A Guide To Revisions

Apr 7

Apr 7 A Guide To Revisions

For those of us who write, we are no stranger to revisions. Some of us writers hear this word and we’re immediately filled with dread at the daunting task ahead of us. Other writers hear this word and we’re hopeful, because it’s a chance for us to polish our work. No matter how you feel when you hear this word, all writers have to go through revisions. And today, this blog will discuss revisions for the creative writing process, what they are, some ways to go about revisions, and what personally works best for me and why. This piece is marginally an opinion piece, so take what you need and leave what you don’t. Without further adieu . . .

What Are Revisions?

In the creative writing process, revisions can be anything from line edits, where one checks for syntactical and grammatical errors, to structural changes such as a rewriting a scene or character/character trait, the plot etc. Personally, I believe true revisions are when the novel as a whole changes. Of course you need line edits to enhance the clarity of the novel, but key changes will undoubtedly shape the very essence of your story.

Before You Begin Revisions

Before you can begin revisions, you must know what issues need addressing. There are two types of issues to look out for in your novel, global issues and local issues. Global issues are when you make changes throughout the entire novel to maintain continuity. Local issues are when you make changes that are finite or minuscule and don’t affect the novel as a whole.

However, it’s okay if you don’t know whether or not your issues are global or local. The main thing is knowing what areas need improvement. In her article 8 Awesome Steps To Revising Your Novel, O’Chee advises you draft a table of two columns, labeling on ‘Problems’ and the other ‘Solutions.’ She advises you to do this during a read-through, however, I would amend that advice with having someone else read your work and tell you what works and what doesn’t. I say this because sometimes the author can be too close to their work to see the issues present.

Time To Revise

Now that we know what the problems are, it’s time to revise. There are a multitude of ways you can go about revision but there is no one right way. You revise however you see fit.

Read Your Story Aloud - You can read your work or have someone else read it, all the same, the point is to hear your words aloud. To hear the nuances and the rhythm of your words, the plot, your characters, your whole story in order to know what sounds good and what doesn’t. So listen carefully.
The Puzzle - This is something I discovered in undergrad, where you take your WIP and cut it up into pieces. You can either cut by scene, paragraph, even sentences and arrange them in whatever order that suits you.
Backwards Read-Through - This sounded strange to me when I first heard about it but it actually makes sense when you think about it. A girl from one of my writing workshop classes said she reads from the last sentence backwards all the way through to her first sentence in her WIP. And if there is any sentence that doesn’t make sense, she takes it out, rereads that paragraph and decides if she needs to rephrase or just leave it out completely. Try this method next time you’re stumped in your revisions.
Make A Playlist - The point of a playlist is for the music to help you write. Since a story has many moving parts, it’s challenging to find what song helps you best write. For my WIP Pamuya, I have multiple playlists. One for Pamuya, for Ayden and then one I titled Book 1 and it’s just a bunch of anime music up there. Sometimes I want to get lost in the zone and just be able to write, other times I want to feel Ayden anguish, and Pamuya’s rage, so their playlists are tailored with songs that make me feel those things. A suggestion is Miyazaki film soundtracks. They can help you zone out and feel at the same time. Spirited Away is my favorite and the best really. But they’re all great. Yet your playlist should reflect your own WIP. So don’t be frustrated if it takes a while to find the right songs.
Don’t Edit With A Red Pen - I know this seems like a simple thing, but what color pen or pens you used can be the difference between revision and over criticizing your own work. I remember when I was younger, seeing all that red all over my papers, it made me feel like a failure. Your WIP is just that, a work in process. You should want to improve upon it, not make yourself feel bad for that improvement. Using a pen of a different color will lessen that feeling and actually allow you to mark your problem areas, not mark your errors.
Cut Out The Redundancy - There are lots of things that add to your story, but as you’re writing, there are surely some things that don’t add to your story and should be cut from your novel. Cut out unnecessary plot points, characters, repetitive scenes or dialogue, anything that contributes nothing to your novel. But be sure to keep all original copies. You never know when you’ll need to revisit some of those cuts.
Storyboard Your WIP - I actually got this from author Dante Medema but the point is to write down all your scenes on Post-It notes, to see how you got from A to B. And if something doesn’t make sense, ask yourself why? Is there a scene you need to add? Or should there be a scene taken away? I also use this method with my characters as well. I write down all my characters and their traits, motivations, even descriptions so that I may round them out, or condense them down, whatever I need to do to craft an amazing character.
Give Yourself Time - Revision is a process that you may have to revisit more than once. You may not perfect your novel in the first revision, so keep at it until you have yourself a novel you’re proud of. Give yourself a break when you need it but always come back to your WIP ready to work. And if you’re not feeling it, either work on another project or watch your favorite program, read a good book, do whatever will put you in a good mood so you can get back to it.
Revise Your Way - This is the most important step in revisions. There is no one way to revise, so you have to find the plan that best suits you. Mix and match, try them all at once, or one at a time until you find the perfect way to revise your story that will give you the best results.