Revision Tips

As I write (and revise), I keep a running list of issues and/or things I want to fix or add later. I’m a list maker and Post-it note addict. Right now, I have dozens of sticky notes and lists and lists on sticky notes floating around my desk. When I’m ready to revise, I’ll compile them into one big list and tackle them one at a time. But before I jump into this project-specific list, I look at the big picture issues. And, guess what, I made a list of them.

1. Character arcs. Look at the growth of your characters throughout the story. How does each start? What does he/she want? What epiphany do they reach? How do they end up? You may have done this before you started writing, but the arc might have changed as you wrote.
   
   
2. Structure. Outline what happens in each chapter. Jot down just the gist of each. (If you outline before you write, do this anyway. It’s a good exercise, and often, if you’re like me, the original outline bears no resemblance to the final chapter.) You don’t need more than sentence or two. Think of it as the logline for each chapter. This helps me see the structure of the book. (And if you’re really industrious, you can map items 1 and 3 against this outline.) Then look at:
• Does the order make sense?
• What’s the purpose of each chapter? How does it advance the plot?
• What does each character want in the chapter? (Kurt Vonnegut said that every character had to want something, even if it was just a glass of water.)
• Who narrates? (This is for those of you, like me, who write in multiple POVs.) Is his or hers the best viewpoint to tell this part of the story?
• Do you have any gaps—in terms of plot or character arc or whatever?
3. Timeline. Put the events of the story on a timeline or calendar. (You can do this as your outlining the chapters.) Particularly, if your plot happens over a few days or weeks, this is helpful to make sure you don’t have too many things happening on one day or don’t have two Saturdays in the week.
4. Voice. Make a list of distinctive words that each character uses. Since I do write in multiple voices, this helps me keep them straight. (Actually, my editor is better at this than I am.)

There are probably a few other big picture things I look at before diving into the project-specific list, but I can’t think of them at the moment. I’m sure my editor will remind me!

What revisions tips do you guys have?

Revision Time: What Works for Me

All this week we're going to be giving you editing tips and tricks on the League.

I'm the kind of writer who prefers revision to drafting, and I enjoy the work of adding depth and layers to character, story and theme.

Recently I attended a revision workshop held by Author Sara Grant. Obviously I am not going to give away all her tips (you should totally attend her workshop if you have the chance), but I did want to share one tip that really worked for me on my latest revision of Chasing Before (my sequel to The Memory of After a.k.a. Level 2).

Go through and give each major and major supporting character's dialogue a different color.  Felicia is my main character and it is her POV, so she can stay in black, but I made Neil light blue, Libby is green, Nate is orange, etc.

Then read the entire MS through for each character and only that character.

This helps in two main ways:

1) you can isolate a single character's arc. Do they seem to have their own goals and motivations or do they exist solely to further the plot?

2) you can check that each character's voice is consistent and that their patterns of speech differentiate  them from other characters.

Hope this works for you too!

Revision – Revised

When we did revision week here on the League a while back, I wrote about the stages of grief…I mean revision. Recently I also did a post for Darcy Pattison’s Fiction Notes about how revision made (and sold) Memento Nora. I guess I didn’t the topic quite out of my system. (Probably because I’m just finishing up a major, brain-sucking revision on the Forgetting Curve.) 

So, this time I thought I’d share the things that keep me relatively sane while revising (besides coffee and chocolate croissants):

1. Tackle one thing at a time. In other words, make one pass through to deal with voice, the next one to deal with story logic, chapter endings, and so forth. For me, this makes it seem do able.  Small victories. However, you can note other things you notice along the way. Color coded post-its work wonders.
   
2. Smear on exposition (thinly) to advance the outer story.  As may be evident from Memento Nora, I’m not a big fan of the info dump.  (Call it a pet peeve even.) Gradually clue in your readers, with a hint of description here, a well chosen word of dialogue there. Your reader will get it.
   
3. Untangle time and plot lines. I lay out what happens when and where on a calendar.  Sometimes you discover, especially with multiple points of view, that you have somebody in two places at one time, for instance.
   
4. Heighten tension toward the end by adding or accentuating a plot or character complication.  This could be twist or betrayal or revelation that makes your story more satisfying. Of course, you’ll have to go back through and make sure this twist is adequately setup or foreshadowed (without giving it away).

