Revision—is it a blessing or a curse? Do you dread changing
anything? Do you resist murdering your darlings—those words that seem to be a
piece of exceptionally fine writing? Are you clinging to them like a sailor to
a life raft? Elmore Leonard put it pretty succinctly when he said he just left out
the boring parts. (Cutting speeds the pace.)
Kristen Fulton, non-fiction writer and founder of WOW, said that
before her critique group sees it, she’s probably done 30-40 revisions of a
manuscript! Before her agent sees it, she’s probably done close to 100. Wow!!!!
Creating ideas,
crafting clever titles, concocting characters, now that's fun.
"Revision" seems so serious. So let's revise our thoughts
on "revision" as we march into 2015. We’ll share wise words from some favorite writers and some links for those on the revision quest!
Our writer friend, Dianna Ashton gave us
a delicious new metaphor for revision. Think of it
as baking. She confessed to the GROG that for her newest book,
there were so, so, so many revisions. You gotta bake batches of cupcakes
before the batter is delectable!
Dianna's Advice
for revision? Do it. Do it
again. Then do it again. In between revisions, put the manuscript away for a
few days. Let it “bake.” Then come back to it with fresh eyes. Revise. Bake
again. You may think it’s perfect before revising, but it’s not. You’ll
be able to see how to improve it after you’ve let it bake a few times.
Another writer friend, Miranda Paul shared
her process with us, too. Miranda said, “I write first drafts mostly on notebook paper,
then eventually get around to typing it up.
Occasionally, an entire manuscript writes itself in my head first—in those
cases, I go straight to the computer and type like a madwoman, thankful for the
gift from my muse.
Once a story is
typed, I have this quirky method where I use the default font while
it's still what I consider a working draft. When it's a solid
manuscript ready for a closer eye, I change the font to Times New
Roman for "revision" or "editorial" mode. After a round
of on-screen edits, I always print out the manuscript, take
it to a new location, and slash word count (for picture books) or scan
meter (if rhyming). Then I put the changes into the computer and walk
away. More of Miranda’s process can be found at her top 10 tips Miranda has several books in the
pipeline including the inspirational nonfiction picture
book ONE PLASTIC BAG out in Feb. 2015!
Revise with new
eyes and motivation by joining these groups and checking out these links:
1. Meg Miller’s ReviMo Jan. 11-17, 2015
2. Julie Hedlund’s 12 Days of Christmas emailseries
Here’s to fun with
revision and creating that picture perfect manuscript in 2015! Cheers to
writing, friends! We'd love it if you shared your favorite revision tips in the comments, too.
