Revision for writers who are terrified of revising

As I mentioned last week, I wasn’t really into revision when I first started writing—and by that, I mean I thought I didn’t have to do it. I was smart and capable and turned out first drafts my teachers thought were great, so where was the problem?

It turns out, when I was able to step back and objectively examine my work, the problem was everywhere. Once I really considered all the elements of a story that I’d have to review in order to make it publishable—believable characters that were still unique and unpredictable, plots that made sense yet were still surprising, dialogue that rang true yet was still not boring, etc., etc., etc.—it seemed impossible for a writer like me, who enjoyed the thrill of the rough draft, to figure out how to get a manuscript up to the level of publishable quality.

I realized I had a lot to learn about revision, and I had no idea how to learn it. So from my senior year of high school until my first college-level creative writing classes, I was flying by the seat of my pants. I’d write something here and there, knowing I didn’t know how to improve it—and it was discouraging. Fortunately, once I got to those classes and had a little guidance (and I do mean a little—even the best writing teachers can’t take the kind of hands-on approach of a math teacher, considering they’re working with material that originated inside their students’ heads), I was able to figure out how to move forward with my second draft. Here’s some of what I learned:

Get a second opinion—and a third and fourth. Workshopping is an invaluable part of the writing experience. Whether you’re in a formal setting with an instructor or in a more laid-back group of friends, your group can offer you valuable feedback about what’s working and what’s not. Just make sure you sort through the feedback before applying it, taking care to consider only the comments that will strengthen your writing.

Save your first draft, any later drafts, and even experimental partial drafts. When you find yourself going down a long rabbit trail that doesn’t seem to be working, this will reassure you that you can always go right back to where you were. I’ve embarked on plenty of scenes that ended up going nowhere, but I didn’t regret it because (a) if I hadn’t tried, I would have gotten hung up on the possibility that it might have worked, and (b) I knew exactly where to return to once I decided the scene wasn’t helpful.

Deal with the big stuff before the little stuff. Proofreading is probably the most obvious part of going from a rough draft to publishable material, but save it for last. You don’t want to spend time proofreading a paragraph, scene, or entire chapter that you later realize you need to cut anyway. I suggest listing your desired changes from big (“The protagonist’s motives in this chapter are unclear”) to small (“This line sounds like Barbara, not Linda, would have said it”).

Map out the desired changes that don’t have an obvious implementation. Taking the example from the last paragraph, we can easily change “Linda said” to “Barbara said” (although an action beat might be better). That kind of change doesn’t require forethought and planning. But if we want to clarify our protagonist’s motives, we can’t just say, “Iris wanted to steal the teapot her sister had used to poison the neighbors years ago.” That sort of change has to be embedded throughout the whole scene, not just blurted out once. If such a plan for implying Iris's motive doesn’t seem intuitive, it may help to write it down—as a separate set of notes, not in the draft itself just yet. You might jot down ideas like “Iris can look at the teapot at times during this scene when her sister isn’t watching” or “Iris can consider stealing the teapot in the previous chapter.”

These are some things that have worked for me in my writing process. However you approach revision, make sure it works for you and makes your writing the best it can be. If something doesn’t work, no matter how much everyone else swears by it, don't just keep doing it, at least not in the same way. Instead, tinker with it or try something else. But above all, even if you’re a brand-new writer, give revision a go and see where it takes you.