Monday, January 3, 2011

Melissa's Revision Mondays

I don’t claim to be an expert on the revision process, but I came across a series of blog posts last year that really changed my thoughts about revising. Mary Kole’s series on revision from December is no doubt more helpful than anything I could share, (see Revision O-Rama)  but I’m going to invite you to join me on my revision process anyway.

I finished my WIP during NaNoWriMo, and after dutifully putting it away for one full month, I’m ready to begin revising. A lot of people dislike the revision process, but not me. Now that I’m finished with my WIP I feel like I have a raw lump of clay in my hands, ready to be shaped into something beautiful. But first I have to push out all of the air. If I don't, there will be holes in my manuscript, or the whole thing might blow up when I put it in the fire.
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The very first thing I have to get rid of is my first chapter. I don’t even want to read it first. When I wrote it, I had no real sense of my character, my setting, etc… (this comes from being a pantster, what can I say?) So the whole thing has to go.



 
What about you? Have you ever banished a whole chapter from your manuscript? Do read it first to see what can be salvaged, or just let it go?

20 comments:

  1. In my first book I scrapped 40,000 words, which was about 5 chapters and a lot of scenes toward the end.

    I wouldn't delete anything, just cut and paste it into another file. You never know what you might need later. Even if you never use it, you still have it for reference.

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  2. Good point Anne, I don't ever truly delete anything because I always create a "deletes" file for each manuscript. Plus I always save with the current date, so the files are still there. Is it possible to be an anal pantster?

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  3. Just did-- and it's hard to let go! But it's freeing too! I LOVE revising--my favorite part, and I like how you describe it (clay)!

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  4. Good luck with your revisions!!! Yay for you!! Shape and sculpt away!! May your lump of clay turn into a thing of sublime beauty!!!

    I've gotten rid of a lot of chapters but saved them somewhere else just in case as I found I tend to scavenge bits and pieces out of them too!

    Take care
    x

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  5. Done the lot, had the tee-shirt. Have ditched chapters, moved them around, ditched complete books, pages of poetry. That anything gets published is a miracle, but all necessary when learning the craft, and what remains is of much better quality, good scavenging.

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  6. I've banished whole chapters from my manuscript. The most was 80 pages. Gawd, that was painful!

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  7. Loved the clay analogy! I once banished the first three chapters because it was all backstory!:) Happy new year!

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  8. Hi! Followed you back here from your comment on my blog. Nice to meet you. :)

    I edit as I go, so I rarely have to jettison whole chapters, but I so sometimes toss out complete scenes, which is highly painful. The surgery is usually for the best, though.

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  9. I just finished my NaNo project yesterday and can't wait to start revising. Never ditched a whole chapter before, though.

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  10. I cut three chapters from my first book. The first three. I LOVE where the story starts now. LOVE it. And I too, generally like the editing process.

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  11. I deleted THREE chapters in my latest revision round. It was really hard, but I see now, it was for the best.

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  12. Christina- I agree it is freeing to let go.

    Old Kitty- I can never throw anything totally away, no doubt I'll find a phrase or two to scavenge.

    Carole Anne-I want that t-shirt, too funny.

    Lydia- 80 pages yowza, that would have to hurt.

    Katie, Jolene and Candace- I'll probably have to banish my first three chapters too, but I have to write them first to find out where things are headed.

    Linda G- nice to meet you too. Welcome! I wish I could edit as I go, but so far no luck with that.

    Alex- Congrats on finishing your sequel. Good luck with your revisions.

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  13. I cried while doing it. It happened just days ago. It wasn't easy but letting go was the best possible scenario. Sometimes getting out of your head is the best way to go. It saved me.

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  14. Jen- I think that just shows the level of passion you have for your story and your characters. Maybe I'm being to cavallier about cutting my first chapter. But I agree when you have the guts to do it, it's for the best.

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  15. I have! Definitely had to go, at least for this book. I save edits in a folder for another day. Good luck with your revisions! ;)

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  16. LOL I reworking my first chapter of the book I'm querying so many times. In the end, I realized it needed to be deleted and chapter two needed to rewritten to be the first one.

    Fortunately that won't be the case with my current wip. But with last book, it went through a major plot change, so the first chapter no longer worked.

    I LOVE revisions. :D

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  17. I always read and see what can be salvaged. On my first book, I think I rewrote the beginning like 10 times.

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  18. I try to edit as I go to save time on final revisions. I hate revisions.

    Never deleted a whole chapter, but deleted and rewrote the mjority of my first. More than once.

    Good luck!

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  19. I've gotten good at axing the stuff that isn't working. It might make me sad, but ALL THE WORDS in the book are MINE. I wrote them all. So the sadness doesn't stay very long. I just cut what needs to be cut and make all the other words better to make up for it.

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  20. I deleted at least three chapters in my novel. Two were very hard to let go of. By the time I ditched the third, it was easier. And honestly, the book would have kept on getting rejected if those chapters had stayed in there. But as I worked on agent revisions last week, I was blown away by how much better the story was without those chapters and why did I ever think they needed to be in there?! Amazing what time away can do for your perspective.

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