Ah, revision. A topic we love, or hate, or love to hate. But one that we cannot fail to recognize as critical to good writing.
Here are a few favorite quotes on revision from some famous writers:
"In writing, you must kill all your darlings." William Faulkner
"Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." Mark Twain (no longer true, but you get the idea)
Interviewer:"Was there some technical problem? What stumped you?"
Ernest Hemingway: "Getting the words right." (from an interview question on why Hemingway rewrote the ending of A Farewell to Arms so many times)
And finally, this gem:
"Let's say it's a mess. but you have a chance to fix it. You try to be clearer. Or deeper. Or more eloquent. Or more eccentric. You try to be true to a world. You want the book to be more spacious, more authoritative. You want to winch yourself up from yourself. You want to winch the book out of your balky hand. You try to liberate it. You try to get this wretched stuff on the page closer to what you think your book ought to be—what you know, in your spasms of elation, it can be. You read the sentences over and over. Is this the book I'm writing? Is this all?" Susan Sontag
Are you comfortable revising? Do you love it? Do you merely tolerate it?
It seems that as we mature as writers we come to embrace revision because, as Sontag says, we have a chance to fix our mess. Once we realize that everyone creates a mess that has to be fixed, and that revision comes with the deal if you want to write, we can get excited about this phase of the process.
What are your favorite things about revising? Do you have any fun revision stories or quotes (yours or someone else's) you can share?
Showing posts with label revision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label revision. Show all posts
Monday, March 25, 2013
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The Tunnel Vision Challenge
Where to begin? So many to choose from. Everything from story development to characterization to authenticity can be challenging to writers, and that's just skimming the top of the barrel. I'd have to say that, at the moment, my greatest challenge is within the realm of style.
It's not that I don't know what my style of writing is or that it doesn't come naturally. It's more that I let myself follow my mind's eye and ear and my heart, to the exclusion of paying attention to the proper writing conventions. For me, that translates into blocks of dialogue that are not broken up by action or internal monologue or environmental factors. And blocks of internal monologue, and blocks of exposition. When something is fascinating to me, I get tunnel vision.
This is not always easily fixable on rewrite, but it is fixable. The more I work at it, the easier it becomes. I have to admit, however, that at this point, I'm not catching all the times I make this mistake, not without help. A novel is a big, sprawling octopus of a narrative, and it's just plain hard to pin those powerful, squirmy, suction-cuppy arms down where they belong.
Perhaps the most important thing I'm learning from my challenges is how incredibly valuable a good critique group is. It's so invigorating to recognize problem areas and actually fix them! That's what happens with good critiquing and determination. With the help of my wonderful critique group, I'm thinking that my tunnel vision will someday be a thing of the past.
Linda
It's not that I don't know what my style of writing is or that it doesn't come naturally. It's more that I let myself follow my mind's eye and ear and my heart, to the exclusion of paying attention to the proper writing conventions. For me, that translates into blocks of dialogue that are not broken up by action or internal monologue or environmental factors. And blocks of internal monologue, and blocks of exposition. When something is fascinating to me, I get tunnel vision.
This is not always easily fixable on rewrite, but it is fixable. The more I work at it, the easier it becomes. I have to admit, however, that at this point, I'm not catching all the times I make this mistake, not without help. A novel is a big, sprawling octopus of a narrative, and it's just plain hard to pin those powerful, squirmy, suction-cuppy arms down where they belong.
Perhaps the most important thing I'm learning from my challenges is how incredibly valuable a good critique group is. It's so invigorating to recognize problem areas and actually fix them! That's what happens with good critiquing and determination. With the help of my wonderful critique group, I'm thinking that my tunnel vision will someday be a thing of the past.
Linda
Revision Is What You Make Of It
Rewriting can be painful or it can be liberating for your manuscript. It's all up to you.
After many queries I finally got an agent for my first book. A couple rounds of editing commenced then he submitted it to a few editors. After over a year he admitted defeat and we parted ways. The shortcut for that book/series now glares at me from my computer screen. It demands satisfaction. Who am I to deny it?
