how to revise a novel

I consider my novel chapter by chapter, scene by scene, line by line and ultimately word by word. too many subplots, flashbacks or dream sequences), and you run the risk of confusing the reader to the point that your story loses its focus and momentum. The rule-of-thumb is: the closer to the climax your story is, the faster its pacing should be. Editing is the micro lens. Creative writing is a great way to express yourself and challenge your imagination! The goal of How to Revise a Novel is to gain the skills needed to successfully revise your novel so you can feel confident about sending it out in the world. Each character must have a purpose to the story, so perform your revision by 'seeing' the story through their eyes and enriching their interactions, actions, and dialogue as you go. A good novel is often revised several times before it’s ready to be submitted to a literary agent or editor for publication. In the first draft, it's best to be laser-focused on getting down the bones of … before coming back to it and re-reading it with a fresh pair of eyes. A novice author should expect to perform at least 3 total revisions of their manuscript, before moving into the writing reviews (the last 2 stages). Take a break. But the good part. Perhaps I should have pursued this suggestion more fully... But you are not finished. It's a good idea to take breaks between each couple of chapters, as you don't want to overload your mind and decrease your overall productivity. Are they cliché? Global issues involve novel-wide changes; that is, changes that require edits to be made throughout the entire draft. This inevitably snuffs out the mystery and suspense in your story. Not only is her How to Think Sideways a PREMIUM writing course, her re-released How to Revise Your Novel is the best indepth course on revision I’ve seen or heard of. factors. You know the season, the time of day, the placement of each character (plus their mindset & importance to the scene) within the scene, what the character is wearing, how the action will progress within the scene, etc. Revising one chapter at a time simplifies the process of revising your novel, but it’s a misleading revision. So look out for parts of your story where you’ve revealed too much, or where you’ve explicitly expressed a point that the reader could have easily deduced themselves. When your draft is completed, you’ll need to revise it. The protagonist is usually thought of as the hero of the story. To help you with that, we asked our specialist developmental editor Maria D’Marco to share her top tips on how to revise a novel. Does A Story Always Have To Have A Protagonist And An Antagonist? It is the engagement factor that determines the rate at which your story is absorbed. Welcome to Holly Lisle’s How To Revise Your Novel! Have you integrated the complexity smoothly into your theme/s, or does it stick out as unnatural and awkward? To revise a novel well the first time through, you need to learn the three stages of revision. When you finally finish the first draft of your novel, the temptation to just print it, box it, and start it on its rounds can be almost overwhelming. Your book is still compelling after twenty pages, the middle of your novel is not bad, and the ending is kickass. When you edit, you address sentence-level issues like sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation. Continuity isn't bettered by starting nearly every sentence with a pronoun or a character's name. Both cases need to be identified and re-written to merge naturally with the story, scene, and characters involved. Pacing ties to transitions, as well as to types of scenes, and can keep readers breathless and excited, bored to tears, or precariously tormented between the two. You can also check for innovative ways to introduce your time line, which may enlighten as to the time of day, day of the week, month, year, season, etc. They are tied to our accustomed way of communicating. Common Problems and how to Solve Them. When you've just finished composing your draft, it tends to be more difficult for you to view that particular piece of writing with a critical eye. And remember: don't limit yourself to a single reviewer. Some are so ingrained that they become known as our 'style'. You probably can envision most of the conversations held between your characters, but have you framed these conversations in an engaging way, avoided using actions or reactions as dialogue tags (we can grimace, but cannot 'grimace' words), or ensured that a conversation actually contributes to the story? Check out these 70 fascinating flaws to use in your own stories! Instead, you will be checking for unimaginative sentence starts, obtuse or convoluted sentence structures, and repetitive phrases or words or use of character names, among other things. Fix up the definite errors (such as typos) first, then turn your attention to the more indefinite questions like 'Is the adjective necessary here?' Let their review guide your own revising process, not define it. Here are my top five revision tips: Don’t revise as you go. Novels involve many characters, and delve deep into their inner lives. Think in terms of: Have someone else (preferably someone with good knowledge of your genre, and whose opinion you value highly) go through your current draft. Revising isn’t re-writing. Characters appear in settings or scenes they shouldn't be in. These include: Once your 'big edits' are complete, it's time to begin making small but equally important edits throughout your manuscript as a method of improving flow, momentum and grammatical fluency. This is your story—lead the way! When you revise, you’re addressing novel-wide issues, problems, tasks, or questions. Local issues, on the other hand, apply only to specific scenes or specific groups within those scenes. It should include an editing guide or manual that will help you trim superfluous sentences and eliminate fluff (I used Edit Yourself by Bruce Ross-Larson), a dictionary, a style guide, and Post-It notes. If you don’t, you’ll be wasting time in a slush pile anyway.”