Tips on Revising:

Revise much? Over at MiG Writers, we're talking about revising for an editor or agent. I was really interested by what my writing partners had to say on this topic, especially since we are all at different stages of our careers. Here are the links if you're interested...

Revising for an Editor or Agent, Part 1

Revising for an Editor or Agent, Part 2

Cool Blog Quote: Turning a No into a Yes

I love finding inspiring quotes on other writing-related blogs! Here's a great one:

"Assume every editor is looking for a reason to say no. Don't give it to them."

Monica Trasandes, 6 Keys to Revising Your Fiction, Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents Blog.

I've heard this before in different ways from different sources. Right now, I'm immersed in a tough revision. This reminds me to work a little bit harder, to not be satisfied until I've written the best story I can write. I love the other tips in this article too, especially the one about not getting stuck at the beginning.

Sneaking back to my writing now, determined to move on from the place I've been stuck at for several days (it's not the beginning, but it's been holding me up).

Risk-Taking and Revising

I can't believe the last week of August is already here! It's been a great summer, and I've learned a lot about my writing and especially about taking risks when revising.

If you're trying to decide whether or not to make a big change to your novel, I suggest you jump in and try it! You never know how it might turn out. [Here are a few tips on How To Make Revision Less Painful.]

In my household, we're all getting ready to launch into another year of school. Instead of writing or blogging about writing, this week I'm taking a break to focus on back-to-school preparations.

Wishing you a creative writing week!

How to Make Revision Less Painful

I’m in the middle of the toughest revision I’ve ever worked on. One of the things that makes it hard is all the cutting and changing I’ve had to do. I’ve reworked my outline and my plot, so that entire sections of my story are being rewritten, moved or…gulp!...completely taken out.

It can be hard to let go of those well-written gems. Some ways that help me to make it a little less painful:

Stuff-I-Might-Use-Later document.  I put the sections I’ve taken out into another document ‘for later’. Somewhere in my brain, I have a vague notion that ‘later’ may never arrive for most of them, but I feel a little better, knowing they are there if I need them. At least they haven’t been totally zapped from existence.

Stay Focused on the Goal. Reminding myself of how much stronger the story is now, even though I’ve cut out some parts I liked, helps me to stay on track with my revision. I’m always asking:

Do I need this part?

Did I already show this in a different place?

Can I put this into another scene so it can do ‘double duty’?

Play Mind Games. One thing I like to do is to tell myself that I’m ‘just trying it out’ to see if it works. I always have the old version (and a few different versions as I go) if I don’t like it.

Although revision is hard, it's also rewarding. My story is a lot better and it feels like pieces are falling into place. I'm working harder, but having more fun than ever as the story takes new directions.

How do you get through a tough revision? What’s the hardest part?

P.S. I'm also over at MiG Writers this week, sharing some tips on Creating Characters That Live Outside the Story. 

 

Taking a Story to the Next Level

I hear a lot of advice about not sending manuscripts out before they are ready, and not being impatient. I try not to do that. But I think that sometimes I just didn't have enough knowledge and experience to know that some of those manuscripts I sent out weren't ready.

I get lots of feedback from my critique group and beta readers. And I let my manuscripts "rest" for weeks, sometimes months, and go over each word again before I decide I'm ready to submit them. They always seem pretty good to me, until the rejection letters start flowing in.

But after the hard work I put into my latest revision, I now know that there's another level to aim for. I'm not sure how to describe it, but this time my story feels different. I think the reason is that I set out to revise with specific goals in mind, and I made deliberate decisions and choices for the good of the story. As a result, it feels like the story is somehow more "complete" even though it was a completed story before I started.

Have you ever felt that you've taken your story to an entirely new level? What strategies did you use to get there?

Learning from Revision

Happy Friday! I'm especially happy this week because I finally got through the first part of my revisions! It was the hard part, the part where I re-envison the story, adding in completely new scenes to keep up the tension and cutting out scenes that slowed the story down (or were confusing to anyone but me).

I haven’t done much to celebrate yet, besides eating a gooey chocolate dessert and planning a night of doing nothing but napping and watching T.V. My family said, “Napping? You don’t nap.” Ha! I do if I’ve spent every waking moment (plus some when I should have been sleeping) on revising my novel.

So, after that nap, I’m moving on to the next part of my revision process, where I work on revising for consistency. If you want to read more about that, I've blogged about it over at MiG Writers today.

Some things I discovered during my revision:

1. Doing a little work on the book every day does eventually get me to the end.

2. Making big changes and taking risks leads to a much stronger story. Every time you write something, you're setting up a limitation or constraint that will affect the rest of the story. For example, in my earlier version, one of my characters was kept in a guarded room for some of the story. Re-visioning this situation to give her a bit more freedom opened up so many possibilities.

3. I use words like "much", "just", and "but" way too often.

4. Goat cheese and walnut ravioli

I hope you had a great week too!

When You Need to Delete a Character

On the advice of some of my critique buddies, I've cut out one of the characters in my latest project. I know it's for the best (she didn't make a strong contribution to the plot). It also meant I had to cut out some funny lines, but I'll get over it.

Have you ever had to cut a character? Does it give you a strange sense of satistfaction (like being a puppet master where they are all in your control) or does it make you sad?

Two Stars and A Wish for My Novel Ending

I've been struggling with revising the ending to my novel. I've gotten great feedback from my critique partners. I've revisited my blurbs and summaries. I've scribbled notes and arrows all over my writing notebook. And all I have to show for it is a jumble of confused thoughts and a cursor stuck on Chapter 26. 

I finally gave up and walked away from it on Wednesday, hoping that taking a break for a couple of days would spark some new ideas. It's so discouraging when a part of the writing just isn't working, it starts to me thinking that the whole thing is terrible.

So, today I'm going to borrow a trick from my day job as a teacher. When students reflect on their work, we sometimes  ask them to think about two things they liked or did well with, and one wish for something they could have done differently or improved on. I'm going to try that with the ending of my novel. I hope it will help me appreciate what IS working as well as to help me pinpoint exactly what it is that I need to fix.