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Sunday, September 8, 2013

Revising a Manuscript, also known as When Editing 200 Words Takes Approximately Five Hours, by: Marissa Burt

© iStockphoto.com/MiquelMuni
Well, Mayhemers, I’m deep in the writing cave, working madly to make a mid-September deadline on the first draft of my next middle-grade fantasy THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN.  I thought to share some of my writing and revising process and hear your strategies and suggestions as well.

I once heard someone say that the process for writing each book is different for each book that you write.  Wow, have I found that to be true! 

I wrote STORYBOUND on the odd free afternoon, over a period of about six months.  I didn’t have much of an outline, more of a general direction for the story, and then spent a lot of time piecing scenes together to make a complete draft.  My deadline for STORY’S END fell near the end of a year in which I had my third son (three boys three-and-under makes for a wild ride), we moved cross-country to Seattle, my husband started a non-profit, so why not squeeze a book in there, too?  ha.  It was crazy-making, and I wrote the first draft in a little over a month and vowed I would never do that again.

This time, I’ve been working away all year long.  I tried to start with an outline, but I didn’t stick with it.  Sometimes, I’d have a solid Saturday where I’d get 3K done, but most weeks I would aim for 500 words a day.  This often made for disjointed scenes, but it was very doable, and I was able to squeeze writing time into my ordinary activities. 

But then summer came and my steady trot turned to a stumbling gait, and I found myself at the end of the August with only two-thirds of a manuscript.  I spent the last week of August writing full-time, which had several odd effects.  First, it was very helpful to live and breathe the story-world.  Second, I found myself finishing writing for the day craving another story – a novel or movie or something – and I think this had to do with refueling creativity.  Finally, it intensified the typical writing emotional rollercoaster, to wit:

Me, Writing Day 1: I’m only 40K in.  I don’t like where this story is going.  I think I”ll set it in Alaska instead of Iceland.  How about a campout instead of a study abroad program?

Later that night: What am I thinking?  I can’t rewrite a book in a week.  I have to make what I have work.

Me, Writing Day 2: This book is horrible.  No one is going to want to read it.  I don’t even want to read it.

Me, Writing Day 3: Maybe this isn’t horrible.  *discovery of brilliant plot point* This story is amazing!  I love it!

Me, Later that night: Near tears.  I can’t believe I’m going to send this to my editor.  No one will read this.

Me, Writing Day 4: Cautiously optimistic.  Finding equilibrium

Me, Writing Day 5: I just want to be finished.

Me, Writing Day 6: Problems worked out, plan set in place, now I simply need to execute it.

It’s hard to say where I’m at now, except that I’m so ready to be done!  The past two weeks of revision have been a long haul of reading, re-reading, making notes, and reading the manuscript again.  Once I’ve got the rough elements of a draft in place, I usually work through the following steps:

1.  Re-order the outline.  Once I’m near the end of a draft, I’m able to revise my original post-it-note outline and figure out what missing scenes I need to write or what needs to be cut.  This is also when I confirm that the days and nights match up.  Working from this new outline, I then fill in any blank spots in my draft. 

2.  Read through the manuscript in one sitting.  This is when I find things that worked in old versions but don’t anymore, darling scenes that really just need to go, and the humbling discovery of those oh-so-favorite words.  For example, my characters’ eyebrows were arching all over the place, Wren’s stomach was constantly having trouble, people were forever crouching low and/or bending down, cheeks were flaring, gazes were being fixed on too many things, and birds cocked one beady eye at everything in sight.  It was awful.  And funny. 

3.  Read the manuscript out loud if possible.  This is a great way to catch word repetition.  I read on my laptop and am ruthless with the delete key.  This is also when I make little notes of facts I need to confirm. 

4.  Do any last-minute research.  Wren, the main character in THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN, is into science, so this book has a lot of astronomy references, which means I have sentences like: “Jack picks ups some really cool piece of ancient astronomy equipment here.”  Now is when I go find out what those things actually are.  Instead of getting bogged down in research during the writing process, I get bogged down in the revision process.  Clever, huh?

