Thursday, November 11, 2010
The Five Stages of Revision
Stage One – Denial
This isn’t so bad. *clicking down through the pages, noting the number of comments editor left on right side
I should be able to get through this fast. I don’t see any blocks of massive disagreement or requests to totally change anything drastic.
Maybe a weekend. No problem!
Step Two – Anger
*four days later
What the f*ck is she talking about? I do not over use certain words! It’s just a simple truth that things are simple and sometimes people state things in a simple fashion, with simple resignation and simple aplomb. And there is nothing wrong with repeating a word when one is making a point about that word! Sh*t, she really doesn’t get it!
What does she mean, she doesn’t remember this being said? Stupid b*tch! Didn’t she just read that scene? I made it plain that Emily doesn’t buy Mick’s anger. I know I did!
What the hell is wrong with sentence fragments? No one talks in complete sentences.
*glares at monitor
And so what if Silvestri shows a bit more sensitivity than most men of his era! He’s an exception!
Step Three – Bargaining
Look, maybe she’ll let me slide on this bit of broken dialogue if I fix the spot here in the narrative where I used too many fragments. I’ll give up the use of the word simple, but I need to keep the nautical terms. Maybe I can insert a bit more explanation for the non-nautically inclined who read the books…
I can redo the dialogue here and make it more obvious what Emily meant and how Silvestri took her seriously… Add a few lines here to show that yes, Silvestri really is that sensitive.
And here. Well, I can rearrange the structure, redo the time twisting, it is a little strange…
Step Four – Depression
Why did I ever think I could do this? It’s obvious from massive amount of comments and corrections that I need to go back and take a basic grammar/punctuation/sentence structure classes.
I can’t even follow what the heck I meant right here. I’m so lost and I’m never going to finish this stuff. I might as well just stop now.
With all the promotional stuff and the demands on my time…it’s going to get harder and harder and I can’t put the dog into doggie daycare all the time! I’m just a bad dog mom.
And I can’t write. Or tell stories.
*sob!
Step Five – Acceptance
You know, I think this is going to be okay. I think maybe, if I just step back and approach it all one bit at a time, I’ll survive. Bonnie likes doggie daycare, and I’m really getting a lot done. I think I’ve learned a great deal and the next time. Well, it won’t be so bad.
(Followed by gleefully finishing, sending off to my editor and being told I didn’t use the editing program correctly and it’s going to take her more time than she thought to go through my changes.)
At this point, I imagine she is considering her own Five Stages of Revising the Revision. (Sorry, Kate!)
So, crew. I know most of us have done our personal stint at revising. We call it revising when we dig in and look for ways to improve our books. Wait until an editor/agent sends you that multi-colored document…it’s a whole new ballgame! I actually spoke to Kate and was honest with my desire to throw her off a cliff a dozen times. She laughed, said she felt the same way about her editor. Good things these things are done at a distance…
Where do you think you might get stuck when you’re at this point? Any ideas? And let’s hear it for sentence fragments!
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67 comments:
I know how you feel; I've felt it all myself, and I have an awful confession to make. It might get me kicked out of the Grand and Noble Order of Writers and Storytellers, but they all know I can't keep secrets anyway.
I like doing edits.
In part, it's because at that point I know what needs to be fixed. When I'm writing something new I know I'm really unaware of what will speak to readers and what won't, but when doing edits, whether they be from beta readers (Hi Anne! Hi Rob! Hi PJ!) or from one of my editors (Hi Kate! Hi Terry!) I have actual comments from actual readers to guide me.
That may be the biggest reason I prefer edits. I'm not doing them *alone*. Somebody's there with me to give me some feedback on what works and what doesn't. It makes the process less scary.
Of course, there's one other nice thing about working with an editor: it means the story was good enough a publisher wanted it for their imprint. Which gives me the warm fuzzies inside.
I have no idea where I'd get stuck at this point. But this made me giggle. I can completely see you in each of these phases, even without the pictures. :)
I personally love the sentence fragment. For emphasis, anyway. Not when it should REALLY be a sentence, of course. But as a disjointed though I think they work great.
I bet I reuse lots of words too. I'm cringing just waiting for the day I have to search and find. Thank goodness for Word's Find option.
omg I LOVE the pictures. This is hilarious, Chance, and so, so true.
I got edits back on my entire novel from my thesis adviser at school, and went through the exact same thing. I get stuck on the depression stage (but then again, that always seems to be the stage I get stuck in *g*). At one point, he actually said, "I've used the find feature, and found 182 instances of the word glance. STOP GLANCING!!!" And lips. And eyebrows. Apparently, I refer to people's eyebrows regularly. lol.
