The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
* * *
That powerful verse from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam must surely resonate with every adult of a certain age who reads it.
Fortunately for us on The Kill Zone, however, Mr. Khayyam wasn’t writing about writing. Authors can indeed go back and cancel half a line, delete a few sentences, or even start the whole darn thing over from scratch. So, let’s talk about revision.
* * *
There are a variety of opinions on the need to revise a manuscript. Here are a few:
- Robert Heinlein’s famous rules include the following #3: “You must refrain from rewriting unless to editorial demand.”
- At the other end of the spectrum, Joyce Carol Oates recommends an author spend more time revising than writing the first draft.
- Anne Lamott said all good writers write bad first drafts.
- And then there’s this quote from John Irving: “Half my life is an act of revision.”
Clearly, not everyone agrees on the need to revise, or how much time should be spent on it. But for those who do favor spending that time, how should they approach the revision process?
* * *
In my limited experience, revision is a serious part of my writing. Although I don’t keep detailed time sheets, I’m guessing I spend at least half my time revising. (When I talk about revision, I’m not talking about fixing grammar, typos, or punctuation mistakes. Those can be fixed by software and good editors. To me, revision concerns the story itself, the way it ebbs and flows, how the underlying theme plays out, and the rhythm of the words.)
My first draft is an act of getting the story out of me and onto the page. Some of it may be good, but some of it is just plain vanilla story-telling without any spice. Revision is an opportunity to transform that first story idea into an entertaining, thought-provoking novel. But it’s also a balancing act. How do I keep the voice, the tone, the essence of the thing I created while changing it? It’s like trying to make sure you don’t spoil the wine while polishing the cup it’s in.
* * *
There are plenty of books and online resources with information about how to revise, but here are a few pieces of advice I’ve found helpful:
- To get a clear perspective of your work, take some time off between finishing the first draft and starting the revision process. (Sue Coletta wrote a TKZ post on Critical Distance last week.)
- After taking the break (which may last a week or a month), read through the first draft at one sitting, if possible. Some craft experts recommend printing the manuscript so that it’s easy to make notes on the pages.
- Review the overall arc of the plot: I use Scrivener’s outline feature to get the number of words in each chapter, and I add a sentence or two to describe the timeframe and goal for each chapter. Then I download this to a spreadsheet and calculate the percentage through the book for each milestone. I may rearrange the chapters (easy to do in Scrivener) or even delete sections that don’t serve the story. I may add new scenes or chapters.
- Revisit the characters. Is the main character well-defined and can you trace his/her arc through the plot? Do the secondary characters add spice to the story?
- Reread each scene. Does it tell a story in itself? Does it end with a reason for the reader to turn the page? Is the dialogue snappy?
- Check the pacing. Does the pacing give the reader a chance to catch his/her breath after a tense scene?
- Back to the beginning. Review the first sentence, the first paragraph, the first page of the manuscript. Will this hook a reader?
- Get feedback from Beta readers. Their first-time-through reactions are invaluable.
- Never Give Up
This list appears to be linear, but my process is more iterative. I go back through steps #3-#7 as many times as I think I need to, and I employ a developmental editor and a copy editor to help me refine my work. I also have the good fortune to have a novelist husband who listens to my concerns and helps me figure out how to solve all the little problems that pop up as I make my way through this labyrinth called Writing.
- So, TKZers: How important is revision to you?
- What steps do you take to revise your manuscript?
- What percentage of your writing time is spent revising?
❖ How important is revision to you?
❦ Very. I enjoy that process a lot, maybe even more than the original draft.
❖ What steps do you take to revise your manuscript?
❦ I avoid editing anything that may get deleted later, focusing first on the foundation of the novel, working my way upward from theme to story to character to setting to action. Google “revision pyramid” for other ways to prioritize your rewrite.
❦ I start by putting the theme on a 3×5 card on the wall beside the computer. During revision, I keep in constant touch with the theme, making sure that the chapters do, indeed, develop it.