. Revise your story transitions, re-writing to improve focus and positioning, while cementing pivotal transitions that function as story turning points. Do they create a turn in the plot (however small)? Revisions. The read-through is all about reading through your draft at a slow and careful pace. You completely abandon your large cast of minor characters until a couple hundred pages later…which creates shocking moments where a long-forgotten character from Chapter Two randomly pops up in Chapter 20, without receiving any kind of mention in between. Make sure group conversations aren't confusing throughout; and so on. Then immerse yourself in other projects and activities, and cast away any thoughts on your current manuscript. Joe Bunting says: To understand the motivations of your characters, you need to interrogate them. It may also be worthwhile coming back to your introduction after you've read the conclusion, as this could help you draw a connection between the two and enhance your capacity to tie up loose ends. 50,000-150,000 words means you can't keep everything in your head. This is no easy feat. Begin by mapping your novel. Info-dumps can occur in dialogue and narrative. Here's how to get into creative writing today. Transitions, whether paragraph breaks, chapter breaks, or scene changes are finessed partitions that conclude or leave things hanging and set up or anticipate moves within the story. As for your ending, the most significant point to consider is whether or not your story effectively builds up to its conclusion. A number of easily accessible tools can help make your revising and editing processes just that little bit easier. Your goal here is not perfection (you’ll have to work with a pro editor to get there), it is balance; so do not get hung up on minutiae and work quickly through your drafts. > Perfecting your Craft Everyone has a reason, even if that reason doesn’t become apparent until the very end. Click below to tweet about it or Pin it on your board :). Reedsy is more than just a blog. Checklists are also helpful when making more general global edits, as they help to direct your attention to individual tasks during your revision sessions. The Write Life has some great editing tips for tightening your expression, and Grammar Girl provides some more general tips for editing and revising. Such a problem is known as info-dumping. An overuse of clichés often results in a predictable (and therefore tedious) story; giving away too much information all at once, rather than gradually through plot development, also tends to create situations where the reader can easily guess what will happen next. Use a story revision checklist Effective revision tackles a manuscript piece by piece: plot, conflict, dialogue, point of view, and so on. This is, to me, the greatest pitfall in authoring any novel—or any other type of writing. As you read through your draft, note down your main plot developments. Make a schedule for your editing. Read without revising. A 'log' of transitions can help track the movement of the story. You will learn HOW to revise – the theory and the practice – and will work through one chapter of your manuscript. Check out some of our other editors' advice on the Kobo blog. Consider the following points for your beginning: For inspiration, take a look at these 100 best first lines from novels. I’m an affiliate, so if you decide to purchase either course, I stand to earn a commission. And how you revise your writing will depend on If the pace is too fast, readers may find it difficult to keep up with your sequence of events or may find their progression unrealistic. Novel revision means starting at the beginning and reading through the manuscript word by word, line by line, paragraph by paragraph and chapter by chapter looking at a lot of things at once. 7. Everyone has writing habits. Does the dialogue expand and deepen the understanding of the story, the characters, and the relationships between all? This revision isn't meant to dilute your style, your special voice, or any other uniqueness in your writing. Do they contribute to every scene they occupy? Katherine is a writer and part-time blogger, an avid reader and a collector of inspiring quotes. Depending on how you wrote the first draft – all in one shot versus editing as you went, as a plotter or as a “pantser” – will guide how you begin to revise. A first draft is just that – a draft. Good advice but most of this should be instinctive. He reads it, gets out a pencil, and decides that "viridian" is classier in the sentence than the word "green." Combining related concepts in a complex sentence can enrich a transition or deepen emoting. In every revision, along with the foundation of continuity and relationships, be mindful of assumed knowledge. Do those complex elements run along the same theme, or are they arbitrary (and therefore pointless)? When well-constructed, a list should give you a clearer sense of purpose and direction, so you know what you need to be looking for before you actually start looking for them. Are you looking for more advice on how to revise your novel? But done right, it can help you turn your rough manuscript into a novel that sings. Choose Edit eBook details or Edit paperback details. An important point to note here is that conducting a read-through isn't simply about spotting problems. Does the complexity add to your story or is it