What Kind of Reviser Are You?

Do you love revising? Or do you hate it? How in depth do you revise? At what stage of the manuscript?

I revised minimally with my first few books mainly because I didn't know what to look for. Then, when I began to learn more and realized there were about a million things to examine, revising became a time-consuming and tedious process. I hated it!



Since I'm an analytical, systematic type of gal, I thought, "I'll form my own revising system and I'll get better!" For the most part, it worked. I write my first draft as polished and as quickly as possible. I don't look back, nor do I revise as I go. When I'm finished, I set the manuscript aside and I revise my previous manuscript--the one I wrote a few months ago. This gives me much needed space to give a critical eye to my work. I won't revise the current book until I finish revising the previous one and I finish writing the first draft of the next one.

I know many of you are weeping in horror. It does seem grievous to "shove Baby in a corner" so soon after writing it. I do it because I get too close to my story, and a slew of little things get overlooked. I need to have a few months distance from a final draft; many other writers don't.

I do lose precious submitting time with this method. If I were to revise my manuscript immediately upon completion, I would be able to query it right away. But I write category romance novels, and I only submit one project at a time. Months can pass before I get a response on a project already submitted. I'd rather have a few terrific manuscripts waiting at home than a few so-so projects waiting on an editor's desk.

Many writers write a chapter and revise it until it's perfect. Then they move on to the next chapter. Other writers write the first draft and then revise it. Some writers write such a wonderful first draft, their revisions are minimal. (Wouldn't that be nice?)

We're all different. What works for one won't work for another. Play around with different methods until you find the one that suits you best.

I actually enjoy revising now. Once I learned that I could drastically improve my book by looking for key things, I found revising pleasurable.

I want to share one widely toted revision tip that works wonders. I'm sure you've heard of it. Maybe you use it yourself?

Read your manuscript out loud.

The spoken word will alert you to words in the wrong sequence. It will point out formal writing. Do you use the same phrase, the same words, over and over? Reading out loud will point them out. Stilted dialogue will scream to get fixed. Reading out loud takes time, but it pays off.


What's your revision process? Do you read your work out loud? I'd love to hear from you.

Join me on Wednesday when we'll discuss the pros and cons of finding pictures to represent main characters.

And...

Get Motivated! It's Monday!

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