#revising
Me, #revising my own writing and previously made notes, part 2:
"Why he bent over backwards to[[ Mikasa vibes… >.>]]…’"
... Apparently my LI needs a red scarf. He already has the knives.
#amWriting #writing #WIP #writingWonders #attackOnTitan #Reference #grimdark #gaslamp #amEditing #beta
Me, #revising my own writing and previously made notes:
"It had turned the city into the booming hotspot[[ Note to self - but it’s not really a hotspot though, is it?]] it was now."
😂
#Revising is hard work, but every now and then you come across a passage where you don't want to change a single word.
#writing #writingCommunity #ThreeKindsofNorth #sequel #TheSunderingWall
To each their own, but I love #revising my #writing. The second draft is where the magic happens. The 1st draft is pure labor hours, brute force pushing the word count toward a moving target of an ending.
I'm starting the 2nd draft of my #WIP now, and it's finally feeling like "play" rather than work. This is where I know the characters AND the plot, and I get to let their voices come through the prose.
And then the third draft? That's where it all starts to feel like a real novel, if I'm lucky 🤞
#amwriting #novelist #writer #fiction #thriller #thrillernovel
1/3 of the way through this revision of The Blood of Queens.
Predictably, the book keeps getting longer as I replace things like <insert cool dialog here>, and <figure out how to make this work> with actual story words.
Slowly, but surely.
#StillOnSchedule
#writingcommumity #WritingFantasy #Writing
#revising
I wrote over 5k today. Which has Chapter 2 questioning whether this is a revision or a rewrite. Chapter 2 sort of has a point.
https://andybrokaw.blogspot.com/2023/05/chapter-2-has-concerns.html
I'm plotting my first round of revisions and my Acts are a little nervous about their upcoming makeovers.
http://andybrokaw.blogspot.com/2023/04/time-for-makeover.html
@StephZihms I am a #fiction writer and use #Scrivener on Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
If you use multiple computers or devices, set up a free Dropbox account if you don't have one and set up syncing. Ensure you wait until Dropbox has said it sync'd before you close your computer!
Learn to use snapshots (Mac and Windows only) and how to compare (diff) changes. Snapshots are how you have multiple versions around and you compare what you've written over time.
If you get a sync error (bound to happen if multi-device), you make a snapshot on the conflict document, then select-all and copy-paste your last good document the conflict refers to over the conflict document, then compare with the snapshot. The diff will show you what did not get properly sync'd.
Learn how to search not only the current document, but all documents in a scrivener project.
Learn how to use the regex search to find multiple things at one time. Oh, and you can save your search strings, so learn how to do that. (I save searches of dozen of words that I know I need to remove like about, just, maybe, perhaps, sometimes, etc.)
Use the Literature & Latte discussion website to ask questions. Users respond faster than the developers ever will.
#writing #writers #author #writingcommunity #revising #writersOfMastodon
I am suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling that everything I have written is absolute garbage, and the only way that anything will make any sense is if I scrap all 52,000 words and start over.
My logical brain recognizes the lie.
My feelings heart is breaking down into tears.
My muscles are suddenly both tense and exhausted.
My stomach is turning over like an octopus.
Probably a good time to wrap up.
I don't think I've ever worked so hard in my whole life on such a short article. I spent two #days off and on #revising, #editing, #drawing, and finding animations that I thought could help #readers understand these deep concepts.
If you've ever wondered how the #universe was made or why from a #taoist point of view, here is the latest in my series...
A Beginner's Guide to #Taoism: Ten Thousand Things and the #Creation of the #Universe
(presented for free using this link in #Mastodon because you are all SO awesome!)
"Inside the house, just past the open door, outside quiet gave way to chaos as Aaron Harker pivoted on the ridiculously ornate parquet floor, arms windmilling as he tried to keep his balance without losing sight of his prey, a grey-green figure the size of a cat and the shape of a frog, if a frog were to rise up on two feet and scurry like a ferret."
#Revising and fine-turning, as I read the book out loud to Max (who is a terrible audience, as she's audibly snoring).
#Writephant Q3:
What is your revision process?
Eg, how long do you set your first draft aside for?
Do you get readers (and what do you call them? Ex. "ideal," "alpha," "beta," "first," etc)? If so, at what stage?
Did you have to learn a revision process or did it come to you naturally?
#writingCommunity #writinglife #writing #revising #editing #amediting #amrevising
@erinbowlen In-between scenes are hard for everyone, I think. They affect pacing. I'll share this experience with you, however. Keep in mind that concision and ellipsis are my biggest in-writing fails and may not be of use to you. I am not criticizing.