For those of you who follow my personal blog, Heather's Odyssey, you know rewriting that series is one of my New Year's resolutions. The premise is solid, the characters are intriguing, and the story deserves to be told. I cannot and will not walk away from it. But how to start such a monumental rewrite and not drown in it? It's all in the outlook. It isn't depressing to me that the poor book didn't make it the first time. In fact, reading over it now with a more educated eye, it's painfully obvious why it didn't make it. I'm excited about breathing new life into it and making it into something spectacular. I don't dread the rewrite, I'm looking forward to it.
I've printed it out, all 435 pages of it, and have set a date on my calendar. And I mean that literally, a date. I plan on getting a nice bottle of wine, my trusted red pen, and spending the entire weekend with my manuscript. Rewriting doesn't have to be a headache. It is what you make of it. No doubt there will be many edits for that book in the future but I look forward to each and every one!
~Heather
After many queries I finally got an agent for my first book. A couple rounds of editing commenced then he submitted it to a few editors. After over a year he admitted defeat and we parted ways. The shortcut for that book/series now glares at me from my computer screen. It demands satisfaction. Who am I to deny it?
For those of you who follow my personal blog, Heather's Odyssey, you know rewriting that series is one of my New Year's resolutions. The premise is solid, the characters are intriguing, and the story deserves to be told. I cannot and will not walk away from it. But how to start such a monumental rewrite and not drown in it? It's all in the outlook. It isn't depressing to me that the poor book didn't make it the first time. In fact, reading over it now with a more educated eye, it's painfully obvious why it didn't make it. I'm excited about breathing new life into it and making it into something spectacular. I don't dread the rewrite, I'm looking forward to it.
I've printed it out, all 435 pages of it, and have set a date on my calendar. And I mean that literally, a date. I plan on getting a nice bottle of wine, my trusted red pen, and spending the entire weekend with my manuscript. Rewriting doesn't have to be a headache. It is what you make of it. No doubt there will be many edits for that book in the future but I look forward to each and every one!
~Heather
The Power Of The Rewrite: Distance
Hawaii writer’s retreat and conference, 2009, taught me many things, such as the reality of editing and rewrites. One bestselling author had said, “I rewrote my first novel 22 times before it was published.” Another said, “I rewrote this novel 13 times.” Similar comments were tossed about the conference. This concept of rewriting appeared to be a common occurrence among the best. New to the game, I had to wonder what is the difference between an edit, and a rewrite?
While ‘edit’ and ‘rewrite’ are found on different pages in the dictionary, they have a unified meaning in my vocabulary: The continual process of transforming flat characters, poor structure, and inadequate pages into something remarkable that moves the reader. It is a process.
How many times will we need to perform this process? Until you can’t find anything else to change. This can only occur if you give yourself space from your novel. Write it. Edit. Revise. Rework. Reread. Re-edit. Continue this process until you believe that your manuscript is perfect. Then set it aside for a month. Yes… a month! I actually tied a ribbon around mine and set it in the middle of the dining room table. When you return to read it again, you will look at it with a fresh set of eyes and discover what worked, and what did not
Two tips:
1. Read aloud. You’ll hear your own mistakes far easier than you will see them while reading silently. Your mind knows what you wanted to say, and your eyes will deceive you into thinking that’s what you wrote. If you ‘hear’ the words, you’ll catch your mistakes.
2. Have your spouse, or someone who can be brutally honest with you, and is willing to discuss it with you, read it. Then let the discussion flow.
Today I untied my novel, and began my fourth editing process. For all those who believe editing, and the ensuing rewriting, is work, I beg to differ. This process is just as enjoyable, if not more so, than the initial writing. Confessing however, that after the third edit that followed the speedy first draft, I was somewhat tired of her. Our distance apart, with her tied up and laying alone on the table, and our recent reunion today, has reignited our love affair and I am very much enjoying this edit and rewrite.
Sometimes we just need a little distance.
