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Thursday, April 3, 2008
Chain, Chain, Change
re-vise (ri viz) to change or amend the content of.
This week we revised our surroundings. We moved to a new ship, and embarked on our journey with a view from a new deck. Sometimes it is important to look at your surroundings and evaluate a need for change. Maybe you need a larger home, for added space, or a new wardrobe because the spring clothes from last year shrank in the drawer during the winter. *g* That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
In all aspects of our lives at one time or another, we face a need for change.
How many times in your writing do you revise your journey? Some writers set out to write their stories and never revise until the story is complete. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. I feel if I revise as I go, it will be less work in the end. This is a total cop out. My thoughts about revisions turn into thoughts of procrastination, and I have a word count that is lower than my IQ.
I encounter a multitude of people during a workday. I have conversations and interactions with people that fit specific scenes in my WIP. I can never turn off my writer’s mind. If my body is idle, I am writing in my mind.
I’m a revisionholic.
Just when I think I’ve hammered out the best plot since sliced bread, I think of another twist. If I’m not thinking of a twist, I’m thinking about conflict and emotion. When I think I’m satisfied, I study the plot for follow through, never wanting to leave a lose end. I cannot get beyond planning my outline.
Author Ken Follett, spent a year writing the outline for The Pillars of the Earth. He is the epitome of a planster. Mr. Follett is a pirate who depends on a specific map to coordinate his direction. He wants to know his destiny before the ship leaves port. I’m failing before I ever attempt to leave port. I’ve tried to revise myself into a planster when I’ve always been a panster. I need to write as I have in the past, by the seat of my pants.
I still find it interesting how writers use different methods to reach the same result. We all start with an idea. We create characters to act out the story, and we develop conflict to keep the characters apart. We throw in a couple of hair pulling moments, a big awe moment, and end with a scene that pulls a sigh from the reader. In the process, we hope we created something that stays with them long after they place the book on the shelf.
Revisions are difficult at best, but they can make the difference between a forgotten manuscript and a book deal. Each bead of sweat on our brow, every minute of lost sleep, every liter of ingested caffeine is worthwhile if the changes we make turn 100,000 words into the best story we have ever written.
We should view revisions as a means to a deserved end, and compare them to a way of life. We exercise to improve our physical well-being. We do home improvements to increase the value and enjoyment in our homes. We make revisions in our WIP in order to make it presentable; overall, it’s an investment in words.
Maybe we didn’t need a new ship, but we wanted one. Maybe your WIP needs revisions, and maybe it stands corrected. Maybe one day the only revisions you’ll need to make are to your Keynote Speech at the RWA conference.
Maybe the aroma of linseed oil on the new ship is getting to me, but nothing else has changed.
I’m still trying to make the best of what I have in hopes of writing something worth noticing.
This week we revised our surroundings. We moved to a new ship, and embarked on our journey with a view from a new deck. Sometimes it is important to look at your surroundings and evaluate a need for change. Maybe you need a larger home, for added space, or a new wardrobe because the spring clothes from last year shrank in the drawer during the winter. *g* That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
In all aspects of our lives at one time or another, we face a need for change.
How many times in your writing do you revise your journey? Some writers set out to write their stories and never revise until the story is complete. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. I feel if I revise as I go, it will be less work in the end. This is a total cop out. My thoughts about revisions turn into thoughts of procrastination, and I have a word count that is lower than my IQ.
I encounter a multitude of people during a workday. I have conversations and interactions with people that fit specific scenes in my WIP. I can never turn off my writer’s mind. If my body is idle, I am writing in my mind.
I’m a revisionholic.
Just when I think I’ve hammered out the best plot since sliced bread, I think of another twist. If I’m not thinking of a twist, I’m thinking about conflict and emotion. When I think I’m satisfied, I study the plot for follow through, never wanting to leave a lose end. I cannot get beyond planning my outline.