needless? Dialogue that informs is fine, as long as it is the most appropriate and powerful way to present the information. Do their actions make sense? Some refer to pacing as 'flow', not to be confused with 'readability', which refers to comprehension. Plot originality, predictability, complexity, logicality/consistency, pacing; Characters – their motivations and relevance to the plot. Yay, you! Having been in love with stories from a very young age, she is always looking to transform daily observations into beautiful, philosophical tales. Using well-known events can establish multiple time points, as well as having a character who is a bit (or very) obsessed with time and checks watches and clocks regularly. Do not leave them to their own devices! There is one underlying concept that should drive your revision process: the foundation of Continuity and Relationships, or how everything relates to every other thing in the story. Ensure that all the characters in your story – both major and minor – have some kind of arc or necessary role to play. At any given moment, they must want something or be pursuing something, and it’s your job as the author to convey to the reader (in an interesting way) why they have particular motivations. Think of the feedback as a valuable way of gaining insight into the successful aspects of your draft and the aspects that still need work. Author K.M. You have to accept that creating ever-improving iterations of your manuscript takes time. How to edit your novel: a #nanowrimo infographic for authors pic.twitter.com/ZB1GPN8BdA, avoided using actions or reactions as dialogue tags. Quick tip: This column is for brainstorming only; the solutions you write down here won't necessarily be implemented. ie: edit it, thoroughly, at least once (usually more than once!). Thanks for bringing out the finer points on this! So keep at it; the outcome will be worth all your effort. Learn more…, Find the perfect editor for your next book. The difference is it must be relevant dialogue and something the characters would naturally say. Reconfigure (Or Figure Out) Your Story Structure. As you revise, is every environment and scene written to engage the reader's imagination? Creating 40-50 word sentences that over-explain, confuse, or present concepts at cross-purposes can tire a reader and even cause them to abandon your story. The key is to control the pace so that the speed of the story corresponds with its height on the plot diagram. You may (or may not) address those sections later on, but for now, they are marked as things to mull over subconsciously while you focus on the clearer issues at hand. You can't see the story's structure. Blog The journey to a finished novel is still far from over. Recently, I joked on my personal blog about how (not) to revise your novel, a trying process involving sweat, tears, and numerous trips to the office supply store.And all just so that you can see, in black and white, how crappy a writer you really are. What if you have very few global issues but a very long list of scenes to write or edit? Discussing your novel with peers is an important part of the revision process. An additional review aspect is to identify any instances where dialogue is used as an info-dump, back-story or otherwise. Too slow a pace, however, and you may find the reader falling into a state of boredom very quickly. I started writing novels seven years ago. Do approach each revision alert and focused. From worldbuilding to a space the character only occupies for a moment, you must scrutinize each environmental element for opportunities to enrich your story and build a stronger draft. Then, brainstorm possible techniques you could apply in order to slow the pace of your prose or keep your story moving quickly enough. That being said, you might not always be certain whether the 'problems' you spot within your draft are actually problems at all. Much like people in real life, all your characters do things for a reason. So if I could say the last editing point would be to identify info-dump, and revise it to be well placed & relevant info-sprinkling, that'd be more accurate to me and what I've learned of editing thus far. These are the easiest and cheapest options, but buyer beware. Download my free novel revision checklist to guide you through the process. To find such a balance as you conduct the read-through, you first need to determine how complexity in a rich, nuanced story differs from that in a cumbersome and overcomplicated one. How to Revise a Book. Shore up the information presented to the reader when necessary so the reader can experience your story from your deeper perspective. Take a minute to look over Bob The Writer's shoulder as he begins to revise the NaNoWriMo novel he just finished. Bring your setting to life. This will take you to the Details page. Each stage will potentially represent a new iteration of the draft. A number of easily accessible tools can help make your revising and editing processes just that little bit … You have an intimate knowledge of all your characters—well, most likely anyway. Of course, you shouldn’t try to tackle everything at once; instead you should avoid mind-boggle by approaching your re-writes progressively, stage-by-stage. As you read your draft, take note of any scene that either leaps ahead too rapidly or drags back too drastically. Determine if that material is better presented as narrative. Click the ellipsis button ("…") under KINDLE EBOOK ACTIONS or PAPERBACK ACTIONS next to the book you want to update. Find out more now! :-) Carefully consider their comments and pointers, but remember that you are the final decision-maker. Arrange the list of scenes in order of decreasing difficulty (tackle the more challenging areas first, and