May
Revisions, Revisions, Revisions
Well, that’s what my life seems to currently be… Revisions.
Yes, of course I still do my normal 40(+) work week on the “day”-job, but that’s only a minor detail. I’m in that second stage of writing on my second MS, in which I have to go through the entire thing and sort out all the things that need sorting out.
I’ve been moving scenes from one place to the other, I’ve extended some and I even added one or two. I’m also looking (naturally) for obvious errors caused by this, and trying to catch them this time around rather than next time, and I try to make the characters’ thoughts and feelings more visible.
That’s for the first round. Once I’m done with this round I have to start all over again, that time to look for the things I missed this time, check grammar and typing (usually not too bad fortunately) and still add more tension and feelings where appropriate.
To get it done I’ve given myself a schedule of one chapter (revised) per day. Which has had me writing from 12am to 1am (we all have our own odd hours I guess..) But at least this way it’s going fairly quickly, and I do allow a few days now and then when I can’t (like this weekend I’m out of the country, so I don’t really expect to be able to do a chapter per day).
I kind of like revising though. When you’re writing (which I love too!) you’re so focused on getting the words down on the page, that you don’t always take the time to make it as good as it can be (hence it being a first draft, I guess). But when revising you can do that, and I really like that part. Everything seems to fall into place.
How do you do your revising? (Because I’m sure it’s different for everyone) Do you start the next book at the same time, or do you revise first? (I have to revise first since else I’d be too caught up in the next MS to remember everything as well.) Do you like it? What part do you find the most difficult?
Oh Emily, I have to applaud you for finishing not one, but TWO manuscripts! *insert clapping emoticon :)* Well done!!
I wish I was at that revision stage (because at least I could say that I’d finished one), but alas I’m not. However, I have been doing some revising as I go. I’m pretty anal about leaving a scene unrevised or unfinished. But when I finish my MS, I’ll let you know.
Congrats again!!
May 25th, 2006 at 3:11 pmAndrea
The first MS I wrote I also revised a bit as I went along, with just minor revisions once it was done. (Mainly typo checking and fixing a few scenes that turned out that they could be better)
This time though I just wanted to get the book written, so I just churned on. Which naturally means that I have a *lot* of revisions to do this time.
Good luck with your writing, you’ll be at the end sooner than you think!
Emily
May 25th, 2006 at 4:12 pmHmmm, it seems like doing revisions on a finished book is like writing another book huh?
I kinda revise as I go at least for now anyway.
May 25th, 2006 at 9:08 pmKeep writing those books and take it one writing day at a time
Isabel
It sounds like I revise like you do, Emmie. I have the ms done and now I’m trying to make it better, shore up my motivations (damn you, motivations!), and add emotional and sexual tension. I also kind of like revising almost as much as I like writing. Maybe even as much…who knows.
Going out of the country? Where are you going, if you don’t mind my asking? I know you live in England so I guess the possibilities are pretty cool. The closest alternate country to me is Canada, and not that she’s not cool…but BC is very much like Washington, eh?
May 25th, 2006 at 9:42 pmOh my word, I have revisions with a passion! I guess part of it is the fact, and idea of “Ok great I just finished my MS YES!!! Whew, not what….psycho movie theme inserted here. Oh no…not that, ANYTHING but THAT….nnnnnnoooooo….revisions!!!”
After I’ve been with a book for that long, just the thought of writing, fixing mistakes, rewriting, revising all is so daunting that I didn’t finish the first revision of my finished MS. I did get past page 100 though. That counts, right?
May 25th, 2006 at 10:29 pmMichelle
Lacey, actually I live in The Netherlands (though I might with I lived in England *g*) and I’m going to Sweden for the weekend
Nothing fancier unfortunately. Eventually I want to visit Paris again though, and I dream of going to Rome and Venice at some point. (And London is a repeated location too, it’s great - but expensive!)
Haven, with my first MS I was sooo sick of the book by the fifth time I was reading it through for things to change that I would happily have tossed it against the wall! With this one I made sure to take some time off before starting revisions. So by the time I came back to it, things seemed more new and interesting again, and so far that’s worked much better
Saying that though, when I’m going through it for the third time or so (still on my first) I’ll probably be sick of this one too *g*
Emily
May 26th, 2006 at 3:22 amI actually love revision, both when I do it myself and when I do my editor’s suggestions later in the process. For my own personal revisions, this is my process:
http://www.passionatepen.com/revisionarticle.htm
JennaP
May 26th, 2006 at 7:10 amThanks, Jenna!
Isabel
May 26th, 2006 at 12:52 pm