❦ I’ve been known to update my outline and my timeline and character list before plunging ahead with the rewrite.
❦ If there’s a motif, a key or metaphorical object that symbolizes theme or other story element, I make sure that motif is consistently used. I may post a photo or the object itself on the wall. E.g., a sommelier’s cup for “Silver Dream.”
❦ I have several comprehensive punchlists to ensure that I’ve not missed something important. They make me examine things like the stakes, cinematic description and action, “moments,” setups & payoffs, etc. Google “novel punchlist” or similar term to find one that works for you.
❦ I took a course in rewriting from Hal Croasmun’s “Screenwriting U.” Hal has a lot of freebie one-hour courses.
❦ Use little tricks to help you look at the m/s from a different angle. Do a backwards read. Search on certain terms. There is software that will seek instances of the same word being used repeatedly or in close proximity. Read the m/s aloud or have it read by a text-to-voice program. Record the tension level for every page. Design your cover, if you’ve not done so yet. Imagine that you’re viewing action scenes through a camera. Do a logline and post it.
❦ Some m/s require doing a pass thru the book, focusing on just one or two facets of the book, such as looking for consistent character voice, use of subtext, and, say, rhythm in dialogue & narration. Several of these focused passes may be required. Look for assonance, alliteration, awkward phrases, and sesquipedalianisms on another pass. Check for character reactions and opportunities for heightening the stakes or drama/tension.
❖ What percentage of your writing time is spent revising?
❦ As a rough estimate, maybe 125% of the time to create the original draft.
Good morning, JG.
Like you, I also enjoy the process of revising my work. I wonder if it’s because the author has the security of knowing the story is complete and can enjoy polishing it.
Thank you for that great list of tips to make the story better. We can all benefit from your experiences. (“Sesquipedalianisms” sent me running to dictionary.com. Thanks for a new, but likely never to be used, word in my vocabulary.) 🙂
Have a great week.
I don’t know whether to call it revising or editing, but I do it as I go. I print each chapter which gives it an entirely different look/feel than what’s on the screen. I give chapters to my critique partners. I fix things, but OMG, if I did what JG does above, I’d have given up writing long ago. For me, it’s an organic process, one of discovery, and seeing what happens next. When I hit ‘the end’ I print the entire manuscript using my ‘fool the eye’ system, then send it to my editor.
Good morning, Terry.
“I print each chapter which gives it an entirely different look/feel than what’s on the screen.” I also like to edit / revise on a printed page. It’s odd, but it’s very different than working on a screen.
Sounds like you have a fast and efficient way to write and revise that obviously works well for you.
Have a good week!
Well, of course, I don’t do all of that on every m/s, Terry. I made the list thorough because different writers may like different approaches to final edits. For example, I only do a page by page assessment of tension when evaluating other people’s work. This gives the author a much more objective/focused appraisal of their m/s than saying, “The book lacks drama.”
I, as you do, prefer hard copy to work with. But print-outs are expensive and time-consuming, so I sometimes get a new “look” to the m/s by changing the margins slightly between passes. It’s amazing how many glitches pop out when different words fall at the edges of the text.
Whew! That seemed like way too much to think about!
I recycle paper, and for my final read I print it in a smaller font in two columns, and on both sides of the paper, so it’s not quite so expensive. Changing the look on the page, or even the screen, is a good way to catch things. Having Word read it is my final pass, and there are still things that escaped all prior passes.
My process of revision, thus far, is a rather messy one. In fact, I wouldn’t say I’ve settled on a process as yet. I’d like to get to that stage, as some have mentioned in TKZ comments, about revising as I go, but I’m not there yet. But I do like to print out the manuscript to go through it physically for revision.
Good morning, BK.
“My process of revision, thus far, is a rather messy one.” Writing can be a messy process, eh? I guess each of us has to come up with our own way of doing things. If there was a “one size fits all” solution, life would be so boring.
