Revision Phobia - Anyone Else

JamieMT · Dec 21, 2009

Lost Wanderer posted about this on her blog last week, and I'm getting ready to post about it on my blog as well. It seems we've both discovered a phobia of sorts when it comes to revising our novel drafts.

I can't speak for her, of course, but for myself, I find it odd that I'm "fearing" the process (I've edited shorter stories before, but nothing this length). I know what I need to do - from the plot revisions to the line edits. I'm reasonably confident that I can make the actual writing better, round the plot out nicely and add the words I need to bring it up to an acceptable word count. I *like* the story, and am really looking forward to reading the revised version...I'm confident it will be good (egotistical as that may sound).

I still have this underlying fear when I pick it up though - of what, exactly, I'm not certain. I can't decide if it's fear that I won't actually live up to my own expectations, that I *will*live up to them and will have to take the next step, or something entirely different. Heck, maybe I'm just being lazy?

I've started the revisions already, and my plan at this point is to just push through the fear and get it done. My hope is that once I complete the revisions on this one novel, this odd fear will go away for the next (it helps that the next draft I'll be revising is much cleaner than this one).

Anyone else encounter this "phobia"? The answer is to just do it, right? If you have gone through this, did it go away after the first time, or should I be ready for it to hang around?

Caitlin Black · Dec 21, 2009

I don't know about you, but I have phobias about everything. I sit down to write, and something holds me down, until I just push through it. I've never edited because again that's a new skill to learn, and I have a phobia about new things.

The only thing I can say is that while something always holds me back for the first 5 minutes of BIC, pushing through has improved my writing. So yeah, I'd say just do it.

ChainsawLicker · Dec 21, 2009

I tend to edit as I make my way through whatever I'm writing, instead of doing so at the end.

Regan Leigh · Dec 21, 2009

You know I do.

Only thing that I've found that works is to just push through and force it until it feels less... phobic?

Kisatchie · Dec 21, 2009

I've never felt any hesitation to revise my writing. Hey, it's an opportunity to make what I've written even better.

Nanae · Dec 21, 2009

I've had that before and am currently having it with one of my bigger projects. Haven't yet figured out a way to get past it though. I just take it one day at a time, occasionally look at the novels I'm supposed to be editing and do bits of them at a time. On some days I can edit up to five chapters before I stop. On others, I can't even get through the first paragraph of editing.

kaitie · Dec 21, 2009

I've been a bit intimidated and uncertain before, particularly with this one. I decided to cut as much as humanly possible from it, and that meant cutting entire scenes in some places, which was a bit frightening. I saved all the scenes (and older drafts) so that if something went wrong I could still go back and change it, so there's really nothing to be afraid of. Once I got started, though, it became more fun.

Bluegate · Dec 21, 2009

Do you think it might help if you didn't think of it as an edit or revision? Instead start a whole new doc and pretend that you're rewriting someone else's piece. Yours, which you obviously like, is safe and sound. Unaltered and un-messed-up by editing and rewriting. I find that when I hit this kind of block it seems to be coming from the fact that there is something about the current version of whatever, that I truly like and don't want to lose. I guess for me it just helps if I can leave the first one alone and face the revised work as if it were its own piece. Then go back and compare. Usually the things you really liked about the first one will stand out to you as well as the improvements in the new one.

Yeah, I don't know if that was any help at all. That's just what I do to "push" through.

Lady Ice · Dec 22, 2009

I hate revision of my own writing.

What you have to do is leave it for a good time so you come back to it with a fresh mind- almost as if you've forgotten it. Then read, then red-pen.

Kalyke · Dec 22, 2009

For me, the rough draft is not a final project. Real writing is done only after you gather all the raw materials, have chased down "the story" and then you can sit down and twiddle with words to your hearts content. What I hate is slogging through the first draft, not revising the subsequent drafts. I am in the hell-mire now and I do not like it at all. I am particularly jealous of writers who are satisfied with earlier drafts, but from the books I have seen on the market these days, I wonder if a few more revisions could have made them better.

iherzi · Dec 22, 2009

Wow. It's the exact opposite for me. I can't wait to get revisions. I just want to get all of it down as quickly as possible so I can start fixing it up.

SarahMacManus · Dec 22, 2009

Yeah, I love revisions, too. It gives me a chance to go over it again and make sure that I've developed every point/character/scene to its richest potential.

Plotting is usually my weak point, and certainly the place where I'm the most impatient. So once the basic plot is down (the hard part), the actually language and character and thematic development is a pure joy.

gothicangel · Dec 22, 2009

I love revisions and edits, it's when I feel like a real writer: moulding the raw material rather than just filling blank space. My imagination tends to run more wild too.

I think James N. Frey said it best in How To Write A Damn Good Novel: 'even though re-dreaming the dream is a difficult skill to master, it's a deadly mistake not to learn to do it.'

Hittman · Dec 22, 2009

Wow. It's the exact opposite for me. I can't wait to get revisions. I just want to get all of it down as quickly as possible so I can start fixing it up.

