revising

Quick Link: How Do You Know When to Stop Expanding and Start Revising?

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

I don’t know about you, but I could write and write and never get to editing. So this article from Mary Carroll Moore at her site, How To Plan, Write, And Develop A Book, is a really good post for people like us!

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How Do You Know When to Stop Expanding and Start Revising?

by Mary Carroll Moore

The relationship of writer to book-in-progress reminds me of a marriage.  As opposed to a date. 

Poems, articles, columns, and short stories are all creative commitments, sure.  But  even if they linger unfinished for a while, they are short relationships compared to 350 pages of manuscript.

With a book, you regularly re-evaluate your progress, your purpose, and your plans.  You recommit again and again.  Not unlike the work it takes to make a marriage work.

Many of my students weary of this.  Is it ever done? they ask.  When is enough, enough?

Some writers ask this when stuck or bored.  Revising seems like more fun than continuing to draft chapters.   But there is a real moment when the book has expanded as much as it needs to, and only in the more microscopic work of revision can the writer discover the next levels of truth in the story.

A writer from New York, working on his nonfiction book for several years, once sent me a very good question about this:   “At what point does one realize what they are trying to write is the final ‘version’?  My subject/point of view has changed several times.  When do I stop?”

Read the full post on How To Plan, Write, And Develop A Book!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Tracking Your Progress While Outlining and Revising

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

I am a loud and proud pantser, but after reading the post by over at Pub Crawl, I may just have to think my approach. She shares her very adaptable process on how she keeps herself on track and her revisions clear. What tips do you have to keep your writing organized?

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Tracking Your Progress While Outlining and Revising

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Hi all! Julie here. Recently I blogged about How to Finish Your Book, focusing on tips on how to get to The End when writing a first draft. In the comments, I was asked a great question about tracking progress during the outlining and revising stages of the writing process.

The reason I think this is such a great question is because tracking outlining and revising is definitely trickier than tracking drafting. When getting a draft down on paper, for the most part, a daily wordcount goal is all you need. But if you (like me) are obsessed with measuring and tracking your progress, you’re going to want to track everything. Things get a little more subtle and nuanced when you are in the pre-writing and outlining stage, and again at the end of the draft when you enter the revising stage, so setting up a system to track your progress definitely requires more flexibility and reflection when setting goals and expectations.

Once I have an idea for a story, I start creating the story world and brainstorming plot points. For the earliest stages of this process, I find it difficult to set hard deadlines because I feel the idea needs to breathe and grow organically. Eventually, as things take shape, I start adding structure to my tasks.

I generally work on the world first. In the beginning, I might have a single world-building document that explains the world in broad strokes. But as the story world takes shape, specific questions arise, such as “What is the political history of these two nations?” or “How are spiritual leaders chosen?” As I identify these questions, I set a goal to create a document addressing each one.

Read the full post on Pub Crawl

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: 3 Questions to Ask When Revising

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

Into ever writer’s life there is a time for revisions. Sarah Ahiers has a couple of questions to keep in mind as you do the revision to make sure you are putting out quality work. Just go to Writer’s Digest to learn all about it. 

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3 Questions to Ask When Revising

By:Sarah Ahiers

Column by Sarah Ahiers, author of ASSASSIN’S HEART (Feb. 2, 2016, HarperTeen). Sarah has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University and lives in Minnesota with three dogs and a house full of critters. She has a collection of steampunk hats and when  she’s not writing she fills her time with good games, good food, good  friends and good family. Follow her on Twitter. 

When I reached the end of my first draft of ASSASSIN’S HEART, the story was in place, but I knew I had to bring out and uncover other elements, like themes, setting, and especially character arcs.

Revisions are some of the hardest things to tackle as a writer. Many times we know something needs to be fixed, but we don’t know how to fix it. Or we might not even know what it is. But revision is where our novels really take off. Where we massage and mold them into something grander, deeper. Something whole.

Here are three questions to ask when tackling revisions:

1. Are my themes developed enough?

The first thing to do is cut. Look at each scene and ask: Does this scene forward the plot, the character arcs, or the theme? If it doesn’t, it has to go.

(Before you send out your query, look over a submission checklist.)

If it does forward one of those things, can it do double duty? Can it forward the plot and the theme? Or what about all three? Now that could be a killer scene.

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

 

Editors’ Post-NaNo Tips for Revising Your Novel

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This post by Corina Koch MacLeod and Carla Douglas originally appeared on Joel Friedlander‘s The Book Designer on 11/19/14.

It’s National Novel Writing Month, and if you’re participating in the festivities, you’re chained to your computer in an effort to blast out a 50,000-word first draft. Thanks for coming up for air to read this post!

When your draft is completed, you’ll need to revise it. And how you revise your writing will depend on

– your prewriting and planning style
– the kind of book you’re writing

But first, an explanation of what we mean by revise.

 

What is Revising?

The prefix “re” means again. To revise is to re-vision—to look at your writing again, hopefully from the perspective of a reader. To bring something new to your writing, you need to give it time to breathe. Revision involves waiting.

In How to Make a Living as a Writer, James Scott Bell recommends airing your writing for three weeks. That means sticking your NaNo draft in a drawer on November 30, and vowing not to look at it again until the winter solstice. If you take Stephen King’s advice, you’ll be pulling out that first draft on Valentine’s Day.

After the recommended period of rest, you’re ready to work on your first draft.

 

What’s Involved in Revising

 

Read the full post on The Book Designer.