It's hard, when you get back a lot of revisions at once. And I'm one of those who wants to argue -- no, no I DID say that. I DID mean that. It's FINE. And I forget that the whole point is that from a reader's perspective, what I was trying to say isn't what came across.
Oh, and count me as a big believer in sentence fragments too :)
That's hilarious. At least you have a manuscript to revise.
Sentence fragments ROCK!
Okay, now that I've got that out of the way. . .
I loved this post, Chance, and the pics were priceless. :)
I went through this with both manuscripts I revised so Christine could send them out. The first manuscript I had to do a second time, because we both missed something the first time out.
And the process is gruelling. Draining. At times it's demoralizing.
The one good thing is when I get to the exhaustion stage--because then I quit resisting, and quit telling myself, "I can't do this, I'm done". Somehow I did it, and survived, and lived to tell another tale. But I would have guessed there would have been a different ending. LOL
This is when you realize you have to love writing, because there's no reason to go through this process if you didn't!
Congrats again on making it through!
Fantastic picture-story! Love it and I too love sentence fragments - no one talks in complete sentences. Bah humbug. *sticking tongue out at editor* :)
I think when the time comes I'm going to get stuck most on understanding the things an editor says need more explanation - becuase I think we forgot as writers that the story is in our heads and we understand it, but we have to make sure it's all there for the reader on paper.
There are things about my hero thta I just *know* but think maybe I havne't conveyed well. That's going to be a hard one to work on.
Congrats on the revisions! Good job and you'll get there!
Damn this is funny. *LOL* OMG. And I LOVE the pictures. I'm pretty sure I'd be stuck at DEPRESSION because I'm pretty sure I'm stuck there now. *LOL*
OMG Chance, love the anger pic ;) That's so me! I think I got my version of the Kraken - mine is the Grinch! I'm going to sit him by my PC after Christmas and let him steal my precious, evil inner editor gifts! :)
Love the article, keep up the good work! :)
You know, I think this is going to be okay.
I think this is going to be okay too.
Hugs
Okay, I'm sorry Chancer but this made me giggle on the inside a bit. You're a wonderful writer. And I think all of us have the tendency to use words over and over again without notice. These pics are really what made me giggle. You are so expressive and that hat.... LMFAO
Have to agree with Scapey. I never speak in complete sentences. Half the time I pause in mid-thought, lose my train of thought or completely bounce off on another subject. Isn't the whole point of writing writing realistically?
Robert, at the end, and several times during the process I found it fascinating. I'm not sure I've hit 'liked' it yet. But I knew what it meant to be at that stage and for someone to care enough to guide me...and there were a lot of good warm fuzzies...but a lot of everything else as I went along! And this was my very first time!
Perhaps when I'm a veteran I'll be able to see them as good for me in a more all-over fashion!
"Please, sir! Can I have another?"
Marnee - I simply could not see her point about the word simply! Simply because it is a word I favor as a descriptive word and I suppose it simply doesn't communicate that much as a descriptive word but still maybe if I didn't use it so much...sigh.
Yeah, the fragment battles...we're gonna come up on them again. The bargaining was real...how to let some get by without editorial slashing... I did figure it out. Judiciously!
Ah, Hal! If only it were a vote (sentence fragments)... I got what she wanted and if I'd run up against them gradually...but I dove in and went through the entire 70k in about 5 days. So I ran into them a lot...
We of the fragment society must be clear and logical when we use them. And sneaky.
I'm just praying I won't have so many pretty colored notes/comments next time!
The depression didn't last long for me...revising is really addictive! I couldn't stop and several times I wanted to. I'd say to myself, "Stop! Go take a walk, get some fresh air."
"No, just a few more pages and I'll be at the end of the chapter..."
It's like crack.
Yup, Mona, I had a manuscript to revise. And someday, you too shall have this befall you! and I know you'll handle it with grace and aplomb.
Feel free to borrow one of my knives.
Donnaroo! I wondered how detailed Christina's revision was for you. I went through a mini one with Sartiza, but Kate's was much more Edward Scissorhands.
I found myself wondering, "And this was a book they liked? Imagine if it were one they didn't like!?"
Scary!
In defense of Kate, I use a lot of sentence fragments. She said something about a crown at RT...
Scape - Weren't as bad as I thought with the 'didn't I say that alread' stuff. We ran into it here and there and I actually did read one of my sentences and went, "WTF?"
Yes, I lost myself! Imagine where a reader would have gone!
I got a few, 'needs more explanation.' but not as many as I thought I'd get.