Author Ken Follett, spent a year writing the outline for The Pillars of the Earth. He is the epitome of a planster. Mr. Follett is a pirate who depends on a specific map to coordinate his direction. He wants to know his destiny before the ship leaves port. I’m failing before I ever attempt to leave port. I’ve tried to revise myself into a planster when I’ve always been a panster. I need to write as I have in the past, by the seat of my pants.
I still find it interesting how writers use different methods to reach the same result. We all start with an idea. We create characters to act out the story, and we develop conflict to keep the characters apart. We throw in a couple of hair pulling moments, a big awe moment, and end with a scene that pulls a sigh from the reader. In the process, we hope we created something that stays with them long after they place the book on the shelf.
Revisions are difficult at best, but they can make the difference between a forgotten manuscript and a book deal. Each bead of sweat on our brow, every minute of lost sleep, every liter of ingested caffeine is worthwhile if the changes we make turn 100,000 words into the best story we have ever written.
We should view revisions as a means to a deserved end, and compare them to a way of life. We exercise to improve our physical well-being. We do home improvements to increase the value and enjoyment in our homes. We make revisions in our WIP in order to make it presentable; overall, it’s an investment in words.
Maybe we didn’t need a new ship, but we wanted one. Maybe your WIP needs revisions, and maybe it stands corrected. Maybe one day the only revisions you’ll need to make are to your Keynote Speech at the RWA conference.
Maybe the aroma of linseed oil on the new ship is getting to me, but nothing else has changed.
I’m still trying to make the best of what I have in hopes of writing something worth noticing.
What do you dislike most about revisions? Do you revise your WIP when it is complete, or do you revise while writing? Do you have more than one-person critique and edit your work? Do you always take a critique partner’s advice about revisions, or do you go with your gut instincts?
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60 comments:
Ah....
Revisions...
I loathe them...
I love them...
Editing as you go does diddly squat---but add to the overall story for me. I always add when I 'revise' as I go. But that's all I ever accomplish in doing this. Sometimes you need to revise as you go. Sometimes you need to rewrite your book five times before you get it done.
Writing is about rewriting. And I think there will come a point when we feel we are done. I finished my short, and it stayed done after the revision process. And though I could lengthen the story if I really want--I don't need to.
And need I mention my first book is in it's fourth rewrite. FOURTH! This isn't tinkering with a few passages, this is analyzing every single word and cutting sentences, paragraphs, whole passages, then writing something fresh.
And I'm very lucky to have a critique partner I trust implicitly with everything from ideas to plot to working out GMC--Just everything because she gets my writing completely and is always willing to offer input--I do this for her too,or at least I hope I do. She's honest with me, and gives me the ugly and sometimes sweet truth. Whatever the story needs to get better. If she says somethings not working, I really look at it closely and ask what made her hone in on it. And I have two other critters that help keep me in line later on.
When I was a wee baby Vixen, I never revised a thing, except by fiddling as I went along. When I typed "The End", I actually though it was. I've revised three manuscripts over the past year. Two were fairly easy, one required losing about 1/3 of the book. I hear you Pirates gasping, but that 1/3 was happily cast overboard for the good of all mankind. I think I'll never be able to turn off the inner editor as I write. I still revise as I go, just as I familiarize myself with the story from the previous day. Maybe revisions in the future won't be quite so drastic now that I have a better handle on my "issues," POV problems being the most egregious. I dream of the day when an editor says "You have to fix this chapter." Then I'll really love revisions!
I hate revisions and have asked every single writer I've 'met' along the way how they revise. I've found that I'm not alone in my hate fest in most cases. But there are the few writer's who love revisions; one of my critique partners loves revisions and I can't understand it.
I revise after it's written and what I hate most about that is how daunting it seems to re-evaluate 400+ pages.
I don't always take a critique partners advice. If my gut screams that I'm right and that it would be wrong for me to chhange something I leave it.
Ack, revisions. I've started revising and I haven't even finished the stinking book! Gah!!
