Good morning Bloggarts!
As promised, now that I’m “done” with Tavi, I am back to discuss the revision process. I do want to note that I did write a very similar post on the old site back in August, although it also included pre-writing and drafting. So check it out if it’s of interest, otherwise, buckle up for a deep dive on revising novel length works.
On Revision
Historically, revision has been my least favorite part of the writing process. I (usually) love drafting. It’s the fun, adventurous part when I learn all the things about the world, the characters, and the plot. It’s a tapestry revealing itself one thread at a time.
But revision? Revision is pulling those threads, cutting them, and reassembling them. Revision is a lot of work. It’s solving a puzzle that you designed and realizing you don’t know shit about making puzzles!
(A/N: This is not true for me with short stories. I LOVE revising/editing short stories.)
ADHDetour – what’s the difference between revising and editing, anyway? People seem to use the terms interchangeably, but really they are two different phases in the book writing journey. I personally like to think of editing as the mechanics of storytelling. This is the phase where you assess your writing, your word choice, your structures, the minutiae of your story. It is the last phase before you do a proofread and call a story “done”.
Revision is a much bigger phase, and it is just that – a re-visioning of your work. You’ve read the rough draft through at least once, and now you can see where there are gaps. Where things maybe don’t make sense or don’t work the way you thought they did. Revision is for ironing out the plot and fleshing out characters. It’s for cutting the scenes that gave you a good chuckle while drafting, but don’t actually serve the book. Revision is the “blood” part of the BLOOD+SWEAT+TEARS equation of creation – ADHDetour
So, revision. What does this process look like on a full blown novel? Good news? I’m about to tell you. Bad news? I can only tell you what revision looks like for me. As with all writing advice, your mileage may vary.
For Tavi, revision was about setting a sustainable pace. After finishing a rough draft, I print it out and let it sit for about two months (in reality Tavi sat for much longer than originally anticipated – thanks, Life!). Then I read it through once without taking notes. This is for a couple of reasons:
- So I can re-familiarize myself with the book
- So I can get a sense of how a fresh reader will feel while reading the book
- To enjoy it! This step is the one that smashes all those fears that crept up on me while I let the book rest, the ones that told me it was shit and I’d wasted my time. They’ve never once been true.
Once I’ve come down a bit from the high of reading through the manuscript and falling in love with it all over again, I get a pen (any color) and start reading from the beginning and take notes. It can be very tempting to do line edits at this phase, after all, I’m poised and ready, pen in hand! But that’s a waste of time. So much is going to change between the rough draft and the proofread that any grammar/spelling/word choice changes made in this pass are almost guaranteed to change again. Or maybe even get deleted. You don’t want to waste time line editing a scene that’s going to get deleted! So, ignore the urge to correct and just read and notate.
What Kind of Notes?
I suppose that really depends on you and your book, but for me I like to note any weirdness that isn’t intentional. Inconsistencies, plot gaps, unbelievable dialogue/decisions, pacing issues, and any details that could become subplots or should be strengthened throughout the book.
For example: In the opening chapters of Tavi, there is a necklace that reacts to the presence of a demon and helps save the main character. It was a cool moment, but I NEVER BROUGHT IT UP AGAIN! So, through revision, I fleshed out the necklace a bit (it became an heirloom from the MC’s deceased father) and peppered it into the rest of the book.
Also, this is the phase where I identify the promises I’ve made in a book. Promises are things you say/show/do that must get resolved by the end of the book. That necklace was an unfulfilled promise in my rough draft.
So, after reading and taking notes, it’s time to make revision goals. I wrote mine on the front page of the draft and in the notes sidebar in Scrivener. They looked like this:
Each revision pass has its own goals. As the writer, you have to prioritize the things that need work at which stage. This wasn’t something I thought too deeply about, it was very apparent to me where to start once I read through it twice and had my notes in hand.
Also, notice in my screenshots that my to-do list for each pass gets shorter as I go. That makes sense, right? Because the further you get into the revision, the less there is to do! Doesn’t that feel good?
How Do You Know When it's Done?
This is hard for a lot of writers. It can be hard for me. Even now, with Tavi in the hands of beta readers I’m wondering if I should change or tweak a thing here or there. But that would be silly to do now. It’s out of my hands. Changing it while others are reading it to give me feedback would defeat the purpose. If it’s an important thought/idea, one I feel strongly about, I’ll write it down somewhere, but so far they’ve all been fleeting, little nervous thoughts. They aren’t actually grounded in the manuscript.
I knew Tavi was ready to share with others because I had reached all my goals for it. Because I knew that, once I had reached this step in the process, I had always planned to share it with my trusted circle of readers to get their opinions. And because the only things left to do were proofreading/line editing type things.
It was as good as I knew how to make it. That meant it was time to hand it over and let others tell me what does and doesn’t work. And when they send it back I’ll compile their advice, decide what to keep and what to ignore, and then go at it again.
ADHDetour – I want to point out here that other writers may choose to give their work to a critique group or reader circle earlier in the process. I know a lot of writers who like to receive feedback as they are actively drafting! I cannot fathom this. During the drafting phase I am a dainty, fragile thing, the story held in the finest teacup, and will shatter at even a hint of criticism. I have to get it all done, all out. Even then, I don’t like to share. I have to revise it to the best of my ability first. Then others can read it and critique and show me what I’ve missed.
I have a feeling this is a habit of which I need broken – I won’t have the ability to do months of revision when I have a deadline and an editor. They’ll get it much earlier in the process than I’m used to. But, I’ll worry about that some other time – ADHDetour
The Finish Line
With all that done, all that’s left is proofreading and line editing. I won’t lie to you. I do line edit a bit as I go through the later passes, but that’s because I’ve already cut the things most likely to get cut! By now I know that these scenes are staying and these conversations are being had, so why not fix the glaring errors?
Fixing glaring errors does NOT equal proofreading. One way I like to proofread is to let my Mac’s text to speech function read the book to me. By the fourth or fifth revision, my eyes are going to gloss right over any little mistakes, but the robotic voice of my computer? It’s going to make every repeated word, every missed tense change, all those little fuckups oh so noticeable.
I’ll probably split this into passes as well. A pass for interruptions, making sure all those em (en?) dashes are being used correctly. A pass for capitalizations, what does and doesn’t need capitalized and making sure I get it right. And then a pass for listening and catching all the weird stuff I missed.
So even when you think you’re done, there’s still a lot of work left. But, once all of that’s done?! Then that’s it. Congratulations! You wrote a book, revised, edited, and polished it.
Aaaaaaand that’s my revision process. For short stories it’s basically the same thing, it just takes a fraction of the time because there’s only a fraction of the words. Also, there tend to be fewer moving pieces and thus fewer goals for each revision. I find that short story revising is really about tightening and making every word count. Every word should serve the purpose of the story, the theme I suppose, and that’s what I’m trying to get right when I revise short stories.
Anyway, thanks for reading along this far. I’ve got a bit to do today on this random day off. Mainly getting the line edits on The Lament of Kivu Lacus done. I’ll be back on Monday to talk about the week!
Until then,
BZ
