How do you combat the revision blues?

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James81

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I'm editting my novel now, and it's made me remember how much I LOATHE revising and editting. I find that I just want to write and keep writing, but if I do that I'll never get anything in any condition to be published.

So how do you cope with the revision blues? Any secrets or tips to make it not so "*BANGS HEAD ON KEYBOARD*" ?
 

Bubastes

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Sorry, I don't have any tips. I personally enjoy revising and editing as much as, if not more, than writing first drafts. It's an opportunity to push the words around like clay and see the story improve with each draft. Maybe viewing the process with a different attitude may help?
 

Bufty

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Either you want your writing to be the best you can make it -or you don't.

It's called pride in one's work.

You've actually answered your own question, so if you want to achieve your dream -get in there and start revising.:Hug2:
 
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Ugawa

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I don't understand why you hate it so much. Editing the first draft is always my favourite part of writing. It allows you to sit back and read what you've done. It's the part in writing where you can really feel proud of yourself because it's done. you've finally finished that book you've been writing for god knows how long.

Of course it isn't ready for publishing, no first drafts are. But at least you finally have something to look at and feel proud about ^^

Then you can edit to make it even better than it already is

XX
 

regdog

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Just keep telling yourself-One step closer to publishing with each revision that's what I do.

Plus I like what I write and want it to be perfect perfect
 

Quossum

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Just think of how much better it's going to be when you're done, how much tighter, how much more entertaining, how much more effective at getting across your characters and your plot points--there really is a certain excitement to it, now that you can see the work as a whole, put it all together and work it!

Whew! Now I'm hankering to go edit something!

--Q
 

Eldritch

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James 81, I feel your pain. I'd much rather be creating then perfecting.

To get through my multiple rewrites, I set up a work time for myself and stuck to it. For me, it was the hour and a half every morning before my kids got up for school. Yes, it was early in the morning. No, I did not want to do it. But I stuck with it. After a while it simply became a habit.
 

Kris Ashton

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It sounds glib, but enjoying editing really is about having the right mindset.

Back in his bodybuilding days, Arnold Schwarzenegger said something like, "Pain makes my muscles grow. Growth is what I want. Therefore, pain is pleasure."

Same thing with editing. I enjoy the first read through (as someone mentioned above) but by draft three--or five, in the case of a novel I'm editing at the moment--it can get very tiresome. What's *more* tiresome is sending out dozens of query letters and being rejected dozens of times because you didn't do enough editing in the first place.

Editing is part of the job, probably the biggest part. You need to learn to make a challenge out of it.
 

Donkey

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If you like what you wrote, then you should enjoy re-reading it. Every time you get stuck on a sentence/term while ENJOYING the re-read, every time you notice a typo or grammatical error, and every time you decide that a section doesn't work well enough, highlight it in red. Don't stop to do anything more than that and then move on.
When you're done reading it all, (which was fun!), start back at the beginning and look for red highlights. Check out the first one, remind yourself why you highlighted it, fix it if you can. Move on if you can't, but leave it highlighted. Every time you're able to fix one so that it now works, give yourself a mental high five. Believe me, when you get one done, and you know it's just right, it's a real boost. When you get five done, you feel like you're on a freakin' roll!
It's all about attitude. If you only enjoy the initial "creative" part of writing, and everything else is a chore, you might need a new hobby. Or business.
There's no shame in knowing your limitations, though, and working out ways of fooling your brain into enjoying a boring task. :)
 

SLThomas

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I like editing and revising. My problem these days is that I'm at the point in my WIP where I have to write a certain scene and keep putting it off, revising and editing earlier chapters instead...

What I hate is being stuck in the word count game: the darn numbers never seem to go up with all that editing!!

Sorry for butting in...Go on!
 

Phaeal

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Embrace the editing (starting with removing that extra "t" sticking in its back and making it surly.) It's the most important part of the whole writing process, ranging from the deepest core to the flashiest surface of the piece. To re-see with passion, art and craft is the mark of the professional.
 