Anyway, I don't HATE revisions, per se, but I'm not in love with them. Revisions are hard because it requires me to look at something I wrote and thought came across one way and evaluate if I was effective or not. That requires acknowledging that I might sometimes not be effective.
Lis - Hang in there. By the time you're finished, it'll definitely be worth publishing! Have faith.
I'm a bad writer....well compared to other dedicated ones, because half the time I write a new story I have no idea what the hell I'm going to write about and how and where the story is going to end.
I don't write plots down, plan out scenarios, do research before hand. Hell no! I just write boot up my laptop, stare at the blank Word screen for twenty minutes, sip some coffee, say some prayers to the writing gods and type. So after like two sentences I start revising. Which means I don't get very far writing at all.
Then I give up and call my editor and whine and complain and whine and complain. Finally she asks me what the story is about and I would say some random word like "Hostages", and then she will ask questions like "Who are the hostages?", "Is Marissa a hostage?", "Who kidnapped her?"
And then before I know it I'm pulling on my note book and attaching post-its to it, and half hour later my note book looks like it's decoupaged in post-its.
Half-way through my joy of finally getting the story going my active imagination will nudge me, and in between thoughts of "Hey, maybe I need a donut and an ice cream cone", thoughts of taking the adventure to a whole other sinister level will filter through and that's when I start to revise to see where I can fit in and/or change the direction of the plot. Which I then means have to insert more dialog and scenarios to lead up to it. By that time I've probably been writing for 2-3 hrs and most of my brain cells have packed up and gone home, so I make a few more notes about the revision in my notebook and go find some nutrition, only to be sitting on my couch and finding myself revising the revision....Arrrrgggghhhhhhh!!!!!!
Revising seems to be my mortal enemy. Not because I hate them but because I can't stop revising what I've written and work forward. I'm trying very hard lately to move forward and tell myself I can fix/add/change stuff later. It's sort of working. Well, it would be working if I were writing.
I saw where Susan Elizabeth Phillips revises as she goes which is good because when she's finished with a book, it's finished. But it's bad because it takes her 18 months to write one book. That made me feel better about my drawn out process but since I'm no SEP, I'm thinking it does not bode well for my future (or present) production levels.
Lis - Like you, I'm early in this writing process. I had to learn to tell myself that it's fine to still be figuring things out. I've lost track of how many times I've read about people taking years to write their first book(s). Since I'm only one year in, I tell myself I have plenty of time and at this point it's more about the journey than the destination.
Revisions? *flipping hair* I don't need no stinking revisions. Pfft.
LOL. Who am I kidding? I dump a whole 80k and start over. I tend to revise as I go and then once I finish I will revise again. I like to edit. It's one of my favorite things to do. But I like to just scratch it all if it's not working. I don't delete it. I just put it in a folder that says "Don't touch under penalty of death" LOL
Tiffany, You sound so much like me. I have a love- hate relationship with revisions. I understand it's important part of writing, but you have to be passionate about a piece of work for it to be in it's fourth rewrite. I want to write my WIP until I get it right, I just want to believe in the story to begin with, and I'm struggling to settle into the right storyline to follow.
You have a great relationship with your crit partner, the trust is monumental, and they have to "get" your writing style. Priceless.
Maggie, throwing 1/3 overboard doesn't sound so scary to me. I'm a lover of the delete button. If it doesn't add to the over all story or it could be written more effectively then bu-bye.
I think you bring up a good point. When we correct our writing "issues" we become more in tune with our work possibly eliminating less revisions in the future.
Kelly, I agree with you,it's a daunting task to revise the book at the end. I want to let go of my internal editor and write a story all the way to the end. Right now I need to write something to revise instead of revising my story before I have to do any real editing.
Marnee, Good point! Revisions mean we have to look at our flaws. Something that we wrote yesterday or three weeks sgo seemed like golden words, but today it may make you scratch your head and say "What was I thinking?"
Thanks for the vote of confidence. That is part of my battle, I need to work on believing in myself, and my writing. I think if I just start writing I will eventually become in tune with my voice and my characters.