you'll make your life easier later on! It's worthwhile taking the time to consider exactly what effect you want to convey, and to subsequently decide (perhaps aided by the wisdom of more experienced writers) what you believe to be the most fitting choice. Revise your story transitions, re-writing to improve focus and positioning, while cementing pivotal transitions that function as story turning points. An effective method of doing this is through using highlighters and colour-coding each problem accordingly. Rewriting is a chance to look at your structuralchoices an a careful and considered way. Flipping back and forth between hundreds of pages makes it hard to remember where you are. Consider the following: Make sure there aren’t scenes where the following inconsistencies occur: Pace is essentially the manipulation of time within your story. What’s crucial is that you think creatively of ways to avoid info-dumping; in other words, consider how you could transform ‘telling’ into ‘showing’. At times, you'll find yourself in a dilemma where you just don't know if you should make the potential edit or not. These are related elements that can be sticky to refine. But seriously, revising a novel … Odds are, though, that you’ve now also discovered that revising a novel is a lot trickier than just running spell-check over it and sending it off to the publisher. Why set your work aside, you might wonder? In all writing processes, especially fiction writing, drafting your novel is only half the battle; the other half involves performing the oft-dreaded tasks of revising and editing. A week after NaNoWriMo, it is time for you to go back to your novel and ruthlessly revise it. Sometimes dialogue info-dumps are better served in narrative, and conversely, narrative can often be better presented in dialogue. And are they imagining what you want and need them to imagine? She is currently studying Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) at the University of Sydney, and hopes to one day inspire positivity, provoke deep thought and give a voice to the voiceless. Once again, continuity and the relationship of dialogue to the scene and story should guide you in your revision and re-writes. By Corina Koch MacLeod and Carla Douglas. Though, I don't know if I agree with how the "dialogue as info-dump" step is presented. You’ll be cutting sentences, paragraphs, entire chapters… maybe even the first hundred pages! Revising is the big picture lens. Writers go notoriously easy on themselves during self-editing because it’s very difficult to see your own work objectively. In essence, this is a process of small deletes and small re-writes; it could be as slight as using an alternative word or phrase. Wonder how to do this, and what revising really means? The backbone of your novel, structure is essential to making sure that your story is coherent, compelling and satisfying. Share this infographic! And info otherwise DOES need to be provided, with dialogue being one of the best vehicles to do that. The right piece of book writing software can make all the difference. Character reviews are the most time-intensive, deservedly so. We gather our favorites in this detailed guide, so you can start learning today. Check out the list of questions you should ask during your first read-through, suggested by the author of the popular Divergent series, Veronica Roth. We have saturated our minds with endless details, as well as visions of our story, characters, and environments. How to Revise a Novel After the First Draft. We break down 11 options so you can get writing today. Mark a date in your calendar as a reminder that, say, six months from now, you will go back to your draft. We then write from that empowered position; and often, assumption of knowledge skewers our story. Under these circumstances, a third category emerges: the 'maybe, maybe not' category. If your draft is a sculpture with rough edges and imperfect curves, then revision is your chisel; your goal is to carve out the all problems and shortcomings you find within your draft. I’ve developed a series of exercises that help me review my novel with fresh eyes. Again, consistency is your gate-keeper, so your revision must ensure that your time line makes sense, supports the story, and has no "whaaa?" Character flaws turn your ideas into three-dimensional people. Strap them to a chair, shine a bright light in their eyes, and make them talk… [then] you need to show the reader what you learned.”. This involves such tasks as fixing up grammatical errors, rearranging clauses, and making changes to sentence or paragraph length and structure. When it comes to critically evaluating your own writing, author Tracey Baptiste advises: [Think] of the time you take away from a manuscript as an investment in your craft, rather than a delay in seeing your title in print. The reason for this is because the solution to a global issue may result in the removal of a specific scene that contained a local issue. So while you read your draft, keep in mind that, ultimately, it’s up to you as the author to make your readers understand those reasons. Just as you (ideally) did for your novel, make a schedule for your … If you’re unfamiliar with the genre you’re working in, consult a friend or someone who has some experience in the field. Economy is crucial. Create an overly complex plot (i.e. Follow them and you might be able to turn your first draft into material worthy of submission. Remember: there is no magic formula for how long you should wait, only that you should wait as long as is necessary. Now comes the good part. The next step after you finish a novel is to revise it! Many online resources provide comprehensive lists of clichéd storylines you might want to avoid: for