deborahjross | Novel revision

pbray posted some interesting ideas on novel revision. Her strategy, while amusing, is quite different from mine:

How different everyone is! I don't care for chocolate and can't work when I've had even a drop of alcohol. I also can't stand Word, so I write in WordPerfect. My revision toolkit includes spiral bound notebooks and pens of many colors.

I used to revise from hard copy only, but now prefer to do most of the work onscreen. I find it's easier to make ruthless changes, as opposed to line-editing and tinkering, if I'm not bound by paper. As follows:

To begin, I make copious notes about re-envisioning major problems. Flow charts, colored diagrams, maps, list of questions, outtakes, pages of free-association, etc., are most useful. Sometimes I take long walks, acting new scenes outloud, if appropriate. I bring my large German Shepherd Dog to discourage other conversations.

Then I copy the entire novel into a new folder and dig in. I slash and burn, add scenes and chapters, move stuff around, end up with something raw and bleeding. If I'm not sure where something goes, or need to refer to something or find it easily, I'll highlight it in yellow.

When I've done all the damage I can think of, I go through the whole thing, smoothing out bumps, finding inconsistencies. This is usually the stage at which I fix nits.

NOW I print out a copy, 3-5 chapters at a time, usually 1.5 spacing, 1/5" top and bottom margins, 11 pt Georgia, to get a more panoramic view. This is my double-check for idiocies and omissions. Sometimes I have to repeat this process, but usually not for the whole ms, only the tough spots.

A final read-through would ideally be done aloud, but I'm rarely that disciplined and usually on too tight a deadline. If I have a trusted reader who isn't sick of the book by now and I have time, I'll ask for another read.