What are some of the things that you look for when you revise? What keeps you sane (revision-wise)?

Favorite Part of the Publishing Process

There are so many sides to publishing, I think we need to build a triangular prism or something, beam a bunch of light through it, and each of the separated rays would be one little slice of the publishing journey. It's that multi-faceted.

Today, I'm going to discuss the creative side--my favorite side. The writing side. Even within this scope of things, there are several different angles to consider.

Today, I'm wondering which you like more: the actual writing of a first draft or the revising/editing of that draft.

For me, there's nothing quite like spewing up the story the first time. It's freeing and joyous and rewarding.

But let's face it. That first draft isn't usually cohesive, well-paced, or our best writing. (Unless you outline. Then I think the first draft isn't quite in shambles. But I don't outline. So my first drafts? A bit on the messy side. And by "bit," I mean, "undeniably horrifically messy.")

And even if you do outline, I'm willing to bet you still have some revisions to do.

This is my favorite part of publishing. Since I have world-building to do, I love to go back into a story and strengthen the world I've created. Most of the time, I'm not really sure I know everything about the world until that first draft is written. So it's a treat to go back in and really make it shine.

I like to revise to make my character more human. Make them fit (or not fit) into the newly-polished world. Just like with the world, I often don't really know my character until the first draft is written. And I believe the world and the character are intertwined to the point that they influence each other heavily.

So revising is absolutely the best part of the publishing process for me. What's your favorite part? Are you more into the creative aspect? The business side? What specifically about publishing do you just love with all your heart and liver?

Revising: How To Avoid Staring Into The Great Black Abyss

Okay, so imagine you've finished the fifth draft of your amazing NYT bestseller. You've let some time go by. And now you're ready to edit the manuscript. Again. (*Note: for the purposes of this post, editing and revising are synonymous.)

You sit down, open the document, and...proceed to stare into the great black abyss like somehow your MS will edit itself. Oh, sure, maybe you're like me and you immediately click on gmail when something earth-shattering doesn't hit you about your novel. Or Farmville. Or Cafe World. Or a writing forum. Heck, maybe you even distract yourself with Hulu and Free Rice. And when you get really desperate, well, let's not go there.

I know (trust me, I KNOW) the thought of editing an entire manuscript is overwhelming. Daunting. Like climbing the mountain--again.

So today, I'm going to give you some pointers that have helped me tackle my 320-page manuscript, edit it, polish it, get it to betas and then out the door in less than 30 days. Strap yourselves in.

1. Set goals. Not only a "finish-by" goal date, but goals for what you want to accomplish in the edit. Does character A need more depth? Do you need to introduce the antag earlier so readers know who/what the MC is up against? Do you need stronger world-building? Faster pacing? A sub-plot that needs fleshing out? What are you trying to accomplish with the edit?

Know what these are. Don't freak out that there's SO MUCH that needs to be done. Just make a list.

2. Chunk your MS. It's much easier to wrap your mind around 100 pages rather than 350. So chunk your MS into manageable sections. I split mine into three distinct pieces and worked on them individually.

Okay, so you really haven't opened the document and started yet. This is all the "behind-the-scenes" stuff that you can do in a notebook or in your head. It usually takes me 2-3 days to make my list and chunk my MS. Take some time to do this. It helps things settle in your head before you actually start.

3. Read. That's right. Hopefully, it's been a while since you've read or worked on your MS. You'll be able to see things with fresh eyes this way. I printed the first chunk and sat down to read. Yes, I had a pen (it was black, not red) in my hand. During this reading phase, I was doing three things:

• Line-edits (for awkward phrasing, repeated words, word choice, paragraphing, funky formatting, etc. Everything looks new and different on paper. I strongly encourage printing the chunk and editing on paper.)
• Outlining (I don't outline before I write. So I create my outline as I edit a finished draft. I have a pad of small (2-inch by 2-inch) post-it notes next to me. After I finish reading a chapter, I write the main focus of that chapter on a post-it and place it neatly in my manila folder. Can't sum it up? Maybe you don't need that chapter. Every chapter must advance the plot. Even if you write from an outline, you can do this to see if you've really used every chapter, every scene to advance your plot. And hey, maybe your outline has changed.)
• Making Notes (I know my goals for the edit, so as I'm reading, I draw a star and make myself a note. Like, "Insert a memory about character B here." Or "This would be a great place to reflect on plot point G." Or "Introduce antag here by way of video." Or "More world-building/setting here." I don't actually write the insertions. I simply make notes of places where they could go.)