Karlene
While ‘edit’ and ‘rewrite’ are found on different pages in the dictionary, they have a unified meaning in my vocabulary: The continual process of transforming flat characters, poor structure, and inadequate pages into something remarkable that moves the reader. It is a process.
How many times will we need to perform this process? Until you can’t find anything else to change. This can only occur if you give yourself space from your novel. Write it. Edit. Revise. Rework. Reread. Re-edit. Continue this process until you believe that your manuscript is perfect. Then set it aside for a month. Yes… a month! I actually tied a ribbon around mine and set it in the middle of the dining room table. When you return to read it again, you will look at it with a fresh set of eyes and discover what worked, and what did not
Two tips:
1. Read aloud. You’ll hear your own mistakes far easier than you will see them while reading silently. Your mind knows what you wanted to say, and your eyes will deceive you into thinking that’s what you wrote. If you ‘hear’ the words, you’ll catch your mistakes.
2. Have your spouse, or someone who can be brutally honest with you, and is willing to discuss it with you, read it. Then let the discussion flow.
Today I untied my novel, and began my fourth editing process. For all those who believe editing, and the ensuing rewriting, is work, I beg to differ. This process is just as enjoyable, if not more so, than the initial writing. Confessing however, that after the third edit that followed the speedy first draft, I was somewhat tired of her. Our distance apart, with her tied up and laying alone on the table, and our recent reunion today, has reignited our love affair and I am very much enjoying this edit and rewrite.
Sometimes we just need a little distance.
Karlene
What, I Have To Do It Again?
In the hard cold world of real-life writers, edit is not a bad word. Even revise is considered a 'happy' verb, as in "My agent loves my manuscript and sent me notes and now I'm going to revise it." Or, the more common, "Gawd, if I have to go through my manuscript one more time I'm going to go crazy, but last night I dreamed that the protagonist would never do what I've got her doing in the fourth chapter because _______(fill in your brilliant dream insight), which means that everything from Chapter Four on has to change. But at least I can fix it -- whew! I'm revising." Or, the ever popular, "Huh. I thought my character's development was pitched at just the right combination of subtlety and clarity to show internal conflicts, but nobody in writers group could understand what happened to make Jennifer jump off the bridge in the third chapter. I'll revise."
If you're lucky enough to get to the stage where you need to revise that means you've got something to work with. It also means you like your work enough to feel it's worth a second or third or tenth effort. Chances are that no matter how good your writing is, when it's at the early drafts stage and you show it to agents or teachers or insightful writing buddies, you'll discover it could be better. Once that nugget of reality nestles into your active brain, it's like the proverbial lightbulb goes on. Revising = Opportunity to Improve = Good!
For those of us edging from the warm, cozy fantasy world of wannabe into that hard cold world of real-life writers, this realization is a giant step. When we can get excited about the hard work that goes into revising -- paying serious attention to the details of storyline and character development, always looking for the words that express these things most deftly, putting in the many hours it takes -- then we can also see that our equation might change. Revising = Opportunity to Improve = Good Enough to Publish. When I think of it that way, I don't mind having to revise. Again.
Linda
If you're lucky enough to get to the stage where you need to revise that means you've got something to work with. It also means you like your work enough to feel it's worth a second or third or tenth effort. Chances are that no matter how good your writing is, when it's at the early drafts stage and you show it to agents or teachers or insightful writing buddies, you'll discover it could be better. Once that nugget of reality nestles into your active brain, it's like the proverbial lightbulb goes on. Revising = Opportunity to Improve = Good!
For those of us edging from the warm, cozy fantasy world of wannabe into that hard cold world of real-life writers, this realization is a giant step. When we can get excited about the hard work that goes into revising -- paying serious attention to the details of storyline and character development, always looking for the words that express these things most deftly, putting in the many hours it takes -- then we can also see that our equation might change. Revising = Opportunity to Improve = Good Enough to Publish. When I think of it that way, I don't mind having to revise. Again.
Linda
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