Revise First, Edit Later: Do You Know the Difference?

 

Updated: 4/26/2024

Hello, Creative Writers!

Sometimes the words "editing" and "revising" get interchanged, but they are different. 

Know the Difference:

Editing includes micro changes like making stronger verb choices, choosing language to match the mood of the scene, slowing down or speeding up a scene depending on what it needs, working out when to include dialogue tags and when to leave them out, deciding on paragraph fixes that could tighten your prose, making better word choices, noticing the read-aloud quality, the sound of the dialogue, etc.

Revising covers the macro changes such as deciding if a character could be cut from your book;  considering if each scene matters and how scenes are threaded through a "because of this then that" connection. In revision, you also track the pace of your plot, the turn of your scenes, the ticking timeclock and tension. You make sure that breadcrumbs are placed and that they have a payoff. You track if your protagonist has agency and is driving the action throughout the story; if they don't, you have reasons for why. During revisions, you make sure you've given the readers reasons to root for your protagonist, and you flesh out characters to make sure nobody is cardboard, and more! I can't wait to hear your ideas for revisions.   

You can look to the lists of others to find revision ideas that could possibly serve you. I hope you keep (or start) a personal revision checklist. Keep in mind that your list will be a work in progress. As you fix some of your writing issues, other issues will emerge.

Ideas for your Checklist:

Creating a personal editing and revising checklist helps me remember to look for things I know I can do better later. I don’t want to revise or edit in the middle of creating – it interrupts my flow. So when I'm creating a draft, I like to keep a running list of items to consider later during the editing and revision stages. If I don't keep a list, those items bug me and beg for my attention.

Examples of things on my editing checklist:

• Search "to be" verbs and update with action verbs.
• How can I amplify the tension on page x?
• How can page x feel more tactile?
• What's a fresh way to say ___________?
• Do I have too many em dashes or exclamation points (I tend to abuse these)?
• Can I delete 95% of of the times I say "just" in a chapter?
• How many times did I say "began" and/or "started" and can I delete?
• Are my intensifiers needed?
• Did I have too many dialogue tags, and did I do a good job with invisible dialogue tags? 

Examples from my revision checklist:

• Did I maintain good momentum turning the scenes à la Robert McKee style? (If you're curious to know more about turning a scene, read Changing the Positive and Negative Charges of a Value to Create Truly Effective Scenes)?
• Did I establish rules to my worldbuilding and did I follow the rules?
• Do I have an effective ticking-time clock and does the reader feel its presence?
• Are all the characters carrying their weight? Does every character matter to the plot, or are some of them "darlings" who/that should be cut or combined?
• Do any characters need further developing (does anyone disappear halfway through the novel)?
• Does every scene with dialogue ring true? 
• Did I carry motifs through in a meaningful way? 
• Are there moments the narrator reveals that could be better carried in dialgoue?
• Is my reader connected to how the protagonist feels throughout the story? The Emotional Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi might help with this. For example, if you want to show that a character feels "defeat", flip to “defeat” in The Emotional Thesaurus, and you’ll see ideas like, “lowering chin, toneless response, false bravado, cracking voice, and thick swallows.” For “anxiety” you’ll see, “rubbing back of the next, scratching, adjusting clothing, biting cuticle.” Obviously, you won't write ALL of these into your story 😼 Brain science shows us that readers want to put their feet in the protagonist’s shoes. Adding a light touch of feels will help bring the reader a step closer.
• Are all the scenes in the best order and connected by interstitials or by "because this happened then that happened" moments?
• Does my protagonist change or change the world around them by the end?
• Did I weave in the five senses effectively throughout the story?
• Did theme show up in a meaningful way?
• Are the protagonist's wants/goals apparent on the page so the reader can track what the character thinks will happen, what they hope will happen, and what is at stake throughout the story? I like how author/retired agent, Nathan Bransford, asks, "Are my characters actively going after things they want in each scene?"
• Am I giving my readers a close experience instead of leaving them behind by a nanosecond? What does this mean:
• Giving readers a shoulder-to-shoulder experience with the protagonist means letting the reader see, hear, smell, and realize at the same time as the protagonist. Instead of “I smell cinnamon”, your character might say, “Mmmmm, cinnamon!” or “Gross, who brought the stinky cheese?” Let your reader and the protagonist smell at the same time. Same can go for sounds, sights, and realizations—e.g., Instead of, “I heard a loud crash” replace with, “Crash! Shards of glass scattered at my feet.”

Stay in the flow! Try not to edit and/or revise in the moment, so you can stay in the creative flow. When I'm finished writing the first draft, I continue building my editing and revising checklist, adding items that are my know issues (oh, I have many 😉).

Please share ideas from your list!

Cheers,

Kim

p.s. Revise first. There's no point in editing scenes that might get deleted. Once revisions are done, you are ready for the micro changes. Here's a fun editing checklist on the blog Fiction Writer's Mentor.

