Is revision heaven or hell?
I used to think it was hell, a form of sitting-in-front-of-the-computer torture, even though I knew it was part of the process of writing. I didn’t understand the writers who loved, liked or even tolerated that process.
And then I did the 12th or 13th—I’m not sure—revision on the young adult novel I finished a couple of years ago. Something clicked, and I began to enjoy what I read, fixed, edited, changed, added and cut. I’d set it aside for a few months, and instead of seeing it as lines to edit, I saw it as a story outside of myself.
I moved from subjective to slight objective as I evaluated my work. The “objectivity” resulted from taking on the imaginary perspective of the agent or editor, and not the writer, as I looked at and evaluated my work. I pretended I was a first-time reader.
I’ve learned that when it comes to revision, there are multiple approaches to take, such as starting from page one and reading to the end, looking for glaring errors in plot and character development, or focusing on different elements of the story, such as voice, character, plot, setting or theme, one at a time.
With either approach, here are some questions to ask:
- Is the voice of the main character consistent; does it have enough depth; and does it show who that character is? Are there different voices and ways of talking among the different characters?
- Does the plot make sense, or are there any holes or places to add in transitions? Do any of the characters get to place B without getting there physically? Are the characters acting consistently in the moment as they sit, stand, talk and gesture, so that they aren’t suddenly standing without a mention of the movement?
- Do the main characters change from the beginning to the end of the novel? Do they get what they want? Is what they need different from what they want?
- Is there a way to add a symbolic layer, such as carrying out an image throughout that has additional meaning to the characters or to the unfolding of the story?
- Are there enough setting details to give a good picture without slowing the pace?
- Are there cuts you can make of unnecessary details to tighten the writing, or scenes that aren’t necessary to carry the story forward?
- Is the pace consistent with the action of the storyline, or does the story drag in places?
- Are there repetitions in character thoughts, facts and description, making the reader wonder, “Did I already read that?”
There also are some line level edits to look for:
- Get rid of as many “that’s,” “was/were’s” and adverbs and uses of the passive voice.
- Remove word echoes, or the same words that appear too close together.
- Look for missing periods, commas and quotation marks.
- Look for compound words that have been divided and any misused/misspelled words.
Taking these steps, plus a few others, will help produce cleaner copy that will be even more entertaining to read the next time, because with each revision, there are fewer errors to interfere with the process. Revising a million times turns a work into something that becomes something to read and enjoy.
Shell's Writing Ink 