So I wrote a book...Now what?
My Step-by-Step Revision Journey
Hello friends.
Recently I typed “the end” on yet another first draft. I’m so proud of myself for getting the words out of my brain and onto the page and I'm taking a moment to celebrate that.
YAY!
okay, now back to work. Over the past three years, since I started writing, I’ve focused on learning my craft. I've read books and taken classes on everything from story structure to writing on a line level and recently attended The Shit No One Tells You About Writing’s ten week Deep Dive. I’ve learned and grown so much, but where I feel my skills are lacking is revision.
No longer! This is my current goal. This is my season of revision. My era of edits.
I’ve made a plan.
I’m basing my revision plan on two books:
Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book by Allison K Williams
and
Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts by Matt Bell.
Here are my checklists so far. Each step will have a more detailed checklist that goes with it. Feel free to use it, if it’s helpful to you. I’ll share more as my revision journey evolves.
Let me explain a bit about my steps in “Step 1: The Story Draft.”
Let Sit. — It’s a personal decision how long you let your MS sit before diving into revisions. Matt Bell suggests waiting as long as possible or “where you’re no longer thinking of the book much at all.” Then you’re halfway there. Allsion K Williams suggests waiting a week. I took a poll on IG and the results were mixed.
I’m waiting a week.
Quick read through making notes but not changing anything. — I like to do this on my Kindle because then I can’t change anything. If you'd like to learn how to put your MS on Kindle here’s a link. Here’s a link if you’d like to listen to your novel with the Kindle app.
Write chapter summaries along the way.
Write outline.
Revise the Outline based on the story structure of choice. — The structure you want your book to follow is up to you. Some suggestions to look at are: Saves the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody, Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland (breaks apart seven point story structure) and if you’re writing romance Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes is amazing.
Write the In A world...sentence. — This is a suggestion from Allison K. Williams. She suggests you write a sentence that would play at the beginning of the trailer to the movie of your book. In a world where (the situation as it is now) one person (protagonist) must (goal/story objective).
Make a revision plan based on revised outline.
Implement the plan.—Easy Peasy, right? Please send chocolate.
The novel took me three months to write so I’m giving myself six months to revise. I realize this timeline may change along the way but I thrive on deadlines. I’ll share my journey with you along the way. Please let me know any of your expereince and wisdom revising. I love learning from everyone in our vibrant writing community.
