Friday, January 6, 2012

The Most Intersting Thing--The Joys of Revision

"Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it."
--Colette

Revision is bliss.
Maybe some of you read that and shake your heads. "Is Angelina crazy?" 
Perhaps.
But I love the process.
Love getting feedback.
Love hitting the delete button.
Love ripping apart a story, then piecing it back together. 
Love focusing on every word, every sentence, every paragraph.
Love reading a manuscript out loud, red pen in hand, slashing through the printed pages.

How about you? If you're revising this month, are you enjoying the process? If you're drafting, do you look forward to revision? Any revision wisdom you'd like to share?




7 comments:

  1. I wouldn't say I LOVE revision -- I'm still holding out hope that I'll someday write a perfect first draft -- but I've made peace with it and it longer scares me. I think the best way to look at it is as you do: here's another chance for me to make my story better.

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  2. Love LOVE the quote!! And I'm learning to love revision because of where it takes my story.

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  3. My favorite part about revision is looking at what I first wrote and then looking at what I wrote for the revision and thinking, "Hey, this is better!" It's a warm and fuzzy thing :D

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  4. I love it when I see what to do and how to fix things. I hate it when I see something amiss but can't figure out how to fix it.
    So it's kind of a rollercoaster!

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  5. Revision is a mixed bag, isn't it? Thanks all of you for weighing in.

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  6. Revision is one of my favorite parts, though sometimes it can be intimidating. I agree with what everyone else said. Sometimes it's incredibly satisfying, and I love being able to see my story get better and stronger. Other times it's like pulling a hanging piece of yarn from a beautiful sweater and watching it unravel. I have to keep pulling to fix the problem, but I worry I won't be able to make it lovely again. That said, it's one of my favorite parts. Am I crazy? ;)

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  7. P.S.-Good luck with your revision! Also, I love the hard copy/pencil on paper part. And cutting words is so satisfying...

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