I’ve grappled with how to begin the second round of revisions on my novel (not a NaNoWriMo book) the last few weeks. I’m at the part, you know, where you really have to make your prose sing. The problem is, everytime I’ve thought of tackling my MS, I’ve wanted to beat it with a broom handle rather than face it again. Soooo, I took a six week break and enlisted a few high profile beta readers. The result: it’s in decent shape, but still needs some very important tweaking.
But how does one go about that all-important tweaking? Rather than invent my own warped system of revising, I looked to a few “experts” for advice. These blog posts might turn around the editing process for you–like they did for me. So all of you NaNoWriMo folks and every other writer out there in need of revision direction, here it is:
Nathan Bransford’s Revision Checklist
James Scott Bell’s Revising Your Novel
Holly Lisle’s How to Revise a Novel
J Timothy King’s Checklist for Revising a Novel
Janice Hardy’s Editing your Novel: Tips & Tricks
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About Heather Webb
Heather’s historical novels have received national starred reviews, been featured in print media including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and have been chosen as a Goodreads Top Pick in 2015. To date, her books have sold in a dozen countries. She enjoys helping other writers and may often be found tweeting helpful links, writing craft articles, or speaking about the industry and her love of books at conferences and retreats. For more information, see her AUTHOR page.
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I like how you said “make your prose sing” and for that there’s no one to give advice unfortunately. I’m at the very same stage in my revisions. All I can hope for is quiet time to get my mind in the right place.
You’re absolutely right, Karen. The deepest layer of revisions has to come from within the locked box of our creative brains. I found the other posts to be helpful, however, in terms of getting me to think about revising in a different way. Good luck to you. I wish you success!