Printing out the ms seems to be useful for most folks. Maybe we’re back to the “handwriting vs. typing” comparison. Revising in handwriting must have a different effect on the writer’s brain.
Getting that first draft done is a challenge. However, I enjoy revising so much that sometimes it’s hard to let go.
Good morning, Mike.
Your comment is a great description of my experience. I wonder if the revision process is so satisfying because the big challenge of completing the story is done.
There’s also the element of surprise when I find an outrageous blooper: “How did THAT get past me?”
I revise as I go, though I call it “cycling” to differentiate it from the critical-mind function that springs to mind when people hear the word “revise.”
I write for an hour, usually a thousand to twelve hundred words of so, then break for a few seconds to a few minutes. When I return to the manuscript, I read over what I wrote during the previous session, allowing myself to touch the manuscript as I go. When I get back to the white space I continue writing the story.
I do all of this from the creative subconscious. I would never allow my conscious, crtical mind to alter what actually happened in the story that my characters, not I, are living. That would just be silly. I create, I do not construct.
Good morning, Harvey.
I was hoping you’d comment today and tell us about your process. This statement of yours struck a chord with me: “I would never allow my conscious, critical mind to alter what actually happened in the story that my characters, not I, are living.”
I can see how using our critical minds to revise a manuscript could spoil the original product. And yet, I think we have to use both sides of our brains to come up with the best story. If only I knew how to do that. 🙂
Have a great week.
In every case, Kay, the “best” story is the authentic story. To find that you only have to trust the story that unfolds around you and your characters as you’re running through it.
In the “real world” it’s trusting your neighbors’ account of their trip to Zambia instead of correcting them as they’re conveying it.
Love the example, Harvey! 🙂
Good morning, Kay. Terrific post!
Revision is a vital part of my process. I’m an outliner, and revision starts with rewriting the outline before I began writing, and then tweaking it while I’m drafting. Once I’ve finished, I do a read through. Since A Shush Before Dying was my first mystery, I did multiple read-throughs, one on paper, two in Pages, with comments. I reoutlined the book and it became obvious that I didn’t have enough of an handle on the mystery itself, having being diverted by the fun cozy B story. I also didn’t have much of an investigation.
More study and revising outlines followed. I received feedback from a developmental editor on the story in synopsis form, plus she read the first three chapters. That was extremely valuable.
I wrote a new version which had a couple of scenes from the original. I then rewrote that, in iterative fashion, checking the outline etc., and looping back through the story as needed. I sent the third draft of the new version to my team of eight beta readers, one of whom is my wife, who has beta read all my novels. All are mystery readers, five are hard core cozy readers. Their feedback was invaluable. Beta readers are an integral part of my process. Several give me line and copy edits, others just a letter of their reader reactions. I then rewrote it, and sent it to my copy editor.
With the next book, I will do a clean up pass on each day’s work while drafting, and also track story elements as I draft, to keep things better consistent. If at all possible, I will write beginning to end. I wrote parts of the new version of A Shushout of order, which is not how I normally like to write. It lead to consistency/continuity issues which made for a lot more work in revision.
Today, I’m uploading A Shush to all the retailers.
Hope you have a wonderful week!
Good morning, Dale!
Congratulations on A Shush Before Dying! Best wishes on a fabulous release.
Your determination to do it right rather than doing it fast is a good lesson for all of us. Good luck, and enjoy your week!
Great topic and post, Kay. I always learn something from hearing how other writers approach revision, and my process continues to change with trial and error.
I would be guessing to estimate what percentage of my writing time is spent in revision. I do daily edits of the previous day’s writing before I start writing each day. I do a lot of revision with a detailed outline before I start the rough draft and during the writing of the rough draft. After I finish the rough draft, I look at the big picture items while I’m waiting for beta readers’ feedback. I fix those, then I use text-to-speech two or three times.
Thanks for presenting this topic today.
Good morning, Steve.
“my process continues to change with trial and error.” I can identify with this. I approach each book I write in a slightly different way. Maybe because I’ve learned something from previous experience or just want to try something new. But always staying within the confines of good craft.