An Inside Look at a Debut Deal

 

When I first entered the publishing world, I was surprised to discover that editors are regular human beings 😊. They eat, they sleep, they have personalized likes and dislikes. I know. I know. I was excited and intimidated, but I learned a lot with my debut sale. By the way, the above photo is a picture of me (wearing the orange scarf), my editor (next to me and in the center), and the HarperCollins marketing team all wearing the cat ears (a gift I brought to the office). 

My debut novel was sold on pre-empt, and no, I didn’t know what that meant when it was happening. I like this definition from Poets & Writers  magazine, “When a publisher wants to preempt [it means] they are choosing to make an offer that will persuade the author’s agent to take a project off the table early. The publisher is grabbing a project they love and avoiding having to compete with other publishers."

In my situation, my agent submitted my novel to a handful of editors, including Maria Barbo of Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins. When Maria said she wanted to make an offer, my agent invited her to sweeten the deal in a pre-empt to avoid an auction (an auction is when more than one house bids to buy a manuscript). But before anything was agreed upon, my agent asked me to get on the phone with Maria to see if I thought she would be someone with whom I’d like to work.

 As you can imagine, my head was spinning. I was suddenly in the driver’s seat. Long story short, this was a wise move. Making sure an author and editor have good communication chemistry is key to producing a great book. I asked Maria to tell me about her vision for the manuscript's edits, and since Maria is a genius, I was intrigued and excited about her ideas. As the cliché goes, it was match made in heaven, and we moved forward with the deal.

That's my perspective as the author. But did you notice that Maria's job as the editor was to communicate a clear vision for her editorial direction of my manuscript? If you take a job as an editor with a publisher, you'll have times when you have to compete with other publishing houses in order to acquire a manuscript. Sure, money will play a role in the bidding process but so will your editorial skills and the ability to communicate your vision. Honing these skills now will benefit you as a writer, book doctor, critiquing partner, coach, and as an editor. Even if you decide a career in editing is not for you, as an author you will have a clear understanding of the editor's role which will make you an ideal client to work with. 

Happy writing and editing!

Cheers,

Kim 

 P.S.   Writer Beware is a fantastic website. It's sponsored by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. Here you will find a wealth of information including insights on editors and editing, writer’s services, how to avoid schmagents (fake literary agents), and more.

Your Story's Interstitials

If you've ever hear me toss about a fancy-pants word, I probably learned the vocab from the brilliant Elana K. Arnold. She's so smart! In fact, if you're intersted in taking a master class, you should check out her revision season. 

Onward to interstitials - one of the many words Elana taught me.

Interstitials sounds highfalutin, but we’re simply talking about the connective tissue within your manuscript. It’s what ties the story and the character’s choices together in a meaningful way (plot!). 

Why are interstitials important?

With interstitials in place, you have an interwoven story that is knitted together by character choices🤩👍.  Without interstitials, you have a bunch of stuff happening that's without meaningful connections.  Perhaps you'll want to add "check interstitials" to your revision checklist.

More on Why:

You probably want to write compelling manuscripts and/or guide your critique partners to develop page-turning, satisfying stories.  To do so means that things don't just “happen” to a character. If a story is going to captivate readers, the protagonist can’t be a passenger

flowing along in the current of life. The character must make choices that drive the plot. And each choice has a consequence that causes the character to make the next choice and then the next and so on.

Benefits: With solid interstitials/connective tissue, you’ll see how:

• the character drives the plot
• the story draws the reader in deeper
• the readers comes to trust that everything matters and therefore will want to know what happens next!

I created this chart below so you can see how the interstitials track in Beauty and the Beast.

CHARACTER	ACTION	AND THEN...        (or)	THEREFORE...
Belle's father Maurice	heads to the fair but gets lost and is chased by wolves		therefore, he illegally takes refuge in the Beast's castle
			because of that: the Beast holds Maurice prisoner.
Because Maurice is missing,	Belle goes looking for her father		BUT the Beast won't let Maurice go, THEREFORE Belle tells the beast that she will be the prisoner in her father's stead. (THEREFORE she stays)
The Beast	is a jerk		THEREFORE Belle won't have dinner with him
			and BECAUSE OF THAT the cups, saucers, teapots etc. server her dinner (kindly singing Be Our Guest)
			and BECAUSE OF THAT Belle is comfortable and THEREFORE moves about the castle
			and THEREFORE discovers the enchanted rose
			and because of that she THEREFORE gets a glimpse of the beast's true and good self.

As you know, the story goes on from there.

Notice that there are compelling reasons (character motivations) for Belle's choices, and each choice/action catapults into the next choice. Remove the choices and the plot unravels or hinges too much on coincidence. If a moment is followed by an "and then" the plot can stall or fall into a pattern of stuff happening to the character rather than the character making action choices (i.e. the action of Belle looking for her father, rather than Belle coincidentally meeting the Beast).  

Want more? Check out what the makers of South Park have to say about "because of this then that" in this two minute video: