There’s More Than One Way To Revise Your Writing

Just as writing can evoke and require different emotions and expression, you might find the same is true when it comes time to revise your writing.

Right now, I’m preparing a chapter of the novel I introduced in “The Accidental Novelist – How Stolen Moments Can Make A Book” for submission to a literary publication. It’s a scary, exciting, time-consuming process, and I love seeing how my chapter evolves as I move it closer and closer to completion.

Refining this chapter has felt different than other revisions I’ve done, and working on it has made me think closely not only about why revision is important, but about process — how the progression from initial inspiration to first draft to final polish can feel so utterly unique from project to project. It’s also a reminder that, no matter what the writing and revising process may feel like at any given moment, it’s important to just go with it — as long as your words ultimately crystalize in a form that tells the story you need it to tell.

Bring your writing into focus

For this particular chapter submission, I started with a draft I’d last revised over a year ago. When I first reread it, I found a lot to love. There was also much work to be done.

After a few more revision sessions, I began to feel a sharpness in my storytelling that wasn’t there before. Fuzzy actions and unclear motivations became more defined; scenes that were unintentionally vague became intentionally crisp. The whole thing felt like watching a video phase into focus.

As you revise your writing, look for places where your narrative feels blurry when it should be sharp. Is your protagonist’s inner struggle unclear? Does your description of a lush forest feel vague instead of vivid? When you revise with the intention of trying to create sharper focus in your writing, you can make your text clearer, more powerful, and more true to your intentions.

Work like a sculptor

When I’m working on nonfiction projects where I have to transform interviews and research into succinct stories, my initial document can feel like a huge chunk of marble and my fingers are the hammer and chisel. The more I pare away, the more the form of my piece becomes clear and the easier it is to recognize it as a cohesive piece of writing.

Most times, I start with big chops, deciding which major sections of information are not essential to my purpose and which need to be expressed on a more granular level. As the process continues, the quantities of verbal marble I pare away get smaller and smaller, and the amount of polishing and detail work increases. If all goes well, eventually I’m left with a piece of writing that I’m proud of, in a form that will attract and intrigue my readers.

Craft smooth connections

About a year ago, I started a process in my novel-writing of taking dozens of disparate, previously-written chunks and combining them into a cohesive narrative. I’ve felt a similar vibe, albeit on a smaller scale, with my nonfiction articles; sometimes, I’ll craft a handful of good, standalone paragraphs, or gather a few compelling quotes, and find myself having to combine them in a way that makes sense — from section to section and when assessing the piece as a whole.

As you revise your writing and work to stitch different chunks together, pay attention to the words you use as threads. The more time you invest in smoothly connecting your individual pieces of text while maintaining their unique qualities and character, the better your chances of creating a tapestry that tells your story effectively.

Take a utilitarian approach

When writing my novel, there are times when I know where my characters need to end up, but I haven’t figured out how to get them there. In instances like these, my writing feels like construction work or engineering; I’m taking calculated steps to build and balance, to provide safe passage so my characters — and the readers following along — can get where they must end up.

Viewing your writing like an engineer may feel dispassionate, but it can serve an important purpose. If the underlying connective structures of a work don’t hold weight, content that is more expressive or emotional can get stuck in delivery. Sometimes a utilitarian approach is just what a writing project may need to bridge a key gap and keep the story traveling.

Write (and revise) unfiltered

At times, the act of writing is simply the process of getting what is inside you out and documented as quickly as possible. I often feel this way when I’m writing personal essays on explosive topics or channeling some intense emotion inspired by current events into fiction. For me, the trick is to be as raw, immediate, and unfiltered as possible; the first words that come out are the words that get written down — almost like I’m screaming them out.

When I find myself inspired to write this way, I’m often surprised when I look back at my work. What may have felt ugly when first written is often beautiful in unexpected ways.

In your own writing, don’t hesitate to scream onto paper what feels too messy, intense, or explosive to say in any other way. Chances are, your honesty and emotion will leave you with powerful words to work with, and there may be little to change when it comes to revise your writing.

Related Posts
Write Like You’re Someone — Or Something — Else
The Accidental Novelist – How Stolen Moments Can Make A Book
How To Boil Loads Of Research Down To A First Draft
Conducting Interviews: Directing And Capturing The Conversation
Nothing is Wasted (If You Put It To Use)