First off, and apropos of today’s topic, for those who may have tried the link in my post about Agents Day and wondered what I was talking about: Agent Natalie M. Fischer published her speech from Agents Day about revisions on her blog this week. Some interesting tips. Check it out.
Revisions. I’m surrounded by them at the moment. Finalizing revisions on MAGE STORM before I send it off. Working on the second draft of SEVEN STARS so I can have it ready for alpha readers in July. Making revisions based on the latest critique of BLOOD WILL TELL. Oh, and I need to make revisions to my Writer’s of the Future entry for this quarter. AND, if I can find the time, there’s another story I’d like to take a crack at for a writing challenge on Hatrack River Writers Workshop. (The original version of the story didn’t really work, but the premise is perfect for the challenge.) So, it looks like the next month or so is going to be pretty much dedicated to revisions. Good thing I don’t mind.
I actually enjoy the second draft process. It’s almost like doing a first draft at times because I generally add so much new material. A story usually grows by about a third during the second draft. I’m in the middle of a new scene in SEVEN STARS right now.
Along about July, while SEVEN STARS is out to first readers, I expect to start taking a serious look at my alternate history story THE BARD’S GIFT (novelization of my short story of the same title). Still a lot of research to do for that one, as well as laying out the basic plot. I’ve never done alternate history. It should be fun.
Now back to that scene. Tiaran’s third battle and second failure. Got to rattle his confidence a bit. Can’t let your characters get to cocky–or too comfortable.
Meredith Mansfield, Author 
Yes, I was one wondering about agents day. I will have to check that out!
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It’s not exactly my process, but it’s a good post on the things you need to consider during a revison. I recommend it.
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An interesting job you have there… revisions that is. Sometimes they can take as much time as the first writing or so I hear.
I noticed that in one of my WIPs that I will need to add some descriptions of the city where the action takes place in… naming it would probably be a good thing to do too. 🙂 I decided that this one will be a city I make up even though in two other WIPs I am using will cities.
Obviously, like writing, each writer does and/or enjoys revisions his-her own way. So have fun but don’t over do it.
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Hmm. All told, I think revisions take longer than the first draft. But then I usually write a very fast first draft.
I’m getting back into the swing of the second draft of SEVEN STARS now, after the interruption for MAGE STORM.
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A PS here. I don’t like revisions all that much unless I am redoing a scene or adding a new one. But usually I’ve already done all the scenes the way I wanted them so I spend most of my revision time checking for missing commas, redoing sentences that don’t make sense after all, etc.
Notice I said usually. Sometimes I do need a new scene or as in the one case I forget something, like naming a city. Actually in that case I didn’t really forget it, I thought it wasn’t really that important… its a city like most other cities but I realized that cities are different and it’s part of the setting. Some writers get away with doing things, like not naming cities, in short stories but this is a novel so it needs setting.
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Everybody’s process is different. I write a fairly fast first draft, the point of which is just to get the story down. It’s usually pretty clean as far as grammar, etc., is concerned, but I don’t self-edit during the first draft. I only allow myself to go forward–no going back to fix things. So I know that there will be rough spots and things that need to be expanded when I come to the second draft. That’s what I’m working on right now on SEVEN STARS.
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I usually twist backwards a bit while writing, one person describes it as the slinky way of writing. Whenever I sit down to do more writing I end up going back two or three paragraphs… maybe half a page… and redoing some in those paragraphs. At times I will go back a few pages or to another chapter to redo or add something. Sometimes I wait ’till the revision if I think I can remember or if it is something that is continual throughout the book. Like describing that city I referenced.
But in the first writing I try to do as much as possible with commas, describing events, and showing Show 🙂 etc.
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