So You Think You're Done? Revise, Revise, Revise. . .

Some writers thrive on it and others compare it to sticking a needle in their eye. I’m talking about the revision process. Writing IS revising. Revising IS writing. In a perfect world, a writer would just spill their thoughts onto paper or a computer and, magically, a story would appear. However, this is the real world and that only happens one in a million times. So you’re saying there’s a chance? Yes- a very slim one! A lot of us don’t know how to improve our own work. We need to teach ourselves how to self-edit. This is where many how-to books come in handy and can teach you what to look for.

Two books that I find extremely helpful with this are. . .

Write Tight: How to Keep Your Prose Sharp, Focused and Concise by William Brohaugh.
-An editor for Writer’s Digest, he has written extensively about the craft. This self-help work aimed at the active writer contains 192 pages identifying and correcting the many errors made by those who write seriously. It assumes knowledge of grammar and instead emphasizes style.
On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (On Writing Well) by Dr. William Zinsser.
-”On Writing Well belongs on any shelf of serious reference works for writers.” – New York Times. Although it says it’s a guide to writing nonfiction, the advice that Dr. Zinsser shares applies to all writing.

In addition to how-to books, study other books and writing. However, after you’ve absorbed as much information on self-editing that you can, you actually have to execute it, and execute it correctly. Why do we need to do this? We’re sending it to an editor. They’ll edit it for us, right? Editors are busy folks. They’d rather see articles that don’t need a lot of work. Since they receive piles of manuscripts daily, you need to polish it to perfection.

Check out the website of author, Mem Fox. She gives the story behind her book, ‘Green Sheep.’ It’s a fascinating article as she tells us where she got her idea from, how many times she thought about ditching the project, and the painful process of revising. She compares an original draft of the book to what it eventually became. This is a very inspirational article for those who long to write picture books. She has many other articles that are worth reading, too!

The bottom line is that it’s impossible to write a perfect story the first time. It’s hard to take all the elements that you’ve learned and apply them in your first draft. Take everyone’s advice when they say, “Put your story away for a day or two. Maybe even longer. When you pull it out again, read it out loud and look at it with fresh eyes.” You’ll probably catch things that you know need fixing! Also, know that there isn’t just one way to revise. Everyone has a different style, just as they do with their writing.

Happy Revising!