Joyce Sweeney's Revision Workshop
Here's part one of my notes from Joyce Sweeney's revision workshop. Besides the gems in the beginning, she gave us a checklist of sixteen areas to explore during revisions. The first five are listed below, and I'll blog about the rest of her tips later this week.
There are two kinds of revision. The first type of revision we tackle is for ourselves. Once we've revised many, many times for ourselves (and critique groups), writers can find themselves revising for an agent or editor. Some revision notes are straightforward, while others feel more like a secret language. I feel so lucky that Joyce has helped me analyze revision requests and conference critiques. For this workshop, she's focusing on revising for ourselves.
Here are some incredibly helpful tips:
• Just because a manuscript is good and you're dying to send it out, doesn't mean it's ready. There's often so much more you can and should do...especially in such a competitive market.
• Before submitting, make sure it's the manuscript of your dreams...and then do at least one more round of revision to make sure. Don't send to an editor or agent, then contact them asking to send a better version.
• You can get dependent on groups and critique buddies. Make sure you learn from the comments so you won't keep making the same mistakes in future manuscripts. Don't expect them to fix the same mistakes over and over.
• Know your usual issues, such as having too many characters, weak plotting, etc. and watch out for it as you revise. See if you can find a critique buddy who is strong in those areas.
• You'll never get to the point where you don't need feedback. Even published authors need it. Do your best to find a great match (I've been extremely lucky with my groups and critique buddies...but it doesn't happen overnight-it can take a while to find the right people).
Here is a checklist of five areas to revise (and I'll blog about the rest soon).
1. Make sure you have a clean manuscript. Check for spelling issues, tense or point of view switches, and keep an eye out for some of the most common mistakes people make. (I highlighted some of them here: http://mindyalyse.livejournal.com/37710.html#cutid1).
2. Balance of elements-make sure there's a balance of narration, action, and description.
• Some of us overwrite (that's me in early drafts). Overwriters usually have beautiful language. They get seduced by the words and keep writing and writing. Make sure your words count. You can eliminate words like: that, then, while, just--instead of saying 'and then', stick with 'and'. (Years ago, Kathleen Duey pointed out that I had a habit of telling, then showing what I told. This is one way I streamline now. I also find it helpful to pretend I'm entering a contest with a word count and need to eliminate five hundred or so words-once they're gone, I've rarely put them back in).
• Others tend to underwrite-more like it's written for TV or a movie. Vary sentences to draw more attention from the reader. Use more description, and bring in different senses (more about this later).
3. Language-often the words that first pop onto the page aren't the best ones. Keep searching for the strongest possible language. You can see a word cloud on http://www.wordle.net. The larger the word appears, the more you've used it. This can be a great device, like a soundtrack that sets the mood with a word like 'danger', but make sure you don't have an echo of common words.
4. Striking images/art direction-watch where you stage important scenes like the climax. Make sure you find an interesting setting that readers can easily visualize.
5. Scene-every scene should have an arc, where there's a clear beginning, middle, and end. Make sure every scene matters. (Here's a link to an amazing scene building workshop Joyce recently led: http://mindyalyse.livejournal.com/56750.html.)
There are two kinds of revision. The first type of revision we tackle is for ourselves. Once we've revised many, many times for ourselves (and critique groups), writers can find themselves revising for an agent or editor. Some revision notes are straightforward, while others feel more like a secret language. I feel so lucky that Joyce has helped me analyze revision requests and conference critiques. For this workshop, she's focusing on revising for ourselves.
Here are some incredibly helpful tips:
• Just because a manuscript is good and you're dying to send it out, doesn't mean it's ready. There's often so much more you can and should do...especially in such a competitive market.
• Before submitting, make sure it's the manuscript of your dreams...and then do at least one more round of revision to make sure. Don't send to an editor or agent, then contact them asking to send a better version.
• You can get dependent on groups and critique buddies. Make sure you learn from the comments so you won't keep making the same mistakes in future manuscripts. Don't expect them to fix the same mistakes over and over.
• Know your usual issues, such as having too many characters, weak plotting, etc. and watch out for it as you revise. See if you can find a critique buddy who is strong in those areas.
• You'll never get to the point where you don't need feedback. Even published authors need it. Do your best to find a great match (I've been extremely lucky with my groups and critique buddies...but it doesn't happen overnight-it can take a while to find the right people).
Here is a checklist of five areas to revise (and I'll blog about the rest soon).
1. Make sure you have a clean manuscript. Check for spelling issues, tense or point of view switches, and keep an eye out for some of the most common mistakes people make. (I highlighted some of them here: http://mindyalyse.livejournal.com/37710.html#cutid1).
2. Balance of elements-make sure there's a balance of narration, action, and description.
• Some of us overwrite (that's me in early drafts). Overwriters usually have beautiful language. They get seduced by the words and keep writing and writing. Make sure your words count. You can eliminate words like: that, then, while, just--instead of saying 'and then', stick with 'and'. (Years ago, Kathleen Duey pointed out that I had a habit of telling, then showing what I told. This is one way I streamline now. I also find it helpful to pretend I'm entering a contest with a word count and need to eliminate five hundred or so words-once they're gone, I've rarely put them back in).
• Others tend to underwrite-more like it's written for TV or a movie. Vary sentences to draw more attention from the reader. Use more description, and bring in different senses (more about this later).
3. Language-often the words that first pop onto the page aren't the best ones. Keep searching for the strongest possible language. You can see a word cloud on http://www.wordle.net. The larger the word appears, the more you've used it. This can be a great device, like a soundtrack that sets the mood with a word like 'danger', but make sure you don't have an echo of common words.
4. Striking images/art direction-watch where you stage important scenes like the climax. Make sure you find an interesting setting that readers can easily visualize.
5. Scene-every scene should have an arc, where there's a clear beginning, middle, and end. Make sure every scene matters. (Here's a link to an amazing scene building workshop Joyce recently led: http://mindyalyse.livejournal.com/56750.html.)