I never read anything I've written until I'm done. If I did, I would be so appalled at the crimes I'd committed, I would never be finished rewriting the first scene.
~William Goldman
Sin, that's not REVISING. That's still a FIRST DRAFT. But I applaud your ability to cut ties with something that's not working for you and start over. I think everything has a chance to be recycled. *LOL*
I like revising when I think the book I'm revising is good. I can see where my tweaking is making it better. I feel energized by it.
When I hate my book, my concept, my dialogue, my setting, my characters--revising is the 10th circle of hell. Why am I doing this? This is an utter waste of time. You can't revise something that's not worth revising in the first place.
So it depends. When I think what I've written is salvagable, I like it; when I don't, I don't.
Good blog!
Ter, You're right we are not alone. Many writers struggle with their first book. My biggest problem is I've always had the characters and backstory in fanfiction to guide me. Now it's all on my shoulders. It's up to me to create the story from the ground up, and I want to get it right. I put too much pressure on myself, and take all the fun out of something that I love with a passion.I need to take a deep breath and write, and stop worrying about if it's the next GAN.
Sin, You crack me up. Hair flipping and all. Yes, I've learned my dumping syndrome from you my friend.
Geisha, I love your method of madness. Post it notes and notebooks, I bet you have some really cool high lighters too:)
It's a bad habit. I always seem to rub off on people. LOL. You shouldn't dump what you write. It's always good.
Hellion- I revise as I go and then revise again once I'm through. Though, I've yet to keep anything I've done so I guess I should shut up.
Hellion, I so get what your saying aboout the tenth circle of hell. It's amazing how a story that you loved from the beginning can change into the worst story ever documented if you look at it long enough. Crit partners are worth their weight in gold in this instance. They don't have the blood, sweat, and tears invested that we do in our WIP. Someone on the outside looking in can be a beautiful thing.
And thank you for the Goldman quote. Perfect.
I used to revise as I go because it's so long between times I've even looked at my work. My first draft of SM was just that a first draft. It had too much of the things that make a book a stinker and too little of what it needed to be a really great book. Plus, I had no idea what the bloody hell I was doing. I wrote with visions of chickens in my head. Reality check folks, those chickens earned their feathers.
So, I'm revising SM to resemble something I want the world to read and enjoy. Does it delay my career? You betcha. Will it be worth it? Absolutely.
Now I write to get the story out and go back only to review what I did the day before. It works for some of my favorite writers - those darn chickens. It's a matter now of my learning what it takes to write a better book and applying it to me and my process.
Santa, you have touched this blogger's heart. You've made the comment that I need on a t-shirt..."I have no idea what the bloody hell I am doing."
You've also touched on some wonderful advice. Writing is a learning process, the more in tune we are to our process the more successful we can become.
That is the irony. You'd think after reading hundreds (maybe thousands!) of romance novels over the last *cough* years, I'd have some idea what I'm doing. But no. There is SO MUCH TO LEARN! LOL!
Santa - I'm with you on the delaying the career but it being worth it but dang it, I want to read that book! LOL! Hurry up!
Great blog! I love this idea, Maggie: if the ship is going down or sailing too slow, dump, dump, dump, to lighten the load. Hard core. Got to love a pirate willing to sacrifice for the good of all.
I rewrote my first book in 3 variations and still don't want to let it go. My process involves, writing a few pages, revising same few pages, getting caught up in something else, coming back and revising all I've written, maybe writing a few more pages until the cycle repeats again and again and my ship is swallowed into a whirlpool. I try hard to lock up my internal editor. I'm getting better at it but I join in the collective, ARRRGGGHHHHH! resounding from the poop deck.
*LOL* Santa did sum up the entire thing: I have no bloody idea what I'm doing. Even the writers who say they have a process and give it to you only do that so they can validate themselves. I bet they chuck the plans to the passenger seats when they actually sit down to drive...write...whatever. I can mix my metaphors.