5.  Final notes for each chapter.  I make little notes at the beginning of each chapter for final tweaks.  This is what I’ve been working on today:

When all those little notes have been addressed and deleted, I can officially say that this first draft is complete, and, if there’s time, it gets sent off to my early readers for their feedback.  Fortunately, I have an editorial agent, so she is another welcome reader before I’m ready to send it to my editor. 

What about you, fellow writers?  Do you have any favorite tricks for tackling revisions?  And, because I’m so tired of seeing my own repeated tells (cheeks flaring hot, shrugs, and exchanged glances) do you have any overused words or adjectives that pop up in every manuscript?


20 comments:

  1. This could not possibly have come at a better time. I'm currently being weighted down be fixing and cleaning up my words, and it's quite a rough job to do indeed.
    Thank you for the great advice, and it's good to know I'm not the only one plowing through the revising process of writing!
    I am constantly using the word 'Scowl' an awful lot. And I use way too many references with eyes, I think. But, then again, eyes are a very easy way of telling emotion, but it's hard not to go over board with it.
    Thanks again!

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    1. All best with your revisions, Cassidy!

      I so hear you on the scowling...my crew is always knitting their eyebrows together or some other clunky way of scowling. ha!

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  2. I loved your writing day progression. That's me (and I suspect several others) to a tee.

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    1. Oh, good. It's so nice to not feel alone in all the crazy. I tell myself that my writing insecurity has me feeling like I'm back in Junior High...and, as a middle-grade author, that's a good thing, right? right? ;)

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  3. Another person who does the post-it-note outline thing! I do the notes-within-the-text thing, too, so I can research the details later and just draft as quickly as possible. It's something I started doing when I did NaNoWriMo a few years ago.

    One other thing I like to do is think about one element of the story - say, the character arc, or the conflict - and look at how well I did with that one element of the story. And voice - I read through for consistency of voice, which I sometimes have problems with because I write in variably sized chunks.

    I have people looking sideways a lot.

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    1. Oooh, I like the idea of reading through only thinking about one element of the story. I think next time around, I'm going to add character arc to my list. "Thanks for that!" she said, sneaking a sideways glance at Ishta. ;)

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  4. Oh yes, the post-it notes are a life saver. I also use them to map out the story arc, emotional/bigger picture stuff, and character growth too.

    I also seem to go through the love-hate relationship with the books I write. Sometimes I let the 'hating' part win far too much.

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    1. Yes! I think one of the challenging things about the solitary element of writing life is keeping on when that 'hating' part leans in on you. I love the online writing community for pep-talks.

      And post-it notes are best. I finally feel free to indulge my childish glee over office supplies.

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  5. Go, Marissa, go! I'll be thinking of you in the midst of my own deadline. xo

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    1. Thanks, friend!

      I've been rewarding myself with episodes from Lark Rise to Candleford. Have you seen it? Very Avonlea-ish, except in rural England.

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    2. No, but I'm already in love. Because of Avonlea, and all!

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  6. I didn't know you lived in Seattle. Go Seahawks!

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    1. Yes! Hooray for the NW! Although I am completely ignorant of all things sports-related. I used to think I should be a Redskins fan because they were from Washington. Yes, it really is that bad.

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  7. I like reading out loud, when I can. And for every scene ask myself, does this advance the plot and develop character? And, what you said at the beginning of your post about every book being a different process--for me that is true.

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    1. Yes! Sometimes it feels so brutal to cut the scene that isn't doing either of those things, but it really does improve the manuscript.

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  8. This is useful. I'm getting a bogged down with editing a WIP myself, trying to get to the point to query this fall. It's useful to hear you're doing some of the same things I am.

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    1. Yes! Sometimes it feels like the editing is never-ending. And I suppose there will always be other revisions that can be made. But here's hoping you're polished up and ready for the equally up-and-down rollercoaster ride of querying. ;) Hope it goes well for you!

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  9. Thanks for this! I'm revising now, stuck on reworking a story I've been working on all summer and should've been finished by now. You've motivated me to get it finished!

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    1. Thanks, Andrea! Hope your revision goes well!

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  10. My editor calls it 'lateral editing' and wags a finger at me as I beg to change a word here and a moment there.

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Thanks for adding to the mayhem!