Time once more to go back and read my own writing. This could be the toughest part of the writing process. That moment when you sit down to see how your story reads. It's one of those moments where you test yourself because inevitably, the pages don't match the story in your mind.
I try to take a very academic approach to revisions. The first I do is to sketch out scenes that I know I want to include somewhere. It frequently happens that by the end of a manuscript, I realize things that are missing. So I write them down and then I keep a notebook beside me as I read through. I figure out where the best place for these added scenes and how they affect the scenes that bookend it.
The other big part of the process is the embellishing of the story. In the first draft, there's usually a lot of functionality in getting the story down. In the next draft, I try to bring lackluster scenes to life. I also try to focus on the characters and make sure when they speak, they sound like the same person. In other words, it's time to do work.
Do you go through the same process for all your books or is it different according to the series and age?
ReplyDeleteConnie
It's similar for all, but slightly easier and less complicated for younger books.
ReplyDeleteI remember listening to an author who said when he revised it was important to take words out as he usually wrote too much.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of that too! A lot of times, the 'added' scenes end up swapping out for already existing scenes. And then, in the editing, there's a ton of cutting that goes on. In my case, what is cut is typically repetitive.
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