Great Revision / Rewriting Advice

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What a great insight on Revision. Uh, here

{I'm sure I would have gotten around to it - someday. ;)}


Also be sure to read the comments at the end of it, was some great ideas there as well.

Thought this was even more appropriate to post right now for all those that will be heading into NaNoWriMo starting November 1^st.

[in Richmond, Virginia, this NaNoWriMo effort, and cheering leading, is headed by the wonderfully vivacious Lucky Jean -

lucky jean (@luckyjean) on Twitter

twitter.com/luckyjean

Sign up for Twitter to follow lucky jean (@luckyjean). ... Also, I'm reading up on my resonsibilities as a volunteer for NaNoWriMo= lots of work now; ...

Since at the end of NaNo you’ll have to head into this process. Do yourself a favor read this first - it will help you a Lot I think.

And read it especially if you are facing your own revisions and rewrites on the what you feel is the cold dead novel lying around on your hands. [Yes, I Know it’s Halloween season, but Don’t kill it off until After you read this. It might save You, and Your novel.]

Here’s a few insights that might help from the article - but do go over and read it, and the comments. Then come back and let me know what stood out for you.

[Again the Bolding is mine - so go read and tell me what your Bolding is.]

Revision Is a Receptive, Intuitive Act

Listen to your draft. Our work is smarter than we are. Embedded inside it are clues to what our story is trying to become.

Consciously or unconsciously, all those disparate images, symbols, objects, and memories you dialed up made it onto the page for a reason.

When reading your work, tune in to the recurring elements, images, and so forth that strike thematic chords. Which of these have an emotional or psychological charge? Unwrap them. Even the most seemingly random detail can unlock the emotional essence of a scene. Examined closely enough and from enough angles, a single image can bear the meaning of your entire story.

Rewriting is Essential

That’s because we evade our material more than we realize.

We’re often motivated to write because of certain memories, emotions and events that are far too powerful and complex to be fully grasped or articulated in our early drafts.

As memoir writer Larry Sutin says, “We rewrite because we didn’t have the courage to face it the first time.”

Each time we revisit our material, we gather more courage and momentum to dive a little deeper.

And if we stick with it, we come out on the other side with something coherent, unified, artful, and above all, moving.

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