Monday, July 19, 2010

Blog Chain: Revision

It’s blog chain time again! This one was started by Sarah. She asked:

How do you handle revisions? Do you revise as you're writing, or do you wait until you've gone through beta readers and crit partners to revise? How soon after you finish do you begin your revisions?

If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you probably already know this, but I love revising. That’s when everything gets all shiny and pretty. I’ll take that over drafting any day. In fact, drafting is so far down on my list of priorities right now, I had to make a rule that I can’t buy any new books until this draft of my WIP is finished. Granted, I can still get books at the library, but they never have the ones I want, including a few that just came out. This restriction is helping. A little. :)

It’s impossible for me to write without revising. I wish it wasn’t, because it makes the writing slow at times, but what I end up with is usually pretty close to the final product. Well, until my crit partners get hold of it.

And I revise everything again, usually until I’m sick of it, before sending it to my crit partners. Because what if I miss something and then I’ll be mortified that I missed it and everyone will die or something else super dramatic? Seriously. This perfectionist thing is really a pain sometimes.

So, yeah. I revise constantly, regardless of what stage of the process I’m in. Just like I’ll read through this post at least fifteen times before I publish it.

What about all of you? When do you revise? Do you need time away from your words before you can revise?

Be sure to check out Shaun’s post from yesterday and Cole’s tomorrow.

15 comments:

  1. Well, this time around I just wrote like crazy and now I'm revising. I really should call re-writing. I think I need to re group when I write the next story. Maybe outline first ( a loose one), then try to revise a little chapter by chapter.
    Right now my revisions are going so slow and I feel like I keep going in circles.

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  2. I think it's impossible to make a story perfect, no matter how much of a perfectionist you are. But yeah, I want my drafts to be as good as I can make them before I let someone else see them.

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  3. I honestly wish my makeup consisted of even a smidge of the perfectionist in you. Sigh.

    It sounds like you have a great process though. Nice post.

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  4. Oh, I like to put a good few weeks between a first draft and the revision stage, but I admit I do tend to edit a little as I re-read through the first draft to get back into the swing of the story, but I've gotten better about leaving the editing until the revision stage.

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  5. Great post! I never used to be very fond of revising. The task seemed too insurmountable to even consider. But I've been fortunate enough to have people push me toward revisions and expect quality work out of me. I can say that now, I really LIKE revising!

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  6. I revise after the first draft and then it never ends!

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  7. After the first draft I revise right away, while the ideas for change are fresh. Once that's done then I leave it alone for a while to get some distance, so I can come back and be merciless.

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  8. I revise constantly just like you :) That way it doesn't all hit me at once when I finish.

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  9. I'm like you. I revise every step of the way. I've changed a chapter 3 to 8 times before my crit partners see it. And then more revisions after. Never ending, isn't it?

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  10. I'm like you: revising every step of the way. There's a certain kind of perfectionism...well, neurosis...that makes me want to get as clean a draft together as possible. Great post!!!

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  11. I like revising sometimes...like when the revisions are easy LOL Or when I get a really good idea that just makes my story phenomenal. I have a harder time when I'm on round 20 of revising the same book. Then the revision shine starts to wear off LOL

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  12. I love your attitude on revising! Great stuff. And I know what you mean about being mortified about missing something. When I got my copy edits, I felt like I was back in high school. Your revision process is admirable.

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  13. OMG no new books until you finish the draft of your current WIP? I would totally crack under those restrictions... although I will admit that my reading has at times pulled me away from my writing.

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  14. Oh geez, it takes me forever to put a blog post up because I'm constantly tinkering and revising.

    :-)

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  15. I do some revising as I go. I figure if I can fix something now, why wait til later?

    Great post!

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