Sparkle This!: Revisions

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Revisions

My day to sparkle blog. :) I've been thinking about it all day, wondering what subject to take on. I've been deep in revisions for a while now. Determined to whip my three most marketable manuscripts into shape. I've reworked #1, a 60k romcom. It's circulating. I'm hitting #2, which is an unweildy beast of 100k. Making notes for #3.

Then it hit me. REVISIONS!! Duh. (Talk about writing what you know . . .)

I love it that Romance Writers of America offers a PRO status to every writer who's finished their first book and submitted it to an agent or editor. That's great. Really. But the magic doesn't happen until the revisions. Some manuscripts need more than others, as I'm finding out.

#2 has gone through a series of revisions. And I've asked myself: How many? The answer is: As many as it takes.

I'm past the "typo" and "bad grammar/sentence structure" phase. I've moved on to bigger issues like: does this plot thread serve the greater story question? Is this character's action fully motivated? Is this dialogue strong enough to be "tagless"? Do the plot lines intersect at the right place? Have I chosen the right word to convey tone? Have I made this book stand out? Does it have "sparkle"?

Tough questions, I know. But if I don't have the answer who does?

Each time I think the ms is clean and ready to hit the door, I print it out to take a continuity read. If I can revise on the page then I know I have to sit back down and do some work.

On the converse, I am so relieved and overjoyed when I can get through entire chunks of pages/chapters without changing or modifying a single word.

This is the real "writers life". If it doesn't sound appealing then don't jump in. On the other hand, if you're like me, revel in the puzzlemania of the story and the process as a whole, this is the career for you!

The best way I know how to take on revisions is one sentence at a time. Sorry, that's the answer(for now). If you have a better method, please shoot me an email. (please!).

Remember, writing that first draft is its own reward. But the magic happens in the revisions. :)

Happy Writing(and Revising)

Sherry

8 comments:

Andrea Geist said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; July 25, 2007 at 7:00 PM
Andrea Geist said...: I have a story idea, a plot. But since I also write by the seat of my pants, learning my characters idiosyncracies as they come alive on the page.... I revise. I revise a lot. The methods I use are: 1) just the way you described 2) step away from the MS so I can come back to the novel with fresh eyes. 3) ask my trusted critique partners for a read to help me catch the crap (ctc).; July 25, 2007 at 7:01 PM
L.A. Mitchell said...: Once I figured out revisions were my friend, I began buiding scenes like a puzzle. I write dialogue first, almost like dictation straight from the characters--first. Then comes a stream of consciousness about action. Third, setting--dripping and oozing like detail. Each of these a free write for 10 minutes. Then, I take a break from it and when I come back, I read it over and I'm ready to put them together. This is just for the first draft. It still needs revised after this, but at a much later time when I've forgotten the ring of each word. This probably sounds crazy to a pantser, but it works for me and the important part--the characters and what they say, always come first.; July 26, 2007 at 8:46 AM
K.M. Saint James said...: Oh, Laura, I love that scheme of putting together the book . . . and how I wish I could do that. I'll bet you would kick my butt in puzzles.

I write the same way I clean house--and yes, I do clean house, occasionally. I start in one room, keep going, putting away, placing things back where they belong, dusting, straightening, all that jazz then I'm on to something else.

Of course, that's not to say I don't occasionally get side-tracked and end up in a room that wasn't one I was cleaning at all--not sure how that works. Guess in some ways, I'm a tangent type person. In the end, it all comes together at once and I love a clean house.

My writing works the same way. I massage something until I can't stand it anymore then blast into another area, writing as fast as I can. I'm always amazed when I go back and read and it all works.

Great subject, Sherry.; July 26, 2007 at 7:16 PM
Sherry A Davis said...: Oooh, I'm loving all these different angles of revision. I guess, for first draft, I'm sort of a dialogue person first. I'm getting better at seeing internal conflict, though. I think about every scene from the "what's the internal, here?". "How can I make the subtext brighter, stand out?"

Yes, I agree, revision is a friend. (But sometimes, she can be a real bitch!) :); July 26, 2007 at 9:20 PM
Mary Karlik said...: It's been so fun reading everybody's comments on this subject. I have to say, I haven't gotten to the "revisions are my friend" stage yet. Well lets say not my bff. I'm learning to respect them and I know they're important like cleaning the cat box. I'm determined to learn to love this process as much as I love the fresh story.; July 28, 2007 at 8:09 PM
Tye said...: What fun to hear how this works for everyone. My background is journalism, so revisions don't bother me at all - nor does cutting chunks of story that deserve a better home. I paste them to a new document, save them, and sometimes realize they're a whole 'nuther story.

First draft for me is a blaze-through. I don't allow myself to second-guess. If I can't think of a word, I put ** and go on. I get the story out there.

When I start revising, that's when I find things like backstory, which helps me understand the character but is not necessary for the reader. When I feel that I'm revising the story into an early grave, I put it away for a while.

What I'm learning - thanks to RWA and NTRWA and folks like you - is the finer points about conflict and pacing, and all those other details.

Thanks for sharing that "puzzle" approach. It's fascinating.; July 30, 2007 at 7:39 AM
Andrea Geist said...: Tye, wish I could blaze through. I know Candy Havens teachs that for first draft - works for her, too.; July 31, 2007 at 10:30 AM