Revision, rewriting, editing, yum

As I go through the final round of revision and rewriting for Loran Rudder and the Secret Key, I have to say, I am TIRED of proofing this book. I guess that is a good thing. When you finally get tired of that task, it probably means it is ready for publication.

So is there a special way to get this final and much needed task done?

I say yes. I think if you will work on tone and flow, cut down on word count, and polish grammar and spelling, you will have the beast bested.

My big deal has been to eliminate unneeded words. This is difficult stuff, folks. I mean, I am a southerner after all. We are KNOWN for our way of speech. Our slow, dragging-it-out like a molasses string way of speech means using a lot of extra words, and also smooshing words together. I mean, can you say "y'all"?

But if my character is a southerner, I don't want to edit ALL that goodness away, only refine it. There is a difference between editing for refinement and editing until you have a bland, zero voice.

Still, it would be a great deal better to make sentences tighter and still keep the meaning than to have a fat, overwritten book. So, that is most of what I have been doing. Taking out unneeded words. I cut 200 words from chapter one. I didn't feel a thing.

Do you have any proven methods for doing this? Some people look for fluffy words like that, just, all, very, and much. Those are usually okay to cut. Many say adverbs can usually go. I say adverbs behind "said" should go. (ex. I said, glumly)

But what about good, old-fashioned wordy sentences?

I found a lot in my book. I found a lot in this post. Like this one:

Still, it would be a great deal better to make sentences tighter and still keep the meaning than to have a fat, overwritten book. In my mind, I rewrote it like this: Instead, I should make sentences tighter and keep the meaning clear. Yes, MUCH better.

Okay, I am now tired of editing this post. Time to publish. Have a fun Thursday, Murderers.

Revise or revision?

I always like to know the meaning of words so when I wrote out the word revision in my title up there for this post, I had to stop and think about it. What is revision? Is it the remaking of something? Does the word mean revisiting? Here is the dictionary's overview:



revision [rɪˈvɪʒən]
n
1. the act or process of revising
2. (Social Science / Education) Brit the process of rereading a subject or notes on it, esp in preparation for an examination
3. (Communication Arts / Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) a corrected or new version of a book, article, etc.

This was not helpful, because it was not what I wanted to talk about. So back I went. To look up revise:

tr.v. re·vised, re·vis·ing, re·vis·es
1. To prepare a newly edited version of (a text).
2. To reconsider and change or modify: I have revised my opinion of him. See Synonyms at correct.
n. Printing (rvz, r-vz)
A proof made from an earlier proof on which corrections have been made.


That is actually more along the lines of what revise or revisions mean to me.

Now how do I do it? That is the subject today.

I write my first draft all the way through, and yes, I am a discovery writer as Brandon Sanderson calls us. That is to say, I invent my stories as I go. Then once I am all the way finished with the story, I let it sit for a time. Don't look at it, don't tinker with it, go off and write something else. Do a lot of reading. Then come back and do draft two. This draft is the one where I am looking to eliminate unnecessary words, and rewrite sentences that are just not written well. I also add in a bit of color to the page, i.e. I sometimes have the white page syndrome where there is no setting. Then almost immediately upon finishing that draft, I go straight into fixing story. That is because now I have re-read the whole work and know pretty much what needs fixing.

Once I am finished with that draft, I go back and do another check for words, sentence structure, and story. I take another short break from the work, considering some what if possibilities. If those do not work for me, I know I am good to do a final polish. If they do work for me, and the story, I may make a new copy of the work and try out the new what ifs. Sometimes it is my writer's mind just tinkering. Sometimes it is my creative mind making the work better. It is trial and error to discover.

Then, if all is well, and the polish is finished, it is time to go out to be read by first readers. Usually these are my friends who are writers and big readers. I take all that input and incorporate it or consider it, and do another draft, and another polish. Then I begin the work of query and synopsis, and that, dear Murderer, is a whole post unto itself.