And Kate said I added almost 6k to the book.
Really? I didn't think I'd mouthed off that much!
"Can I count that toward next month's total for new words in my local RWA chapter? I wonder..."
Hellion - Doesn't everyone wear their pirate hats when writing?
;-)
The depression didn't last as long as I feared. I mean, when you really dive into working all the wondrous colored insert notes, there isn't a lot of time to dwell on exactly how many times you used ellipses or dangled particicles...
It's like it gets driven off by the reality that I AM ACTUALLY EDITING MY BOOK FOR PUBLICATION!!! and just flits around the edges when you give it time.
;-)
Yo Ho, I was honest with Kate, said I wanted to throw her off a cliff numerous times. But she said she wanted to throw her editor off a cliff numerous times also, so it seems to be the norm.
I will not be packing any knives to LA, when I'll be meeting Kate in person. Or poison, or ice picks...
Julie! Welcome back! I heard from you daughter you've been on the party bus... I'm not sure what she meant but decided to see it as a good thing...
And yeah, it will all work out. ;-)
Wait, did you call me Jules daughter? I'm the one who told you that.
Sin - I fear the discussion reg. sentence fragments in dialogue will remain a constant. Some are understandable and yup, my heroines tend to think things out aloud...which makes for a lot of stopping and restarting in a different place when they talk. I'll get better at communicating that is what is going on, and not just some odd form of brain damage.
If you think about the shows we all love on TV, if characters did this all the time, we'd want to scream at them for leaving us hanging.
I'll keep pushing and I'll find that lovely place where it all makes sense and the frags can be followed and the reader will know what the rest of the sentence is even if the character doesn't.
Wouldn't that be a glorious place to reach!?
??? No! Someone else came on FB and said she was Julie's daughter and she on the party train... Did I read a word that wasn't there???
I adore this blog. These pictures are CLASSIC! And so you. LOL!
My limited experience with revision has not been great. In fact, I'm pretty sure I do more damage than good in revisions. I guess I just need more practice. I don't want to think about getting edits back from an editor. Since my first phase would likely be, "Well f*ck her."
Not the most professional or positive response.
Hal - I bet I "glance" a hundred times a chapter. Crap, I don't want to think about it.
LOL, maybe I missed Jules daughter on facebook.
B'sun - Well, I think a certain amount of 'F*ck her' is par for the course. Then you get over it. My pet word was simply or simply in this book, in others it is bound to be snorted, chuckled, grinned... I suppose glance is a subtle way of looking...so that would be tough to find substitutes for!
I got a bit of the passive, make this active. And I realized that usually happened in areas where I remember just being tired as I wrote. Or in a hurry.
And don't tell Kate, but I didn't always understand what she was talking about. That's when the depression tried to rear it's bitter head.
Chance, my manuscripts were pretty clean, thank goodness, but I did have to make my hero "less perfect" in the first one, and I had to go through and find other words for the "repeater" words, which we all have.
The problem is that when you change one thing HERE, it changes something else in another spot. LOL And if you change "grin" to "smile", then later on you have too many usages of "grin", so you change it back to "smile". . .
It's a giant game of Whack-a-Mole sometimes. LOL
LMAO Oh, what fun! Best blog I've read all week. hehe Highly amusing. And the photos? Great touch.
But... I like content edits. I like mirror words being pointed out, and passive sentences being ripped apart. I like dodgy plot points being corrected, and I LOVE my editor. I love that she is there to make my book even better. She got my voice straight away, and I learned so much from her. Plus, with me being British, it was rocking to have an American editor. She weeded out my Brit slang from inappropirate places. Yeah...editors ROCK! Esp MY editor :) *smooches to editors of the world*
Whack-A-Mole probably sums it up sweetly!
The whole word repitition thing... I tend to repeat words on purpose. I mean if Emily is pacing the cabin and repeating to herself, "I am not insane!" She isn't going to say, "I am not insane. I am not mad. I am not bonkers. I am not in a rubber room." She's going to repeat, "I am not insane." Like a litany.
This is where it got tricky. There are times when repetitive words usage is done on purpose! When using the computer to find these words, it doesn't get the context, so sometimes, you do have to ignore it.
I do like the word grin. And snort. Even my ladies snort. Or sniff as a reaction.
Sigh. I guess it's all in the set up!
I love the blog, Chance, and the pictures are wonderful!
I think we all have favorite words we tend to overuse. I know even in my blogs I find myself "delighting" in too many things. I use the read-aloud test on sentence fragments, which I do use in dialogue a lot. If the rhythm is staccato when it shouldn't be, I know I've overdone the fragments.
