The BEST revision trick ever

I recently learned the best revision trick ever. If my own work is any testament, I can pretty much guarantee that this trick will take your writing from so-so to fabulous (or at least, this trick makes it MUCH better).

Before we get into what the trick is, I first need to acknowledge that I did not invent this. It comes from the master novelist and writing teacher Jessica Brody. I highly, HIGHLY recommend her online classes. More details below if you’re interested.

Okay, so back to business. The amazing revision trick is… rewrite your draft as you revise.

Here’s how it works. On your computer, you open up your draft, the one that you’ve spent hours toiling over, the blood and sweat just pouring from your brow, and then, right next to it, you open up a blank Word document.

You may have to fiddle with the sizes of the windows and the zoom out or in a bit, but you should get something like this:

Note that the draft on the right is not real text - I was too lazy to get up and access my laptop… Also, our family room desk is not this clean - a pile of stuff is shoved to the right. Just keeping it real.

Then, you retype the draft into the fresh, blank Word doc. Word by word. Sentence by sentence.

If this sounds excruciating, well… it kind of is. But it’s also magical. Because as Jessica Brody says, and as I myself learned, we are inherently a bit lazy. Which means it’s fairly easy to read over a block of text and decide it’s pretty good… good enough, for sure… and keep going. But, if you have to type that same block of text over, word by so-so word, you just might decide it’s more fun to mix it up - start a few sentences in, or find a better way to root the reader in that setting, that character.

This is what I’ve been doing since about February, when I finished an initial, full draft of my current book. I read the draft first. Figured out some of the big picture changes I needed to make. Got actual edits from a trusted editor. And then I opened up the draft in one window, and a blank document in the other, and re-type the whole book, making changes as I went.

It was amazing. I’d hit a sentence that was okay - good enough to stay in, and something I likely would have kept in using another revision tactic - but the thought of retyping something that was only so-so after already typing 32,741 words wasn’t really motivating. And so instead, I’d reimagine it. Rework the whole sentence. Cut it entirely, or make it better.

If you haven’t tried this revision trick before, give it shot. You might be pleasantly surprised. I definitely was.

At the very least, your typing skills are guaranteed to improve.

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood”… Which way will your latest writing go? With this revision tip, hopefully the right way!

Two of my favorite classes that Jessica Brody offers are her Save the Cat! Online Novel Writing Course and Crafting Dynamic Characters (taught by Mary Kole, with Brody). Brody has many, many more classes, but these alone have taught me SO MUCH. And in case you’re wondering, this isn’t “sponsored” content. Just me sharing something that I’ve found to be helpful. If you check these out, let me know - I’d love to hear what you think!

Write, revise, repeat

There's something about writing the first draft of a book that is exciting for me. The idea is simply that - an idea, a figment of my imagination, a hazy thought. And then slowly, minute by minute, day by day, pages appear. Putting weight and substance to the shadowy thought. 

It's one of the my favorite times in the process. Not that it comes easy, or that it goes as planned. But because the accomplishment is clear. I am creating where there was nothing before. As I mark off the words - 1,000... 10,000... 50,000 - it's as though I am passing mile markers in a months-long marathon.

Writing 2,000 words is an achievable goal, and when I fall asleep at the end of a long day, I know for certain whether I have met my goal.

Then, once the first draft is out, messy and convoluted and unclear as it is, the next bit of work begins. Revision.

I know revision is hugely important. I know it's where the magic happens, where the book really gets written. And yet, for my Type-A achievement-focused personality, it can be a challenging phase to muddle through. 

I move around entire sections, cut out paragraphs and pages of hardwork, add in sentences, changes words.  Little by little.  The word count might go up slightly, and then back down.  And day in, day out, it's hard to see whether I'm accomplishing anything.

Recently, I got halfway through a big revision only to feel stalled out. The mountain of words still ahead of me seemed insurmountable. And I was not ready to put my hiking boots back on and pick my way through the rubble.

So I did what any self-respecting adult should do in a time like this: I created a sticker chart.

I actually got the idea for another author friend, who shared recently how she bought fancy stickers and rewarded herself with them for a work well done. The idea immediately appealed to me. I've always loved stickers - I remember a large folder of stickers I collected as a child, and how I would slip through the glossy (and sometimes fuzzy or glittery) sheets and look over my finds. So I searched through Amazon and ordered up a few interesting stickers, then divided a small square of paper in two - half to hold stickers for every 10 pages that was revised, and another half to hold stickers for every 2,000 words that had to be newly written.

The sticker chart, simplistic though it was, gave me a newfound devotion to the work of revising. Who cared if it didn't seem that I had accomplished much, just pushing my way around another 2,000 words? At the end of the day, I had a sticker to show for it! 

And slowly, as the stickers lined themselves up on the sheet, I got closer and closer to the end of the first revision. Finally, I hit those peace-evoking words - THE END - and set the newly revised book and the sticker chart aside.

After a bit of a break, I'm beginning to think about the next round of revisions. I have to admit, I'm not looking forward to it.  Thank goodness some new stickers are coming in the mail.