Thanks for mentioning text-to-speech. That’s a wonderful tool to find errors that the author’s eye will simply skip over.
Have a great week.
Great post, Kay.
As far as the “rules” go, I never believed that all first drafts need to suck. Since I do rolling edits, mine are pretty good. Not perfect by any means, which I discover after I set the manuscript aside for a month. LOL Then, like you, I read through without picking at the prose. Set aside for another week while I start on the next book. When I revisit the manuscript, that’s when I dig in and rewrite clunky sentences/paragraphs, fix scenes that fall flat, infuse more emotion and visceral elements, etc. I call that time “I’m the worst writer ever” phase because I’m so critical, but I have to be to make it shine. 😀
Good morning, Sue.
Sounds like you have a very good process in place for revision. I laughed out loud at your “I’m the worst writer ever” phase. I can so identify. 🙂
Have a great revisionist week.
Thank you, Kay. This is simple and clear, and therefore useful. Number 1 and 2 are rightly placed at the beginning of your list, but I would add something. #1 How long you wait before going back is important. The longer the better, since this is the only way to gain distance from what’s been written.
#2 READ OUT LOUD what you’ve written. Often, I find I will hear something wrong that would otherwise escape notice. For me, this is especially true in terms of revealing passages that drag.
Good morning, Barry!
You’ve provided some good additions to the list. It’s hard for me to gain that objective distance from my writing, so letting the manuscript sit for a while is important. (But it’s so hard to stay away!)
You also bring up a good point about reading out loud. An alternative is what Steve mentioned about text-to-speech. Both methods will turn up errors that are otherwise overlooked.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week.
Kay, the phrase “You don’t write, you rewrite” is my mantra. I probably spend twice as much time on revisions as on first drafts. Revising is rewarding b/c I can see the story getting better.
My first drafts are skeletons. Some scenes are almost all dialogue (like a play) or bare-bones action to move the story forward. On revision, I layer on setting, description, character development, subtext, etc. I do daily rolling edits before starting on new scenes.
B/c there are multiple POVs and scenes that take place at the same time in different locations, working out an understandable timeline is always a challenge. Scene order needs to build tension w/o confusing the reader about when events are taking place. I use the old-fashioned index card system where each scene has its own card. Scrivener and other programs do that task automatically but I prefer the tactile input of shuffling cards. I rearrange them for the max impact and momentum while clarifying the plot line.
My critique group reviews scenes piecemeal but more and more I depend on beta readers to look at the entire manuscript and give feedback.
Thanks for discussing this important topic. Always interesting to see how other writers work b/c our approaches can be vastly different. Bottom line: as long as the manuscript improves, use whatever method that works for you.
Good morning, Debbie!
What a great description of your process. “Scene order needs to build tension w/o confusing the reader about when events are taking place.” Keeping the reader grounded in the story is so important, and I think it’s especially hard to do with multiple POVs.
It is enlightening to read how others approach the topic. The comments on TKZ always have an effect on my own writing / revising efforts.
Have a great week!
I use what I call a disappearing outline. I have one written up before I start, then delete the points once I finish writing a chapter. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. When I come up with revision ideas, which usually means rewriting whole scenes, I create a new outline, then delete that as I go.
I post chapters in my critique group for as I go, usually I’m not finished with the whole manuscript yet but I always make sure I’m several chapters ahead in writing so I’m not so close to the work being critiqued.
I haven’t yet been able to give my work time to sit because ideas for revising and what I call reworking come super fast and I need to fix it now.
Good morning, Azali!
I love your concept of “the disappearing outline.” It’s a great satisfaction to check off things that are done.
Great discussion, Kay!
I’m still developing my process of first draft/revisions/sending. I just finished a first draft of a new non-fiction and decided to take some previous TKZ advice and printed it out. The first pass, I’m not holding a pen. I want to go through it as a reader, not an editor. I think this will be good to do it that way. Then, the next pass, I’ll have the wicked red pen in my hand and start the slash. 🙂
It’s so fun to learn other authors’ processes.
