Not Sure How to Revise? Start at the Beginning

The “Now What?” Months are here to guide you through the editing, revision, and publishing processes! Every novel is the “after” picture to the first draft’s “before”. Today, Lauren Gibaldi, author of the  forthcoming The Night We Said Yes , tells us how she figured out her revision process:

The first draft: I always wanted to write a book. I was great at starting them… not so great at finishing. So when I began NaNoWriMo, I was scared of failing again. But the deadline—the push to finish and not look back—that worked for me. I kept writing, never allowing myself to go back and edit. Even when I changed a character’s name, even when a plot line shifted, I kept going. I just wanted to finish, and finish I did with two days remaining. I cried. I had a completed manuscript… but I also had a problem: my first draft was a mess.

When I started editing, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I did the most basic thing possible: I read it from the beginning. Once I got an idea of what I had to work with (and ensured all characters were properly named), I created a detailed outline of what I wanted, and started working from the beginning. I cleaned up my grammar and spelling, I lengthened some scenes, and deleted phrases like “LAUREN FIX THIS” (yes, that was in there)…

Knowing the ending, I was able to work towards it better—weaving in little details, and getting rid of unnecessary parts. I deleted pages and characters and full plots, and though it was painful, I knew it was worth it. Yes, my first draft was messy, but I knew I would be able to clean it up. The finishing was the important part. So I pieced my little story back together and came out with a better product.

The makeover: Here’s what I learned from my revision process:

Have a notebook where you can jot down thoughts as they come to you. You don’t want to lose ideas if you can’t get to them right away.
Never really delete anything. Whenever I cut parts of the book, I saved them in a file called “Maybe” – that way I knew I could go back and get them if needed. I never did, honestly, but I was really happy knowing they weren’t gone.
Save! Back up everything. I have all of my writing saved on my computer, an external hard drive, Google Docs, and Dropbox. I’m paranoid. 

The final product: Now, that little manuscript is a book! The Night We Said Yes comes out with HarperCollins in June, and I couldn’t be happier. After editing it on my own, with my agent, and then with my editor, a lot has changed, but at the same time, a lot hasn’t.

Backstory was tossed out, along with a few minor characters, but my initial idea I wrote for NaNoWriMo—four friends saying yes to every idea they have for one night and then repeating it a year later—is still there. The four main characters are still there. Heck, the first line I wrote is still there. Sure, I added some subplots. Sure, I changed the ending five times. But the essence of the book, what was created back in November 2013, still remains.

Go forth and edit! You can cut open your book and Frankenstein it back together. It won’t fall apart once you delete the first word. (It actually becomes freeing once you realize you can delete without fear!)

Yes, it’s scary, but every incision you make creates a better story. And it’s 100% worth it.

Good luck!

Lauren Gibaldi is a public librarian who’s been, among other things, a magazine editor, high school English teacher, bookseller, and circus aerialist (seriously). She has a BA in Literature and Master’s in Library and Information Studies. She lives in Orlando, Florida with her husband and daughter. The Night We Said Yes is her first novel. Find her on Twitter.