Revision is discovery? Yes. Revision, once your manuscript is complete, is about understanding, FINALLY, what you didn’t fully realize about your novel while you were planning and drafting. Revision is getting it. It’s triumphing over the unknown that threatened to overwhelming your story while the big picture once eluded you.
Jenni has the reins today, and her HoWW blog post is a triumph of inspiration and mining deeper into her process. Which, I assure you, will be different than your revision process and my revision process and your critique partner’s revision process. But she’s as committed to revision as I am. As we hope you will become. We both see as much value in rewriting as we do planning and drafting. We both hope you’ll make it as much a part of your process as you can.
Don’t fear what you don’t yet know about your story. Embrace it. Dig deeper. Discover the revision adventure you’re about to embark on with your WIP. Understand more with each pass through your manuscript and your writing process. Make your creation even better. So your books will be even more amazing. So we, the readers, will take a more breath-taking ride with you than ever before!
Embrace what you don’t know at the end of your rough draft. It’s your greatest opportunity to create magic. Your instincts are honed. Your characters and plots and settings are finally on the page. All the raw ingredients are primed. It’s time to season everything and add just a dash more of what you held back your first pass through the story. Basically, to add just one more metaphor ;o)–when you revise, you’re cooking with gas!
Don’t miss the power of this vital step to your writing process. Make the time. Revise and discover the amazing things you’ve yet to write in your WIP!
Once you’re finished reading Jenni’s post, catch up on the rest of our HoWW lessons. The come back next Wednesday, when I’ll be wrapping up our revision discussion here and talking about what’s coming in May ;o)
April’s Revision Adventures:
- The nitty gritty: The No More Excuses Approach to Rewriting
- Ouch–Critique and Editorial Revsions Hurt, but they’re essential
- Stream of Conscious Revisions (your beta reader’s first thoughts are the most valuable)
- Rewriting–The Real Work Begins
March’s HoWW plot speak:
- Intro to the importance of Narrative Structure: Even the Best Characters Need a Plot
- A closer look at how hard this can be for a character-driven writer: Plot THIS…
- Intro to Conflict Lock: No Conflict, No Story and External Conflict: Lock and Load
- A character-driven author goes deeper into the Conflict Box: Failing and Fixing
- The REAL secret to plotting best selling novels
February’s Character (and critique/brainstorming) posts:
- Mining for motivation
- Layering motivation into plot
- The Character Chart
- Making characters realistic YOUR way
- Character is just the beginning
Tags: Anna DeStefano, brainstorming, conflict, critiquing, discovery, drafting, editorial revision, fiction, fiction writer, narrative structure, novel, novel deconstruction, novel structure, plot, plotting, revision, rewriting, writing, writing articles, writing coach, writing craft, writing resources
I love writing a fast first draft because it is the only way I know how to FIX the story! I have two revisions going right now. And I’m rebuilding an old story from scratch–storyboarding and treating it like a first draft again. I’m not sure why I’m doing this to myself. But it seems to be working. I never thought I’d be able to juggle all these different plots and characters — or get to that stage as a writer. But here I am. I like sliding back into the stories, working on them and strengthening them.
Thanks for How to Write Wednesday!