I'm not sure how similar editorial comments for non-fiction and fiction are, but I do know I get really testy and defensive when the "corrections" an editor asks for are a matter of stylistic choices rather than correct usage. I surrender more gracefully on other matters. My dissertation director should have bought a rubber stamp with the words "Get rid of the em dashes." LOL! And recently I had to laugh and agree when an article I had written was returned with an editor's comment: "While your essay made me cheer, I think the tone is more appropriate for an op-ed piece than for a reference book. Please revise accordingly."
I love em dashes!
And I love editors, and agents who edit--don't get me wrong about that. :) I'm just agreeing that it is hard work.
I agree with Janga about corrections being stylistic choices--it's one reason I don't have CPs, because that is what happened--like they considered my story some kind of writing prompt, and they wanted me to rewrite the story THEY came up with. LOL
A lot of the things I do are deliberate, to keep the voice intact--they won't always follow the "rules", so that is where it's nice to have someone appreciate, and champion, my voice.
Janga - Oh, yeah...I used to get in trouble all the time in school for not taking a scholarly tone to my papers. I think it's so difficult when you love a subject to leave the 'delight' out of it!
I'm a bit surprised not to have recieved more general revision requests...like...make her more believable, etc. Those requests would have driven me nuts. I hate non-specific requests.
Tell me why she isn't believable and then I can fix her. I believe in her! Why can't you?
I wonder if they are coming in the next stage...gods, I hope not!
I mean, the ...tone is more appropriate for an op-ed piece than for a reference book. Please revise accordingly. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?
Really!?
JoAnne - Yes, by the end of this round of revisions, I really appreciated my editor and I knew the book was cleaner, leaner and less cluttered. But whining is the American way!
I was thinking about how it would work, going from Brit to America and back, because even word spellage is different, let alone slang, etc.
And even as I snarled at the monitor, I saw Kate's points.
I still think it's a good thing this process doesn't take place in the same room. Or at the edge of a cliff.
Donna - The great debate between M dashes and ellipses. I prefer ellipses and seldom, if ever use M dashes. I'd rather rewrite the sentence and make two complete sentences than use the M dash.
I have no idea why! I must have been traumatized when very young by an M dash... Perhaps they ganged up on me and beat me with a wet fish...
Maybe you should make an Em Dash drink in order to get acquainted with them again. Throw in a dash of this and a dash of that and there you go.
Donna - I've had people do that and after they finish, I just say, "That sounds like a great story. You should write that someday. But I'm writing this one." :)
I don't have CPs either. Well, Hellie, but we don't exchange anything so I'm not sure it counts. LOL!
It's a good come back, Bo'sun. "Well, that sounds like your book, but my book...it's different than that!"
An Alphabet Dash...I gots ta think on that one!
Bought a small bottle of Baileys last night. Wonder if I can sneak a shot into Starbucks with me and flavor me drink with it...?
Ok, lovies...I can't hold off any longer. Must walk dog and head for Starbucks. I had a good night's sleep but staying at home if proving the siren song of the 'go back to bed' fairies is too strong.
Must. Resist.
Be back in an hour or so!
Oh my gosh, you nailed it on the head. I didn't even need to read the copy. Your expressions said it all.
My editor just emailed to 'warn' me she is sending edits this weekend. New editor too. That should be interesting.
Note: I use a sentence fragment in this comment. Do I get extra points?
Maureen ~ as an editor, I have to weigh in and give you a generic opinion. Writing is tough work, and then to subject it to an editor and see your baby picked apart line by line is very difficult. But the bottom line is every writer goes through it, so you're a member of The Club now.
On the other hand, some writers put their editors through hell. Literally. (remember, this is generic, I'm not speaking of you or your Krakenish ways, LOL *hugs*). So, when we say "this has to go" or "this isn't working" or "please revise", it's because we are trying to potty-train your baby, graduate it and then see it off to college. Wow, that was a weird analogy. But anyway, we don't say things just to be bitches. We really do fall in love with nearly every book (and hot guy in the book) that we edit. Hope that helps you see the other side of the coin. And gee, put that knife away, it's making me nervous.
So glad you weighed in Valerie! It's nice to hear an editor's perspective.
And stand behind me. I'll fend them off with my ice pick.
Maria. I can just imagine getting used to one editor and then having things switch to another and starting all over again!
I must come up with a good drink in honor of beloved fragments...the good and the bad.
Val - I know that in the end, the book was better for Kate's input, swatting and general training. And this is a job I really would rather never contemplate doing myself. Kudos to you and Kate and all who do it without getting snippy or insulted. I never felt insulted with Kate...
