What Writers Get Wrong About Revisions
Greetings and salutations Scribblers,
Today we’re chatting about what to do once you’ve finished drafting your novel. I’m going to focus on the steps to take for first time writers–this means this is the first manuscript you’ve ever written, because it is not ready to be sent to an agent, a small press, or to be self-published.
Let me back up a moment and say congratulations! Writing a novel is no small feat and you should be very proud of yourself for accomplishing this task. Now that you’ve made the first step in a journey of a million words, what comes next?
Okay, deep breath, the first thing you need to do is be patient.
This is difficult. Believe me, as someone who sent her first two manuscripts out before they were ready, I get it. You’re excited, you want to share your creation with the world, but it needs some work. Finishing your first book slides you into the honeymoon phase with your writing.
This means that you’re not going to be able to see its flaws and weaknesses. You’re only focused on how awesome it is and how cool it was to write that one scene that you KNOW readers are going to love.
It’s very tempting to send your manuscript out because you’re sure an agent is going to be absolutely floored when they read the first sentence.
BUT DON’T SEND IT.
You’re going to have to take off your rose-coloured glasses and put in more elbow grease first. Here’s my recommendation for what steps to take:
1) Either Put it away for a month or two OR Send it to trusted critique partners.
This does not mean that you send it to your best friends or a family member to read–I mean if you have a family member who’s a writer/editor, go for it, but otherwise, they aren’t going to be reading with an eye for spotting your weak areas and helping you figure out how to tighten everything up and improve your story.
You can hire a developmental editor or join a writing group at this stage. The best thing you can do is find a fellow writer in the same genre and start exchanging work. This will let you read someone else’s work with a critical eye, looking for plot, pacing, character, and all the other elements and offering suggestions. This is great because you’re going to make a great writing friend and since you’re providing feedback to each other, it’s free!
This is going to help you learn so much about writing. Take note of what your critique partner does well and ask for help in developing those skills. Likewise, you can help guide them in the areas that you excel at.
2) Now you’re going to do revisions.
If your main writing experience is high school and college, then get ready for an eye-opening experience. Most early career writers have the idea that revising is the process of going through and correcting spelling, grammar, or punctuation.
Wrong!
Revision is the practice of looking at every single sentence. Every single word and deciding how it can be made better. You’re going to expand on some ideas, cut other ideas out entirely. You’re going to streamline your writing. Revisions means rewriting. There are multiple ways to go about this. You might have side by side screens where you retype your manuscript making edits as you go. I know some people who sit down and completely rewrite the majority of the story from scratch. Personally, I like to sit with a printed out copy and make all sorts of notes in the margins before sitting down and going back into the original manuscript to make my changes.
No matter what your method is, this is going to take time–especially if it’s the first or second time you’ve done it. Plan for six to eight months. Take breaks when you need to. I can’t emphasize enough how vital this step is.
Your first draft of your manuscript is something to be proud of, but it’s probably not what you want to share with the general public or with agents.
3) Learn to put the critique into practice
Learning how to critique takes practice. You have to hone your skills both in giving and receiving feedback. As the giver of feedback, you’re going to learn how to separate your preferences from what the story actually needs. Let’s say you're a big fan of using cuss words and your critique partner isn’t–as you read their pages, you’re not going to just suggest their characters start using cuss words. You’re going to think critically about it and find a way to get a similar emotional response without the cuss words.
As you receive feedback, you’re going to learn to take it at face value and not let emotional baggage sneak in. You asked for someone to give you notes on your work–take the notes and explore how they can by used to enhance your writing.
You won’t use every piece of feedback that’s given to you, but I do urge you to consider why that feedback was left and what the underlying element is. If we go back to the idea of cuss words. If your critique partner suggested that and you’re dead set against it, dig deeper and you might start to realize that what’s really missing is a more impactful emotional response from the character. Now you can brainstorm how to deepen that aspect without using cuss words.
Finding a critique partner can be tricky–its a bit like dating sometimes. You’re going to have to try a few. Exchange the first few chapters of your books, comment and return them. You’ll see if you’re a good fit or not and then you can continue. I’ve had the majority of my writing partners for nearly 10 years now and it’s wonderful because we’ve really gotten to know each other and our writing, so we can go even deeper into our feedback.
4) Send your newly revised manuscript to beta-readers AGAIN
That’s right, don’t send those queries! Find a new set of beta-readers and ask them to read the shiny new version of your story. You’ll want them to focus on all the major elements of the story and let you know what is and isn’t working.
It’s likely that you’ll head into another round of revisions as you really narrow your focus on developing key components of your manuscript. Once you’ve gone through the process a few times and your beta-readers don’t have significant feedback, now you can consider querying or self-publishing.
I’d love to know how many revisions your first ever completed manuscript went through before you queried or self-published it–let us know in the comments.
And of course, we offer developmental edits so if you’re looking for a professional eye on your story, send us an email and we can chat!
See you next, happy writing scribblers!
As always, your mileage may vary! If you have any tips for recognizing burnout before it takes over completely, please drop those in the comments below.
Consisting of five sections, this course will include strategies for revising characters, plot, pacing, and worlding building. It also includes resources for copyediting and for gaining insight into your manuscripts theme and purpose