4. Transfer from paper to computer. Remember, this is only for the first chunk. For me, it was about 115 pages, and it took me about 3 days to read, line edit and make notes for the section. Then I finally opened my Word document and started with page one. I entered the line edits, written changes and deletions. When I got to spots where I had a note for new material, I wrote it. Everything is done with the "Track Changes" feature on, so I can see what I've done. Actually transferring the changes is easy. And since you have something tangible to do, you don't waste any time staring at the screen, wondering what to do and where to do it. Transferring only takes 1 day. Maybe longer if you have large sections to add/rewrite.

5. Rinse and repeat. After section one is transferred into the computer, print section two. Read, pen in hand, post-it's nearby, computer off. Transfer to manuscript. Print section three. Read, transfer. Since I only had three sections, I edited my entire novel in about 12 days. With the goal-making, I finished a round of (major) edits in two weeks.

(*Note #2: Some of you might stop here. If this is say, the second draft, and you're not ready to send to readers yet, you're done! In only 2 weeks. Leave the MS for a while, write something else maybe. Then come back and start with #1 with new goals for another edit.)

6. Send to readers. Now, this could be an entire post by itself. But I don't have time for that, so I'll just say to choose people who you A) trust and B) love and C) will read FAST. I mean, you only have 16 more days. I recommend recruiting a few (meaning: 2 or 3) readers who will critique as you finish chunks. So really, you could have stuff out with Beta readers after you transfer the first chunk. When they finish, send them the second, and so on. This way, you're not stalled at this point in the process, waiting for reads. You've been getting them back on shorter sections. Which is how you want to work anyway.

7. Go over crits, make changes. Add stuff, delete stuff, etc. This is just a polish. You've already done the major reconstruction. Now you're just smoothing over the edges, based on what your readers have said. If you have fast readers, you can probably get this done in a week or so. I think I had my chunks back and crits incorporated in about 8 days.

8. Leave it alone. Which means, leave it alone. Don't open it. Don't read it. You can think about it if you want. I didn't. 2 days. I actually did this immediately following the final transfer (step 5), while waiting for reads to come back on chunks. It doesn't matter when you do it, but it's vital. Seriously, leave it alone.

9. Send entire, repolished MS to trusted readers. These are NOT the same people who read the chunks. Different people. I had 4. I sent them the "final" MS as well as a list of my goals so they knew what I was trying to accomplish with the edit. (*Note, I did this because with one exception, my readers had already read my book, so I wanted them to know specifically what I was trying to do this time around.) Again, they need to be A) trusted B) loved and C) fast.

10. Final edits based on final reads. 

11. Done!

This system worked for me. I managed to edit my 83,000-word novel, get reads, and polish it up in under 30 days. Hopefully, you've seen something in this list that can help you focus your energy into accomplishing an edit (no matter if it's your third draft or your, um, eighth) of your manuscript without falling into the great black abyss. What do you do that helps you get the editing done?

The 5 (maybe 6) Stages of Revision

Revision can make a book, but it’s definitely hard.  Often you need to let go of not only words and scenes you love but also characters, plot lines, and maybe even the whole underlying idea of your book.  (I speak from experience.) So, sometimes you need to mourn the last draft before you can move onto revision.

For example, let’s say your editor has written in your editorial letter that your favorite scene doesn’t work and even slows down the pace of the book.  So, with apologies to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, here are the five (maybe 6) stages of grief… I mean .. revision, you’ll probably go through:

1.    Denial.  “There’s nothing wrong with that scene!”
2.    Anger.  “There’s nothing wrong with that scene, damnit!”
3.    Bargaining. “Okay, what if I have Mary bump into John as he’s leaving the theater?”
4.    Depression. “I’m such a hack. I’ll never get this to work, and the publisher will decide to pull the book.”
5.    Acceptance. “Damnit, they’re right. That scene doesn’t work.”

The 6th step, of course, is that you get over it and actually start writing a new scene.  Like grief, the only way out is through. And the result is that you’re a better writer for it.