First draft: “So, I don’t know, should I kill myself or not?”
Revisions: “To be or not to be, that is the question.”
You’ve finally done it! You’ve finished that novel – or short story or novella. You’re one of the elite. Few people make it to the end of their manuscript. So, congratulations!
Now what? Start querying? Those agents are going to love that, right?
Not so fast. This is a real amateur trick. Look at the cover photo. Even JRR Tolkein wrote and re-wrote until it was right. You want to be a pro, so do it like the pros. Let’s look at the checklist again. What are these steps?
Steps to writing
- Prescribe. You know, get the ideas together. Decide on the plot, find a setting, populate that world. Yup, done. Done!
- Write. Oh, yes, finish the entire manuscript, from beginning to end. You can even type “The End” or the more challenging “Finis”. Done!
- Revise. “Hey, what? Wait a minute. I’m an artist! I wrote my book right the first time!” Uh, no, you didn’t. So, as they say on hotel floor plans, “You’re here.”
Writing a story for the first time is an artistic affair. The creativity flows. It’s exciting. These things have never happened before and these characters have never lived until you put them on paper. You are a creator!
From now on, however, creativity must be combined with craft on this writing journey. Now we’re looking at the skills we need to be good, or even great, at our craft.
I may rework a piece twenty times.
David Sedaris, author of I’ll talk pretty one day
Before you send your book to an agent or editor, you want it to be as good as possible.
Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, Testaments, And Code name: Grace.
That pesky Margaret Atwood! Who, I’ve heard, is quite a confident – even arrogant – author herself. But she’s also a very successful and accomplished author, so maybe we should pay her a little attention. I mean, who among us has had as much success as she has? So, let’s start editing. At least most of us don’t have to do it by hand, like Tolkien did.
Revision is done in stages, and the manuscript will probably need to be reviewed more than once.
The first phase is actually much easier for people who have done extensive preparatory work such as an outline. They have set their pace in advance. Those who write spontaneously have to postpone the pace work until this phase. Much earlier, in the time before, SensitiveShoesFounder and ruling deity of WriteOn!, spoke of “Through lines”. These. You need these! If you are an experienced writer and a planner at that, you may have already taken care of this when you first planned and wrote. If not, go back and read the journal. Guides are not Pretty to have. They are essential. They keep your reader anchored in the story. They also reassure your reader that you are making progress toward fulfilling the promises you made in Chapter 1. Really re-read the storylines (or read them for the first time).
Brandon Sanderson, prolific fantasy author, award winner, and professor of creative fantasy writing at BYU, suggests that you look for continuity issues when you first go through your rough draft. Did the magic sword just show up in chapter 35? Do you need to establish the magic much earlier in the story? Are changes of location necessary and logical? Are you keeping the promises you made at the beginning? And how did you do that—as the story progresses? If everything happens in one crash at the end, you need to take it slow or the reader won’t make it to your exciting conclusion. Even if you have a surprise ending, is it hinted at sufficiently? Now is the time to fix that. You know, Through lines! It may take more than one many more than one revision to get all the through lines in place.
Okay, now we’re making progress. Revision complete, right? Well… maybe the first round of revisions. Keep it up.
An alpha reader, whether in your group or individually, may say, “I didn’t understand the character’s motivation here,” or “That part made me laugh out loud.” The alpha reader is not a co-writer. They will point out places where you were particularly effective or where you didn’t fit together, but they won’t tell you how to fix the problem. That’s your job, in your own voice.
Looking at the David Sedaris quote, you know that one revision is probably not enough. So why the second, third, and so on round of revisions? This is where you turn your rough draft into a polished work. Pay attention to phrasing, word choice, and scene length. (Scene length is my downfall. I am “succinct.” I say what needs to be said and am ready to move on. And that sometimes makes for a choppy read! At this point, I have to figure out how to combine scenes and settings to make the story less hectic and more cohesive for the reader. Pray for me, because it’s not easy.)
Yes! Another revision completed!
