Revision Doubts

It’s not impossible to tell if you’re writing has improved. Facing a revision is hard. The whole manuscript sits in front of you and the thought of beginning is overwhelming. Where do you begin? What do you change? Are your changes actually improving the story, or is it all just an exercise in futility?

Begin where you need to begin. For me, it’s the beginning. I have to approach it in a linear fashion. I change what doesn’t flow or sound right. I change the things that no longer make sense when I read them. I add when something feels hollow and unsupported and delete what I now see as having no point or purpose.

Revision is an exercise in trust – trust of others, if you have someone in the role of editor, but mostly trust of yourself. Sometimes the latter is harder than the former. If that is the case for you, will you try to trust me on just one thing?

For every draft you finish, you grow as a writer.

You may not always feel it, but each finished draft is a mark of growth. And a necessary aspect of revision is the fact that you have already written something to revise. You know more now than you did when you approached the page for the rough draft, or whatever number draft you have just finished. So have a little faith in yourself.

I faced the insecurities all over again when I rewrote the Damned Novel. My only measuring stick for how I was doing – how much I might be getting right – was purely subjective. Which meant I didn’t quite trust it.

Now that I have begun the revision process, I can see how much stronger than this version is, by the sheer fact of what I find I don’t have to do (note: each prior draft has had at least one of these):

Multiple characters do not need to be combined into one
One character does not need to be split into multiple
No new factions need creation/introduction
An entire subplot does not need to be added and/or developed
Whole chapters are not changing place
Major scenes do not need to be scrapped and/or rewritten
In fact, I don’t think I have to scrap any scene

I do have two scenes to add and one scene to change venue. My antagonist(s) need more development (I always struggle with that). A subplot needs tempering. By and large, I’m not facing much in the way of major changes.

Of course, this is only until an editor tears it apart.

I was afraid that the rewrite would be just as faulty, need just as much work, or even be worse than the old version. But I am a better writer now than when I wrote the very initial draft of this story, and it shows.

So trust yourself. And keep going.

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