The Joys of Revising

I love revising. Really.

Why does revising get such a bad rap?

Revising looks terrifying; we all start out by thinking that every word from the tips of our fingers should be perfect. When it isn't, we have a strange reaction - fear of failure, I guess.

But once you get into revising - once you dive in and do it - you can come to love it. Personally, I like taking something that is not so good and making it better. I found some real clunkers in my first draft - "she practically glided with happiness" and "he said in his ususal brusque style" are particularly egregious examples - out they went. There were several scenes I banged my head against until I realized that my inner Writer was trying to tell me I didn't need them at all. In one scene, my heroine prudishly hesitated at undressing, in another she stretched sensuously before her mirror. Yoink.

The stage direction is taking a real beating. People walking around the room, walking through doors, standing up, sitting down, picking up teacups, setting them down again, walking up and down hallways to get to varioius rooms - I hate reading that stuff, and I hate writing it too. Out it goes. I have no house-maps; I hate house-maps and always skim them as a reader. You know, "to the left was the door to the sitting room, which led to the dining room filled with mahogany furniture that had a window looking down on the blah blah" - I can never follow it. George RR Martin needs maps; your average domestic romance does not. Bye.

The description in my first draft is terrible; I don't write very good description unless I go through it a few times. Dialogue comes a lot more easily, and I rarely have to revise it. Though the actual dialogue is good, the adverbs are awful - people are always talking softly, loudly, airily, wryly, sadly, whatever. This is definitely a weakness of mine. Out.

But the best part of revising is the Problem Scene. The one that has baffled you since you first wrote it; you just couldn't get it right, and couldn't waste any more time on it before moving on. Fixing that scene - finally coming up with the "aha!" solution - is awesome. Only another writer can understand it. And in order to experience it, you have to revise, revise, revise.


Abby