Good morning, Deb.
I love reading about other authors’ processes. Your idea of reading the entire ms without a red pen is an interesting idea. We’re all developing our unique ways of creating the very best stories we’re capable of.
Have a great week.
I get through the first draft by telling myself that I can’t edit what I haven’t written. 🙂 Since I write romantic suspense, I usually lay down my suspense line — crime details, ending, etc first. That usually comes in around 80K. Then I go back and layer in the romance, editing the other as I go. I also edit a lot when I’m writing. Before I send it to my editor, I let Word read it aloud as I read along, catching omitted words, etc.
All that said, at the beginning of each novel I write, I have that moment — Now, how do I do this?
Great description of your process, Patricia. I love this sentence: “I get through the first draft by telling myself that I can’t edit what I haven’t written.” The first draft is always the hardest part for me.
LOL at “Now, how do I do this?”
One thing I do with my hard copy for the first read through, is create a cover with the most fabulous blurb possible from an author I greatly respect. Then I read the thing to see if it lives up to that.
As I read, I ask myself when a harried editor riding the subway back to Brooklyn would be tempted to set the manuscript aside. Then I figure out how to fix or cut that part.
I also hope the editor made it home safely.
What great ways to look at the work objectively, Jim. I really need to write a “fabulous blurb” and make sure my ms lives up to it.
“I also hope the editor made it home safely.” 🙂
So, TKZers: How important is revision to you?
Crucial – thinking TOO critically about the actual words coming out gets in the way of producing SOMETHING from all my preparation and scene prompts filled out in writing.
From my ‘gathering’ process, I am often facing hundreds of ‘atoms’ – little pieces that have been assigned this scene as their place in the novel.
Some will be dialogue, others plot points or setting or prompt answers, and occasionally I still get sucked in by bits from the Old Text (the rough draft from years ago created just to make sure I could get from beginning to end of the story).
Anything I haven’t identified by this point can safely be ignored for the mix.
—
What steps do you take to revise your manuscript?
I alternate writing new text with listening to what I already have and putting pieces or the whole through AutoCrit’s counting functions (repeats of words or phrases, cliches, adverbs…). In chunks as short as a sentence or as long as the whole scene.
Since I work a scene at a time within an extreme outline, I can keep most of this material in mind while the pieces are jostling for prime positions, order, particular expressions, and the whole mess is starting to coagulate into a solid.
Repeat AC editing and listening, writing, picking the best way to say. Go around in circles until it gels. When it’s done, I know it – partly because I have no other changes, partly from the huge pile of discards on the cutting room floor. Partly because reading and listening, from the carefully selected First Line to the Last Line chosen to entice a reader on, is not doing anything but making me happy.
—
What percentage of your writing time is spent revising?
Almost all of it because I consider writing and revising the same thing, a way to say exactly what I want to say.
Gathering the pieces separately from trying to make a coherent little piece of the story out of them is how I manage to write fiction that it as complex as I want.
I find there IS a version of all those pieces that makes perfect sense (now if only it would do that on the first draft of the scene!). As long as I know what I want, and which version of it, and that often comes from examining pieces that purport to represent the same idea, from a captured thought I wrote down, to pieces from old journals.
With a clear plan to get through the necessary ideas and pieces, it is easy (easier?) to figure out what versions aren’t going to be in the final cut. When I finish, I’ve included only what I need, and discarded all the darlings – and there’s a roadmap through the scene, which is now set in concrete and probably won’t get touched again.
—
PS I’m perfectly aware that I know no other writers who do it this way; if I ever get around to writing that guide about how to be a novelist when your brain is fractured – for similar brains – I’ll be back to collect all these pieces. Thanks!
Good evening, Alicia!
I loved reading about your process. I especially liked this: “Go around in circles until it gels. When it’s done, I know it ” Yes! I can identify with this.