Too many revisions?

m249wife · Mar 12, 2009

Is it possible to revise too much? I'm still at the VERY beginning but my friends and family keep telling me not to do too much to it... of course, nobody has read it yet but that's because I want it to be as close to perfect as possible.

:e2cloud9:

Thanks!
Tracy

kaitlin008 · Mar 12, 2009

I'm sure it's possible to revise too much - anything is possible! But revising and being completely critical of your work is the best thing you can do for it, so I doubt that whatever you're doing is too much.

Cyia · Mar 12, 2009

You can revise a story to the point that it's a totally new story, but that's not always a bad thing.

You can revise a story to the point that it has no personality left for its perfection, that's a very bad thing.

TheIT · Mar 12, 2009

Have you finished writing the whole story? If not, keep writing until you hit THE END, then revise. I was stuck in the "gotta get the beginning perfect" trap for years before I managed to finish a first draft. When I finished, I realized the "perfect beginning" I'd been laboring over wasn't really the beginning of the story.

soapdish · Mar 12, 2009

I struggle with this endlessly. What I have found works pretty well is to write the whole thing, do one sizeable revise on my own and then if it's a short piece, post it on the SYW boards and get some feedback from others here. Or if it's long, just post a portion of it.

It helps to get feedback from others, especially if you are just starting out, because it is easy to get stuck spinning your wheels . You may struggle with what you think you need to revise--when in actuality there is a bigger hole somewhere else. Feedback can help you focus by identifying specific things that need to be revised, rather than you trying to attack the whole thing all at once.

Also--the more you stare at your own piece the harder it is to see all the "good" in it. You might start to see all "bad" and then you are prone to start hacking away when you really don't need to.

I have definitely over revised something before, so I would recommend that you save all your revisions incase you ever want to go back and see what you changed. Sometimes you might want to change it back…

Wayne K · Mar 12, 2009

Keep a separate copy of the origional and go nuts. You can always toss one and keep the other.

scope · Mar 12, 2009

Typically most every writer needs to do an exhaustive amount of revisions, and when done the writer should run the completed version by a couple of beta readers. But there comes a point when you have to stop. For me that time comes when I can say to myself something like: "This is great--this is what I wanted to say when I first got the idea, I wrote it just right, I really believe my agent/editor will love it.'" If I revise beyond that point I almost always make it messy.

m249wife · Mar 12, 2009

Thanks for all the input... I am doing a quick run through fixing minor errors before I'll let anyone see it. My neighbor has graciously offered to read it for me, I trust her judgement. I'm excited to get this done so I can say I accomplished one of my goals...

dancingandflying · Mar 12, 2009

I think that yes, you can revise too much. I think you can revise to the point of getting rid of beautiful lines just because they're not "necessary" or cut characters that don't move the plot, but add depth to the story. Which isn't good.

Everything in moderation.

d&f.

Dale Emery · Mar 12, 2009

The problem is never that you've revised too much, but that you've revised in a way that makes the story poorer.

Dale

Sweetleaf · Mar 12, 2009

Absolutely it possible to revise to much. I revised the first chapter of my first book so much it didn't even make sense anymore.

Sent the original off to a beta reader I got from here (thanks heaps again PennStater) and I am starting again.

Too much revision can make you lose touch. Get someone else to read it instead. Or put it away for a while and read it again with fresh eyes.

Good luck! :e2writer:

Cyia · Mar 12, 2009

Wayne K said:
Keep a separate copy of the origional and go nuts. You can always toss one and keep the other.

VERY important step to remember.

I've gotten into the habit of saving each day's end result in a file marked "progression" . (novel01 monday, novel02 tuesday, novel 03 wednesday...) This way I know where I started, where I ended up, and how I got there in case I need to find my way back.

Sweetleaf · Mar 14, 2009

Cyia said:
VERY important step to remember.

I've gotten into the habit of saving each day's end result in a file marked "progression" . (novel01 monday, novel02 tuesday, novel 03 wednesday...) This way I know where I started, where I ended up, and how I got there in case I need to find my way back.

That's a really good idea. I'm sure I've got versions that could have been perfect that have been lost in the constant changes.

ishtar'sgate · Mar 14, 2009

m249wife said:
Is it possible to revise too much? Tracy

Not for me. Even after my book was sold, edited and published I still wanted to take it back and make revisions. I finally had to stop reading the darned thing.

Too many revisions?

m249wife

kaitlin008

Seeing newness all the time

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

TheIT

Infuriatingly Theoretical

soapdish

writing

Wayne K

scope

Commonsensical Maverick

m249wife

dancingandflying

Is it tea time yet?

Dale Emery

is way off topic

Sweetleaf

Momentary lapse of reason

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

Sweetleaf

Momentary lapse of reason

ishtar'sgate

living in the past