Me too. By the end of the work I know so much more about the characters and events I can't wait to go back and clean up and flesh out everything.

JamieMT · Dec 22, 2009

So obviously I'm not alone then.

This draft sat for the whole month of November while I was doing NaNo, and a couple weeks into Dec. while I was finishing Nano and critting a few other people's drafts. So it's had ample time to sit. I'm adding to the plot (I tend to write sparsely the first time around), so I'm sure that part of it is knowing I have to add an entirely new plot thread through the whole first half. I decided what it would be while writing the second half, and just jumped it right in there.

I'll admit - my goal is to write the cleanest first draft possible, so revisions aren't so extensive. Just my preference - once the draft is done, I want to run through it and get it finished so I can start on the next one. The actual writing is what I enjoy - revisions are just a necessary evil. ;-)

I'll keep pushing through...I'm sure once I get this one done, and move on to the much cleaner NaNo draft, all will be well. Or I hope it will...

Kemp · Dec 22, 2009

I find that revision is both good and horrible.

For one, it feels like an exhausting process akin to cracking open your own skull and digging around in your sensitive gray matter for a while. You find things in your writing that you hate, some things that you love too much to keep, and other things of various shapes and sizes.

However, the sense of satisfaction gained from slimming, trimming, and in most ways improving your work rivals that of finishing it in the first place.

If that doesn't do it for ya, just remember that a revision is pretty important. Generally speaking, a lot of little things (even if it's just typos) can be fixed.

gothicangel · Dec 22, 2009

Six weeks isn't very long to leave the draft. I tend to leave it for six months while I work on other projects.

Phaeal · Dec 22, 2009

I'm more a revision-philiac. It's not until after the first draft that I start to see the theme, or hear the thoroughbass, as I like to think of the "theme" beast. By speaking, I find out what I want to say.

After the second draft, that theme or thoroughbass tends to be nicely complexified. Third draft nails it. Fourth and further drafts take care of the fine points.

Eddyz Aquila · Dec 22, 2009

I honestly can't wait to finish and polish up because I know that always the first draft is going to be cr*p.

Diana W. · Dec 22, 2009

I know what you mean. Editing can be daunting. especially at the very start. I had that phobia for a while. But now I have two edited chapters that while probably still not good enough yet for publication are a damn site better than they were. This is giving me encouragement to push on and I intend to tackle another chapter tonight!

LuckyH · Dec 22, 2009

Revision is both a necessary evil, and an opportunity to mess up a perfectly good story. The process has been exaggerated and demonised by ‘experts’, who are not writers, but merely perpetual critics of sorts.

While it’s true that you want your story to be as good as you can make it before submission, you can also deface it by over-doing the editing. There is a lot if misinformation around concerning the use of clichés, adverbs and the like, and barrel loads of nonsense about flowery writing.

You’ve got your voice, you’ve got your story, and if both are good enough, you will likely be published, although it’s not easy. Mess about too much with either, and you will lessen your chances.

People seem to forget that publishers employ editors to edit the manuscripts of people like you and I.

gothicangel · Dec 22, 2009

LuckyH said:
People seem to forget that publishers employ editors to edit the manuscripts of people like you and I.

Yes, but first you have to have a book good enough to get past readers; an agent; an editor; and a publishing board meeting first.

That means having it damn near perfect.

I'll tell you my revision process: I'm currently revising my novel [draft 2], I removed 50% - that was 40,000 words. I have about 30,000 words left to rewrite now.

Since starting the draft I see yet more holes that will be fixed in draft 3. After which I will resend to get critiqued. In draft 4 I will work on criticisms. Then, maybe then I'll think about targeting the agents [or more likely their readers]

JamieMT · Dec 22, 2009

I'm sure it works for some, but letting it sit for six months isn't going to work for me. Neither are several revision passes. When I try to edit anything more than once or twice, I start ruining it. I can actually see my writing getting worse if I spend too much time on it. Not good. That's just the way it goes.

I want to be prolific. That means I need to write/revise in a reasonably quick time frame, and I'm comfortable that I can work my way up to several books completed in a year. It will just take practice, and refining my own drafting/revising methods.

For these revisions, I'm working with Holly Lisle's One-Pass Revision method. One pass through the hard copy, marking it up, adding, fixing, etc...type it in, read it through, and send it out the door. I think that will work for me, if I can just push through and get it done.

The more I think about it (and type out my rather long-winded thoughts), the more I think I'm just afraid because it's a new process, as mentioned above. Something I haven't done before, and I'm out of my element because of the length. The stress of the holidays probably has something to do with it too, since it's cutting into my writing time quite severely.

I'll keep on slogging through - thanks for all the encouraging remarks. I'm sure I'll feel much more confident once it's done.

gothicangel · Dec 22, 2009

If that's how you want to do it, but be warned you are running a high risk of remaining unpublished.

The real writing is in the rewriting.

Shadow_Ferret · Dec 22, 2009

I can't STOP revising.

Revision Phobia - Anyone Else

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