It's more me than anything else. And doing them in the space of about 6 days for a 70k MS... See, I do these things to myself!
I promise, the scarry knife won't come to RT.
*man, she thinks that one is scarry...she ought to see my collection!
Wait, did you call me Jules daughter?
Our SIN … the Poster Girl for Long legged
Pirateattitude … is really a petit lil blond high school-eeeer?!
BUSTED!
Now I know why I can’t ever find any of my ice picks! Listen here young lady! You and I are gonna have a mother-daughter talk about SINing on the net.
Go get her, Mama Julie! Look at her, trying to get on the good side of my editor by offering to protect them with an ice pick! Probably one she snitched from you liquor caddy!
Yes.
I was on a Road Trip.
And yes.
I was frightfully close to your casa SIN & Hellion whilst I was on a quest to find The Crown Jewels.
No raiding my liquor caddy without my permission , MissySIN! The last person who did that had a close encounter with a Bottle of Jack Daniel’s laced with ipecac!
Wow, she's mean!
I am the stuff that Urban Legends are made of.
Julie, you are an urban legend.
Okay, back from going to the mall. Whew. I'm having flashbacks from when I had to work there. . .Chance, mix me up something STRONG. LOL
And I don't see it as an either/or when it comes to em dashes and ellipses. I love 'em BOTH and try to use them everywhere! LOL
Now I'm off to do some writing on NaNo. I took yesterday off since I was a day ahead, but I don't want to get behind now. . .
P.S. Nice to see you again, Julie!
Our SIN … the Poster Girl for Long legged
Pirateattitude … is really a petit lil blond high school-eeeer?!
I don't think anyone would ever mistake me for a petite bubbly blond. That makes me giggle on the inside.
*grin* You know there is still another talk you need to have with me Mama Jules. It involves sinning on the Internet and climbing virtual poles.
Go get her, Mama Julie! Look at her, trying to get on the good side of my editor by offering to protect them with an ice pick! Probably one she snitched from you liquor caddy!
*glare*
I've got a special ice pick for you my pretty. And your little hat too.
DRD good luck on NaNo for the day!
My hat isn't little!
And that is my favorite feather...and my smallest knife!
Jules, I can't believe you'd get close to my casa, stalk me from afar and then tell me after you're already out of my reach. So disappointed.
I’ve got a special ice pick for you my pretty. And your little hat too.
OMG, I don't think I've ever cackled before, but this made me do it. LOL
Does my hat look small, Donna? She's gonna give me a hat complex.
Probably she's laughing at my limp feather, too.
Sigh.
Your hat is perfect.
She was just modifying the Wizard of Oz line to fit her nefarious words. :)
Thanks, I feel better. Not great, but better. Time to toddle off and see to Bonnaroo and getting myself some lunch.
*le sigh* Some things are just lost in translation on the Internet. Woe is me.
...then tell me after you’re already out of my reach. So disappointed.
WHAT? I figured that when you heard all of the police sirens and the helicopters and all of the gunfire and stuff you’d figure that I was in the area. Jeez.
Chance
They make small knives?
Love The Hat, BTW.
*maddly waves*
Hello DonnaDearest! Good luck with the NaNo.
I'm doing the "NaNo" thing too.
Yep.
When my DH asks me if I wanna watch one of his TV shows I answer with a resounding "Nah ... NO!"
And
Speaking of sentence fragments.
I have been typing down a rather entertaining ongoing conversation that my DH is having with himself as he reads trough the descriptions of the courses our DD will need to take for a certain college degree:
Him “Oh. My. *GASP* Pathological … Psychopathology cellular aspects of life … descriptive chemistry for the elements … thermo dynamics … kinetics equilibrium …. electro chemistry … an advanced criminal background check? Highly competitive … Drug testing … CPR … Oh. My. Gawwwd … Julie this gives me a friggin‘ headache … calculus? Does? She? KNOW. That she’ll have to take cal-and-Oh-My. Gawd-trigonometry!?
Me “Sounds fun!”
Him *Dirty look* … Drug testing … mumbble ... mumbble ...
WHAT? I figured that when you heard all of the police sirens and the helicopters and all of the gunfire and stuff you’d figure that I was in the area. Jeez.
Hell, I'm sorry. I'm immune to the sounds of impending doom. It's just a soft lullaby in the background at this point.
Now, we be such a quiet burb here in Santa Cruz, we'd know when Julie was in town. We'd throw her a parade!
We’d throw her a parade!
Which is why I Love putting my faith in ... Chance!
;)
;-)
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