Revising Fiction: Making Sense of the Madness

by Kirt C Hickman, Nancy Varian Berberick (Foreword)

With all the books, talks, classes, and workshops available on self-editing, a writer can quickly become overwhelmed by advice. In every work of fiction, there's so much to be concerned plot, characterization, scene structure, setting, backstory, dialogue, and pacing. You must maintain suspense, portray your characters' emotions, show events rather than tell about them, make effective use of comparisons, and achieve consistency of style and voice. You must avoid passive voice, information dumps, repeated information, digressions, cliches, and unnecessary words and phrases. Finally, you must mind the details of grammar, spelling, word usage, punctuation, and format. Whew! How do you catch it all? How do you know when you've got it right? How do you even know where to start? REVISING FICTION will answer these questions and many, many more. If you're tired of reading books and attending talks and conferences that don't give you what you need to improve your writing, Revising Fiction is the book you've been searching for. In this book, you'll a comprehensive treatment of the entire writing and revision process, from planning your novel, to first draft, through self-editing, to final product; a practical approach that makes the concepts fun to learn and easy to apply; hundreds of examples; over 150 passages of unpolished writing revised to correct problems; two full chapters of case studies; reading recommendations for those who desire a more intensive study of specific writing areas; and a self-editing checklist REVISING FICTION will give you the tools you need to bang your manuscript into shape, once and for all.

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Sherry D'ambrosio · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest, I just did a quick read through on Kindle and decided to purchase a paperback version which I can read more thoroughly. I used to teach composition at university as a workshop so know a good bit about revising non-fiction and frankly love the revision process. I know a lot of people are moaning as they read that but "seeing again" what you've written is fantastic for improving your writing. Hickman does a wonderful exploration of all the things you want to consider when revising and offers good strategies to help you. This would be a great addition to your writer's resource shelf.

[Lynn Barker]

This is like a text book.... very useful but not something I'd review.

[Ipuna Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to use when you are ready to revise. It's concise. Some topics discussed include: your concept, characters, plot, first draft, research, big problems, exposition, scenes, prose, dialogue, and refining your manuscript. There are interesting case studies that help with applying the recommendations in the book. Finally, the book discusses critiques and what to gain from them. The book was easy to follow. There is a lot of information in the book, so it may appear overwhelming. Take it one step at a time.