The Art of Revision
Greetings and Salutation Scribblers!
Today I want to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart as someone who works with early stage authors. And that’s the art of revision.
Revision isn’t something we talk about much in the writing world–we just expect that writers will know how to do it. This can be especially difficult on your first few manuscripts, especially if you’re working on your own without a mentor or an editor.
So today I want to look at what revision isn’t and do a deeper dive into all the things that revision IS.
Revision is NOT checking your spelling, grammar, and punctuation and calling it a day. Those elements are more in line with copy editing, which is the final stage your book would go through before publication. And while there’s no harm in going through and making corrections to these things, doing this level of editing on a first or second draft might not be the best use of your time because the chapter or section you so lovingly correct could end up being cut.
My advice is to not intentionally go through and fix any of these elements.What I do is I make corrections as I’m doing my other revision work for any grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors I come across. This satisfies my need to have things “correct” but without devoting intentional time to the task when I should be revising.
Revision is the process of looking at all the parts of your story and making them clearer, more focused, and more streamlined. This is a huge process. Many early stage authors will think they can do a comprehensive edit in under a month. And while it’s not impossible, it is very difficult to do a good job in that short of a time frame. I suggest you plan on six to eight months to revise your manuscript.
Part of this is because you need to focus on every element of your story and that is exhausting. You’re also going to create new problems as you solve your current ones. This is normal–so don’t panic! It’s all part of the process.
So what do we look at when revising?
The short answer is everything!
But let’s break that down a bit more.
You’re going to look at your basic story and plot elements. These are things like pacing, order of events, your world building, your protagonist and antagonist and their arcs.
For each of these, you’ll want to look with a critical eye for how that story element can be enhanced to make the story better and more interesting to the writer.
Some other elements you’ll want to revise for are character voice, genre conventions, mood, tone, cutting out backstory, making sure all your plot points are connected, providing steadily building conflict and tension, character chemistry, character agency, making sure you’re tying up all the loose ends at the end of the manuscript, or keeping track of injuries?
This is not a comprehensive list and it will change based on what you’re writing and what your own personal writing strengths and weaknesses are. You should be starting to see why this is a months’ long process.
You’re going to end up rewriting a significant portion of your manuscript–which is why I recommended not doing the copy-edit level grammar and spelling corrections.
To start your revision process, you’re going to do a very thorough read through of your manuscript. You need to look at through an editorial lens, this means you’re looking for its weak spots. I like to print my draft out to do this because seeing it as a hard copy instead of looking at my screen allows my brain to see from a fresher perspective. Some people change the font and then read–do whatever works for you. Either way, leave yourself lots and lots of margin notes. I sometimes even sketch out quick fixes or a specific element I want to add or highlight.
Your next step is to review all your notes and write your own edit letter. This will help you to see where things overlap and tie in, because a lot of the things you’ll be revising will create ripple effects through your manuscript–remember when I said earlier that you’ll create new problems as you revise? This is what I was talking about.
Once you have your notes and edit letter–check out our video on how to write an edit letter–you should do one more step before you dive into the actual revision. Look at everything you want to revise and decide what element will have the biggest impact–this is where you should start your revision. Start with the structural elements like order of events or pacing and then work down to the most nuanced and small elements. I suggest working like this because it’s going to streamline the process and prevent you from fixing the nuances of a conversation between characters that ends up being cut because you later decide it slowed down the pacing too much.
And now, Scribblers, you’re ready to do the actual revision! We offer a self-paced course that covers the process of revision. You can get 15% off by using code YOUTUBE15. Click on the link in the description and enroll today. You’ll get life time access to the course.
We also run revision cohorts periodically throughout the year. This is a three month program that provides small groups of 4-6 writers with personalized guidance through the revision course. We meet virtually twice a month and you’ll get a weekly email checking on your progress and offering accountability. This is a great way to learn and practice the skills necessary for revision and have a built-in coach and brainstorming partner. Participants will receive access to the revision course and receive a developmental edit of their first 20 pages.
That link is also in the bio! We hope to see you in one of our June Co-horts!
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