Red-Green

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Very good advice, Donkey. 'Cause I don't know about the rest of you, but I am usually totally in love with my story and enjoy re-reading it. So editing is essentially the process of making me enjoy it more.

If you like what you wrote, then you should enjoy re-reading it. Every time you get stuck on a sentence/term while ENJOYING the re-read, every time you notice a typo or grammatical error, and every time you decide that a section doesn't work well enough, highlight it in red. Don't stop to do anything more than that and then move on.
 

Shadow_Ferret

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I like editing myself. So I don't get the blues, I get the reds, as in red pencil. OK, that was bad, but seriously, as has been mentioned, if you like the story, you'll like rereading it to edit it.

I'm a stickler for perfection... OK, I lied, I'm actually pretty lazy and avoid hard work, except when it comes to something as personal as my writing. That I want to be the best it possibly can before I submit it.

The novel I currently have in submission went through at least 12 distinct revisions. Each time I go through it I spot a plot hole or an area where something can be better explained. I've added subplots. I even made a major change on an important character that caused a ripple effect throughout the novel for the good.

In real life I'm not keen on challenges, I generally don't like hard work, but when it comes to my writing I look forward to those things.

I guess, ultimately, I was no help at all to you. :)
 

Deccydiva

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I am editing/revising for my first novel and I find I am getting a kick out of improving it here and there and finally being satisfied with a chapter. I've deleted whole paragraphs, removed commas and found typos. I would be mortified if I submitted something with errors in it which I could have easily corrected. I suppose it comes from sitting numerous exams where I came out at the end thinking of everything I should have done better. Ditto interviews. My father, who had undiagnosed Aspergers during my childhood, was an absolute perfectionist in many areas of his professional and home life so I guess it's rubbed off.
I wonder if I will ever actually submit anything...
 

Danalynn

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I have the opposite problem! I would MUCH rather edit the first draft than write it! That's a bummer, though, 'cause if you don't write it then there's nothing to edit. lol!
:cry:

I LOVE the editing and revision process, that's my fav part! From working on the first draft, all the way through to working on the final draft after I've read my novel at least 41,000 times all the way through.
:D
Loving the story and characters makes that a lot easier, too. It doesn't feel like "work" to me. It's just fun to edit and revise, even for the umpteenth time. If it does start to feel like "work", then I take a break from it and do something else for a while. Then when I go back to it, it's just plain fun again.

You definitely need to have a better attitude about it, though, because editing is crucial if not the most important part of the whole writing process. You can write a hundred and one novels, but if you don't like to edit, you aren't going to get anywhere with them.


;)
 
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Shamisen

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Probably not brilliantly helpful, but my revision tip is really just: no matter how much you like a phrase, a paragraph or a word, if it's changing the direction of your story then cut it loose! Can be quite theraputic.
 

Alpha Echo

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I LOVE revising. I don't know why. I can't explain it. But I love going sentence by sentence, taking what I've learned, and making it the best damn sentence ever. I don't like editing though - you know punctuation and grammar and stuff. That's not as much fun. But revising...

It's so true that when you're done, James, you're going to be like, "I can't believe I ever wrote that first draft!" because your second will be soooo much better.

Sorry, I dont' really have any helpful tips to get through it. Sometimes, I think I like the revision process better than the initial writing.
 

wrinkles

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This probably only applies if you write long, as I do. Most of my revision consists of cutting words. And while that's necessary, it isn't pleasant, isn't creative, and doesn't feel much like writing. So when I reached this stage I started my next novel. It's working pretty well.

I'm using the analytical side of my brain to do the cutting on my finished manuscript and the creative side to write my new one. They don't seem to like each other very much, so they tend to stay out of each other's way. So it's balancing out. I'm getting done work that needs to be done, and I still get that creativity fix I need every day.
 

SLThomas

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I haven't blogged since last year. I should write on it again. I had a good time writing for it, but hated having to spend time moderating comments.
 
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