I try my hardest not to revise as I write, but it never works. Some times it's little things - go back and change a word here or there in the paragraph I just finished, sometimes it's major things like ditch a whole scene. It's a love-hate relationship for me as well.
Lisa - I'm having the same problem! I kept wondering why fanfics are so much easier to write, until I finally figured out that I just know those characters so much better. So I had to stop writing for a few days, dig through character surveys (the ones Christie sent me - thanks!) and just think about my main characters for a while. It's still slow going, but I don't feel like I'm slogging my way through it anymore. It is hard to make the changeover isn't it? But I have faith that we'll both figure it out someday (or rather, that you will, and I can ask you how you did it!)
Kathy, You've touched on my biggest fear as a writer. What if I write this book and am told to edit it to the point I don't recognize my original story anymore? I have a hard time cleaning out my closet and taking clothes to the Salvation Army, how will I part with my original thoughts?
Haleigh, It is a hard process. The chnage from fanfic to writing an original is grueling. I have faith in you. You're already doing what you need to do by searching to become more at one with your characters. You will succeed.
Lisa - I don't know how it would be for you but I do know that the WIP I'm writing now is very *changed* from the one I started more than a year ago. It took we a while to let go of some ideas but somehow as the story changed, I changed. You sort of go through the transition together.
And no matter what is suggested, the story will always be yours. The words, thoughts, ideas and scenes are all yours. Even if they don't resemble the words they were when you first started. Edits and revisions don't have to be seen as negative things.
I totally see what your saying. It's a growth process. The better writer you become, the more you see how change and revisions can be good thing.
I've heard of writers being asked to edit a story until it didn't resemble what they wanted it to be. That would be a hard pill to swallow for me, especially if my gut instinct said it needed o be a part of the process.
OMG Lisa!!! Let's not get started on the highlighters....or gel pens....or mechanical pencils.
I'm a stationary whore :|
Worst case scenario, you don't make the changes and send it elsewhere. No harm, no foul. *g*
Geisha - you crack me up!
Stationary whore. LOL! That cracks me up. So, I'm not the only one who stands in the pen/pencil aisle at walmart, feeling like I'm looking for shoes or something else fun?
Geisha, I knew it! We are writing sisters. I'm a whore for pens and fancy paperclips. I love highlighters in every color. I have so much fancy stationary, and rarely write a letter longhand or on the ocmputer. The people who produce stationary probably hate computers. Email totally destroyed traditional communication.
Marnee - I have to draw the line right there. Pen shopping is NOT the same as shoe shopping. LOL! Shoe shopping is in a category all its own.
I dislike how revisions NEVER end. NEV-AH.
High end pen shopping is it's own special level of heaven. For me it is better than shoes.
I love pen shopping. It's like shoe shopping for me. I get the same sort of high when getting the perfect writing implement that I do from the perfect pair of cute heels. Same sort of sass and I can conquer all.
Plus the pens are next to the post-its, and I love post-its.
Lisa, if at a gut level, you feel you're being to change the core of your story, where it's not the story you wanted to share--I think that's when you should draw back and try submitting it elsewhere. I think there is a balance between having the editor's imput, them getting your story/voice and making it even better; and having them change it into something else entirely just for the sake of a sale. I don't think you need to freak out that will happen, because I think by the time you get there you'll trust yourself enough to know if what is being said is good for the story or not. If not, you trust yourself enough to pull back, even if that means your story might not be published right now.
In my own defense, I have horrible hand writing so that's probably why the pen shopping doesn't hit the same nerve endings for me. But I have fat calves and heels just make fat calves look so much better. LOL!
And there's that never ending part. When do you know it's done? I mean, really done. I've met authors who still wish they could change things in books they have on the shelves at the store!
*LOL* Eileen's right.
I think Teresa Medeiros says she doesn't read her books after they're published because there is always something she wants to revise again...
Oops, looks like we typed the same thing at the same time. But see! That proves my point. Even well-established writers have a hard time letting go.
