{"id":19277,"date":"2018-06-05T01:00:49","date_gmt":"2018-06-05T08:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=19277"},"modified":"2018-06-06T10:17:52","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T17:17:52","slug":"revise-your-way-to-success-by-kay-keppler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/05\/revise-your-way-to-success-by-kay-keppler\/","title":{"rendered":"Revise Your Way to Success by Kay Keppler"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Revise<\/a> Let\u2019s\u00a0welcome\u00a0back monthly columnist, editor, and novelist,\u00a0Kay Keppler<\/a>, as she shares with us \u201cRevise Your Way to Success.\u201d\u00a0Enjoy!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Any literary effort is only as good as your editor can make it.<\/strong> No matter how sparkling you think your words are as you type them for the first time (or the second time, or even the third time), they really aren\u2019t. That\u2019s just how it works. First drafts are clunky, awkward, and unfocused. Depending on your style, they will be either overwritten or insufficiently fleshed out. Your themes and motifs will be absent, your plot unformed, and your characters underdeveloped.<\/p>\n

Revise and Delete<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You need an editor to make your writing shine, and the first red pen that touches your draft should be your own. Learn how to revise, and especially, learn how to delete. Read Strunk & White\u2019s Elements of Style<\/em> or some other book that shows you how to strip verbiage, and then apply what you\u2019ve learned to your manuscript.<\/p>\n

Being critical of your own work is a skill that\u2019s difficult to acquire, because you have to believe in your story and your ability to tell it. It seems counterintuitive to look for flaws in your manuscript, but it isn\u2019t. Think of revising as gardening. When an arborist looks at a tree, he has to cut back all the suckers to let the strong branches bloom. You must do the same.<\/p>\n

Be Brutal<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The first rule is, be brutal, because if you can\u2019t take a strong line with your own work, someone else will. If you read a passage and you think something might be wrong with it, something definitely is wrong with it. And while you might be able to figure that out and fix it, you\u2019re probably better off cutting it. Stephen King said about revising: \u201cGet rid of every ounce of excess fat\u2026. Revising a story to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Revise until There\u2019s Nothing Left to Fix<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When I was a magazine editor, we had five days to edit an article before we moved the piece to typesetting. Our edit process went like this: On day 1, we did our first pass on the raw piece. This was a \u201cstrong\u201d edit, and depending on the author, usually showed many changes.<\/p>\n

On day 2, we did the second pass. This pass still required major effort. Day 3 required less work, and day 4, even less work, usually just catching missed commas, and simple stuff like that. By day 5, our goal was to see nothing left to fix, and we\u2019d send it off to production.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need to try this process for your novel, but you absolutely should revise it until there\u2019s nothing left to fix. For every sentence, every paragraph, and every chapter, ask yourself: Is this the best word I can find? Is my meaning clear? Is it grammatical? Can I cut a word, phrase, sentence, paragraph\u2014even a chapter\u2014without sacrificing anything essential? If you can\u2019t look at your book and say with a clear conscience that you can\u2019t improve it anymore; it\u2019s as tight as you can make it, you\u2019re not done yet.<\/p>\n

Wanted: Sharp Eyes<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When you revise, read critically. Ask yourself:<\/strong><\/p>\n