example, we found a list of overused fantasy clichés, as well as an expansive 'cliché gallery' full of genre-specific tropes to avoid. If you wrote a detailed plot outline, you can probably skip this next step; if you winged it, you need to start with a structural revision. ), then go through the draft item by item. As author Veronica Roth points out, Local issues become global issues when you, say, add a scene and then have to edit the rest of the draft to reflect that scene, or when you delete a scene and have to remove all subsequent mentions of that scene.". Consider the entirety of the scene, what it is meant to accomplish, and if the dialogue promotes that goal. Make use of different tools. A 'log' of transitions can help track the movement of the story. Image credit: Startup Stock Photos via StockSnap Creative Commons. Do have a revisions toolkit handy. You know you need to revise your novel, but where do you begin? Glad to hear that and hope you found some tidbits of support. Learn how to use a character questionnaire, and put your character in the hot seat with our 50 juicy character development questions. Find the perfect editor for your book. Meet editors who have experience selecting and signing authors at top publishers. In a new list, jot any questionable 'problems' down and keep track of all the sections in your draft that stand in ambiguous territory. I’m revising my current novel right now, and I got to thinking about what a pain it can be to get the thing right. The character shouldn’t just exist for the sake of existing; he/she needs to be contributing, in some way or another, to the progression of plot or to the growth of another character. We have a wealth of knowledge about our book, from personal experience and observations to careful research. As daunting as this seems, revision (or self-editing) is simply part of the process of taking that first draft and turning it into a polished and coherent novel and, hopefully, one that will make you a star. This is imperative, especially if you find that the direction of your story changes midway through your draft. They might have flaws or make poor decisions, but over the course of their journey, they generally right their wrongs and triumph over... link to Does A Story Always Have To Have A Protagonist And An Antagonist? Consider the complexity of a novel in all its glory: Novels cover a wide scope in theme, setting and events. Do keep track of ideas, notes, and additions. You earned it. Of course, nothing trumps working with editing professionals. We’ll help you strap on your deerstalker, grab your magnifying glass, and crack the code of a first-rate novel! Info-dumping often takes place while exploring the following things: Remember: while you shouldn’t leave everything ambiguous at the risk of sounding too vague and confusing, you also shouldn’t fall into the trap of spelling everything out to the reader. You unintentionally change a character’s name halfway through. Too shallow of a plot, however, and you potentially jeopardise the meaning and purpose that underlies your story. Once you’ve written several drafts of your book and you’ve received feedback from beta readers and/or a manuscript appraiser, you’ll need to know how to revise a novel because your feedback will most likely indicate the necessity for some revision. As the author, you have a running timeline or chronology for your story. After completing your draft, set it aside for at least a month (the longer you leave it, the better!) Why does my villain perform the evil that he does? In fact, the more constructive feedback you can gather, the more effectively you can amend any plot holes or deficiencies present in your manuscript. Do the characters' actions and behaviour match up with their backstories? Will the removal of these segments disrupt the flow of the story, or will it actually help to build the momentum? Revision is a complicated process, but knowing what to look for certainly helps. or 'Is there a better word to replace this? Transitions can come at the end of a paragraph, chapter, or scene, but can also occur at other times, particularly as set up or anticipatory dialogue or 'hint dropping'. Do they elicit emotion? Mar 12, 2018 - Revising a novel can be one of the scarier undertakings of the writing profession. Push forward and get a rough draft down. After all, only with the fresh eye of forgetfulness can you more effectively spot and tackle the shortcomings in your draft. Or can you? Their feedback should fall under three broad categories: Even better, take initiative and provide your reviewers with a more detailed range of questions that focus on the areas in your novel you are most uncertain about (for example, a checklist about the structure of your novel). Correct -- dialogue should never be used as an info-dump, which is why I suggested the step of identifying any time dialogue is used for that purpose. How to Revise Your Novel. This same log can be a complementary tool in your pacing review, allowing you to further indentify and re-write material to support story continuity. Keep in mind that readers typically prefer fast-paced novels interjected with occasional slow scenes, over the reverse. Foreword. This is a novel writing guide, not a novel revising guide (that is coming soon!). But I’ll give you a few pointers on what to do after you write your novel: Rest. Since some of you might one day need to revise your blogged book, I thought I’d share with you the process I used. You’ll eventually look at spelling and grammar too—but first, it’s time for the heavy lifting of plot, character development, and conflict. Why does my protagonist continue to fight, even when all odds are against her?

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