Hellion, I know it seems that I'm putting the cart before the horse. I'v gotten some very good advice with this blog. I need to stop freaking out over the what ifs, and just write.
I agree Terri, as much as I love pens, shoes shopping rocks.
There is such a thing as too much information, Lisa. I think I've ruined yours and Sin's mojo for writing by making you come play with me and "be serious." I can barely sleep at night from the guilt.
Right back at ya, Lisa! You've shared another pearl of wisdom: Stop freaking out over what ifs and just write!
Oh, and I adore pens. I grab all I can at conferences and anywhere else I can.
H- It was time to grow up. If I am going to do this I should do it right, less surprises that way. LOL No need to lose sleep unless it pertains to a dead sexy pirate sharing your cabin.
Yeah, Sin & I already had a discussion about how old we were going to live. She was on a scooter, DH was riding with her--and I was typing in my corner on my laptop (Dame Cartland, I suppose) and Jack was with me, rubbing my feet or something...
I said, by then Jack would look a lot like he does in the first movie, when he's hit by moonlight.
Of course, Sin still hasn't seen the movie...so that reference was sorta lost. *LOL*
I had to read that twice to figure out what you meant. You mean the curse. Yeah, I get it now. And I went to bed early last night so I shouldn't be this slow.
Knowledge is a double-edged sword with writing. I'd hate to write the entire thing in ignorance, but the more I learn, the less I get done. It's all a vicious cycle.
Or I'm just a nitwit. Which could also be the case. *g*
Oh, and I'm a highlighter pen Ho!
Lisa, unfortunately I made all the changes/revisions/alterations to my ms based on what I'd learned through rejections, critique partners, and learning more about craft. Sadly, I've decided to put that story aside for the time being. I've not been lucky to get a revision request from an editor yet. Boy, would I love doing those kind of revisions. :-)
Hellion, love the dream but, Jack will be rubbing my feet...
Wow, can you imagine if cloning became actually possible, or even android/robots that looked/felt/talked exactly like humans? I bet you Jack Sparrow would be the number clone requested.
Okay, maybe #2, after Ranger...
I'd take Captain Jack and Gerard Butler please.
*Waving hand in air* I want a Ranger clone!
Kathy- Requested revisions from someone interested in putting our books on the shelf at B&N are the revisions I think we all could live with:)
Gerard in a kilt. Yum.
Gerard in whatever that was he was wearing (or NOT wearing) in 300. Dead sexy.
Who's Gerard Butler? *quick google search* Good lord! How did I miss this one too? First Jeremy Northam and now this guy.... I need to get to the movies more.
Marnee! Seriously, someone needs to educate our Gunner, stat....
Eh. I don't get to watch movies much these days.... I heard 300 was cool though.
As Hellion says, "Stat!"
Marnee! Is this possible? Phantom of the Opera? Winsome Scot from Timeline? Leonidas from 300? Dracula 2000? Dead husband in P.S. I Love You or cheating husband in Shattered? I could go on to mention that he is the one and only Attila, the Hun.
Oh, Gunner. *Wipes drool* You really must get up to the crow's nest and cast your scope on this fine speciman.
It's okay Marnee I didn't know who Gerard Bulter is either. I know shock and awe...
Oh good. Thanks Lis. I was feeling really lame ther for a bit....
um, there. *sigh*
Sailing unchartered waters incites the adventurous spirit. Think of all the fun ye'll have setting out to discover this brawny, handsome lad. Heave ho, there. Get your musket ready. There'll be plenty of wenches to wade through.
LOL Kathy! It appears my fellow wenches are already hot on his trail.
Budge over, mates!
I do believe I know who the hottie is going to have to be this weekend. I guess I'll have to hunt up hot pics of Gerry. *sigh* The sacrifices I make for my crew.
*throws arm over forehead dramatically*
Lisa - you're like the hottie expert. How in the Hell could you have missed Gerard Butler?!?
Oh, I can't wait to see pictures of Gerry. *double that sigh* Please provide the crew a sampling, Marnee.
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