevent and/or something he can grow out of. Anyone have any good prevention tips? I get headaches only extremely rarely, but I know some of you are migraineurs (see, I learned a new word today).