Revision Madness: One Writer's Process
Jenna Petersen
Everyone starts from somewhere. Writers normally start from having an idea and the drive to write it down, but when it's done, they may not know what to do next. I was that way, too. But as I wrote more and put more material out in the world, I learned most of my own "tricks" from reading about other writers' processes (for revision, query, synopsis, etc). I would take a little bit from here and there and eventually came up with my own systems. Perhaps that will work for others, too. And with that in mind, here is my process for revision. Take from it what makes sense to you, and leave what you know won't work.
Jesse's Revision System:
1. Don't touch
me, I'm not ready!. -- I've found that once I've written The End, I need at
least a couple of weeks to let my manuscript sit. Diving into revisions
the moment I finish generally makes me miss some things, and I tend to think the
story is much, much worse than it really is. During my "break",
I'll often read, brainstorm for my next project and do character
development. It's a great time to begin switching gears from artist to
businesswoman.
2. Print the entire
unedited MS out. -- I don't write on paper, but I must revise on paper,
especially the first time through. If I don't, I miss things.
3. Read it from
beginning to end without making any changes (that's hard). -- I find that
reading the entire manuscript for story purposes only really gets me in the mood
to revise. But I do my best not to make changes, even when something is
glaring. I'm reading through the first time just for pleasure.
4. Release the Post-it
Notes. -- Using post-it notes, I start again with chapter one. On the
first go-round I'm mostly looking for story. I tend to add during
revision, so if I feel I need to add description or expand a scene, I put a
little ^ and then write out what I plan to add... word-for-word on post-its,
even if I have to use ten. I then stick them to the page.
5. Go in steps, chapter-by-chapter. -- Revision can be even more daunting than writing. When we write, we tend to think in terms of words or pages or chapters. We write in chunks. No one expects to sit down and write an entire novel in a day. But when we revise, we somehow forget the chunk system. You may look at the manuscript you just printed out and feel overwhelm by the prospect of fixing it all. So don't. Start with chapter one. Make your edits. Incorporate your edits. Move to chapter 2. Don't go back, just keep revising forward. You're going to come back and revise a second and probably a third time, so you'll catch what you miss then.
6. Mr. Rogers said to share. -- This is the point where I send my entire manuscript out to my CP. The book is finished. It's coherent (hopefully), so I won't have to waste time trying to explain the set-up. And I've hopefully caught the really glaring problems, so I won't be wasting her valuable time.
7. Read it again, Sam. -- After my CP sends me her comments, I generally read the manuscript again. But this time I allow myself to edit as I go. The post-its come out again, though I normally use far fewer this time than the first time. This is where I catch transition problems with the new material I added in the first revision and hopefully catch any remaining story issues.
8. Here's the BIG SECRET -- This is my biggest secret and it's lead to several agents and editors to tell me I have the cleanest MS they've seen... I read it out loud. The whole thing. Beginning to end. Read it while it's on the computer and make adjustments as you go. If you change a whole section or add/subtract big portions, make sure you start above that section and read through a second time. Your eye naturally wants to correct little grammatical and spelling errors when you read to yourself. But you can't fake it when you're reading your words out loud.
9. And then?
Send it out! It's never going to be absolutely perfect, so let it go into
the world and start your next book.
So there you have it. My process for revision. I hope it helps some of you in your own journey. Or that you can take some parts and find your own process.