Put your manuscript aside for a few days, or even longer. Start something new. Bake cookies, clean out the garage, even plan your next novel. Then come back after your brain has rested and you’re looking at this piece with fresh eyes. Ursula Le Guin says that when you’re writing, no one can tell if it’s good or not. You need to be away from the manuscript for at least 24 hours. Then pick it up again. Try reading it out loud. (Not everyone needs to do this; a few people can “hear” the rhythm and flow of the prose in their minds, but read each chapter out loud to be safe.) If you can, if you dare, have someone else read it out loud to you. If it doesn’t sound right, figure out where it needs help.
Worst case scenario? You realize your narrative perspective is the wrong one. Oh no! Rewrite! A good way to avoid this is to take the time when writing the first draft to write the first or third chapter from different narrative perspectives. Which functions? Better to figure it out at the beginning than when you’re finished. I have no idea how Harper Lee had the stamina to do such a thorough overhaul to Go and set a guard in Who disturbs the nightingale. But when her editor suggested that she rewrite her original manuscript from the perspective of Jean Louise’s childhood, she took on the task. You can see how a master did it. I don’t know if she grumbled while doing it, but damn! Did she do it right?
Done with the rewriting? That would be nice! Now it’s time to reach out to a writers’ group if you have one, or a trusted reader or developmental editor if you want to hire one. (The last I heard, the going rate is $250 for a 100,000-word manuscript.)
And do it like the teachers always said: “Over and over until you get it right.”
This is where beta readers come in. Their job is to give you an overall impression of the finished story. Find one or more who represent your target audience – and listen to them. (You do have an audience, don’t you? I mean, you know who you want to tell this story to, right? Or???)
“So, Coach? Huh? Can I now question this masterpiece?”
No. If you’ve got the pacing down, the consistency under control, the characters diverse but well-mannered, the language and voice engaging, then go for the red pen: editing. This is the very last step. Generations of English teachers have taught us this is the most important step, but actually it’s the last thing you need to do before sending your manuscript out into the world. Spelling – and don’t rely on spellcheck alone. Go through every word. Punctuation – know your rules. Grammar – pick a standard and stick to it. For the last two, the publisher often has its own house standard, such as whether numbers are written or spelled out and how many semicolons you’re allowed to use before they get grumpy, but stick consistently to a standard at this point. Finally, once this is in the publisher’s hands, they will have their own stylists going through the manuscript. And you can do it all again.
Why would you do it if the publisher is forcing you to rewrite it? Because if you send out an unprofessional manuscript, it will end up in the circulation folder. There are too many writers producing too much work for all the publishers to keep up with. If you don’t care enough to take pride in a job well done and deliver a polished piece of work, why would a publisher invest in you?
Does all this sound like it will take weeks or months? Yes, that’s about right. But it’s much better to send out your best work, which increases your chances of finding an agent/editor/audience, than to send out work that’s just “good enough.”
1. Prescription
2. Writing
3. Revision
4. Processing
5. Publish!!!
OK, Now You can start querying. And good luck.
(And a secret: no matter how many people go through the manuscript and how many times, there will always be errors when it goes to print. Just accept that and reduce the number of errors as much as possible.)
Challenge:
Write a scene where someone (narrator or other character) has to repeat something. Try to keep it under 300 words, but I won’t count them.
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One note: think carefully before publishing anything from your WIP. If you publish it in a public forum like this, you limit your publishing options. A publisher will not accept work that even a small part of is already freely available. And it limits your copyright protection. Although you can still copyright the material, you must declare that parts of it have been published before, and if it is plagiarism, you can issue a cease and desist letter, but you cannot recover punitive damages.
WriteOn Fiction Works-In-Progress is the journal series for writers who publish chapters and excerpts unrelated to the evening’s WriteOn challenge, and for anyone who wants to read them.
“Write On!” will be a regular diary on Thursday evenings (8 p.m. Eastern Time, 5 p.m. Pacific Time) until it is no longer available.
