Revision... Ug

Editing has never been my favorite thing.
(Image by Talia Mark)

So, I just finished the fourth draft of a novel, and I thought it might be good to talk about revision, since I've been doing a lot of that lately.

First, when revising, find the spots you know need to be fixed most of all. Once you've finished a novel or even just a section of a novel or story, there might be some areas that you know are glaringly unrealistic, unnecessary, or no longer make sense within the larger context.  It's best to go to these first.  Usually when revising, each draft becomes successively more polished, so the second draft gets rid of the really horrible stuff, the third draft gets rid of the slightly less obvious problems, etc., until the next to final draft gets rid of spelling and grammar errors.  That's because there's little point in fixing something small until you're sure you're actually going to keep the section where those tiny mistakes are found.  So, first, get rid of the really terrible stuff.

Next, cut out whatever isn't necessary.  If it doesn't add to the plot or to characterization, it doesn't need to be there.  Another thing that might help is to understand the major dramatic question (MDQ).  This is the basic question the reader wants answered in the story.  In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the MDQ would be, "Will Indie stop the Nazis?"  In Jane Eyre, the MDQ is, "Will Jane get to be with Mr. Rochester?"  The answer doesn't always have to be "Yes," and in fact the reader may discover that they hope the answer is "No."  Find what the MDQ is, and focus every scene and paragraph on answering that question.

After that, if you haven't already, it's definitely time to bring in some outside readers.  At a certain point you just can't figure out what else is wrong.  I went through this with the novel I'm working on currently; although I knew the novel needed work, I had no idea what to fix next.  So I sent the manuscript to several friends who gave me some very helpful feedback.  Perhaps in another post I'll discuss the kind of people you should get to do this, but for now, seek out those you know will be honest but also not brutal.  Artists are sensitive by nature.

As a side note, I've discovered recently that it's very helpful to be in the same room with your reader, if possible.  In face, I sit next to my roommate and watch her read, and I get to see her reactions.  That way, I know whether or not my novel is having the desired effect on my audience.  If she doesn't understand something or isn't gasping at the right parts, I know that part needs some work.  It's been very beneficial, and amazingly not too awkward.

Anne Lamott says a novel is never really done.  At a certain point you have to say, "Okay, it's good enough, I need to move on."  Honestly, a book can go through a hundred drafts and still be improved, but you can't harp over one novel or story forever.  Revise it to the point that it's cohesive, that your readers get the theme you're trying to get across, and that you're basically satisfied, and then go through it one more time to make sure all the copy editing is fine, then get to work on publishing it (in whatever form you like).  And then start on something new.