The Perils of Revision

[Guru Coyote]

I just read the blow article, and I think it is very relevant to this thread... it talks about the thing you *should* do while revising your work

The 5 Biggest Fiction Writing Mistakes (& How to Fix Them) | WritersDigest.com

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

I'll completely agree that it's a balancing act. The problem is that newer writers are rarely able to manage well without some oversight, so revision tends to have the impact Steerpike spotted as often as not: it burns the life out of the story.

I'm good enough at proofing my own work to get out about 99% of the typos and such. But I have a much harder time knowing where the story is flagging, where the pace is off, where the characters need punching up. I *really* like having an outside set of eyes for that sort of thing. And I have half a dozen novels and over a score of short stories completed.

A book with an overabundance of description may need tightening. One with poor character arcs may need more attention to character development. One with too many adverbs may need those pruned. But if someone with GREAT character arcs tries to add more character, it might undermine plot, and make the story aimless. An already tightly woven story can be made flat by tightening in revision.

Knowing what sort of revision you need, and how much of it, is a difficult skill. I know some writers who do OK - but all of them have written an order of magnitude more material than I have.

Til I reach that level, I revise based on what an outside reader suggests - I get feedback from an editor and/or beta readers, THEN revise. Otherwise, I am playing with fire blindly in the dark, and as apt to damage my story as help it.