My publisher informed me that in their opinion bridge scenes are often not necessary. You simply imply what has/will happen, or discreetly fill in an important detail in the next on-stage. The reader will actually figure it out. Foreshadowing and important details must, of course, go in main chapter scenes, otherwise you might infodump.
That caused me to cut a 100,000 words from the galley. Food for thought.
#writing #revision #revising #writer #author #writingcommmunity
A person who doesn't want to do the work of #Writing, #Rewriting, #Submitting, and #Revising simply isn't a #Writer.
I've done 5.5 hours work on this #chapter in the last two days. I feel like I'm finally getting the whole thing sorted out in my head and ready to push on and get it finished. But now time to break for the day, pick up kiddo from nursery, and have a family weekend. #Editing is hard: editing part-time is way harder.
Apparently I'm capable of working for exactly 55 minutes on this chapter before I run out of neurotransmitters and start staring into space.
Spent five hours working on my chapter today and I feel like I've got the bits I've worked on so far in good shape. Cut, added, reorganised, tidied, rewrote. Haven't made much headway with the next bit, but I've got the whole chapter loaded in my head now and am feeling in a strong position to do that tomorrow - as long as I don't get distracted and keep up the momentum!
Finally fought my way through the bramble thicket of urgent business tasks and worked on my #NonFiction book for the first time this year.
I've been stuck on #revising this chapter for 10 months - longer than I was pregnant! Trying to wrestle it into shape I've written three times as much as I need. I every time I try to work out what to cut I end up #rewriting it again.
Sometimes you put things off for no good reason; sometimes it's bcos they're genuinely hard.
I believe there's a point in any writing project where your brain cannot improve the WIP anymore because the words are too deeply grooved into your brain, and the irrational love you have for your genius work has infiltrated at the reptilian-brain level. The anxiety and dissonance this produces drives your brain to crave the soothing dopamine rush from social media.
Why am I posting this? No reason at all.
I've truly been struggling with the rewrites for Chapter Two of Goodbye Susto, specifically, finding the thread that binds it all together. Thankfully, it being a transmedia project, I was able to work on other aspects while stuck and still progress toward a finished episodic release.
Today, as I was doing some juggling around of the text in an academic article to make it flow, it occured to me that I need to do the same with the chapter. I came home and sure enough...
I flipped the end scene and placed it in the middle and now, suddenly the prose is flowing!
I think sometimes we get so stuck in how things were in the original drafts that we fail to see how something as simple as shifting a segment somewhere else can benefit the entire text.
Revising. Goal is one chapter or two hours. When goal is met I have a ton of de-cluttering to do. Might just keep writing.
#AmRevising
#AmWriting
#HistoricalFiction
#Novel
#WritingCommunity
#WritersOfMastodon
#Writing
#Revising
(I am tired of using hashtags. Is there one we are using for writing?)
A beautiful morning for a walk to the lake to think about how I want to reshape the middle of this #wip. Looking out over the water to the mountains beyond clears the way to delightful possibilities. Not work--exploration, discovery, imagination. #WritingLife #revising #rewriting #imagination #inspiration #lake #nature #mountains
I just reworked a previously published essay for a chapter.
I had updated literature and added a ton of words then chopped it to fit the book page limit.
It is frustrating to see errors in the original that escaped notice but woo boy am I glad I'm redoing thigs now.
I mean, It's fun to get ideas and encouragement on early drafts from other people, but I guess I'm nervous if I show a thing too early, someone else's ideas will take over my own. It's like I don't mind showing what is not yet good, but I don't show it if I don't know my own intentions yet.
And yet! It can even be a helpful thing to talk through intentions with other writers you trust, just as a tool to figure them out.
#WritingCommunity #WritingLife #Revision #Revising #AmWriting #AmEditing
At what point to do you show your work? For feedback, I mean.
I try to get it as far as I can on my own first, but I know others are looser about that. Or maybe _sometimes_ I let my external deadlines decide...
#WritingCommunity #WritingLife #Revision #Revising #AmWriting #AmEditing
I want to be a human prompt bot. I want to hang out in writing hashtags and no matter what the good news or gripe or observation is, I want to shoot back a related writing prompt.
I'd also like to be paid for doing this so I could make a decent living and still have time to write my own stuff.
#dreams #WritingCommunity #WritingLife #Revision #Revising #AmWriting #AmEditing #WritingTips #Prompt #WritingPrompt
Some of what this incredible & wide-ranging discussion (of what counts a draft) has brought to light are the various ways writers approach revision. Some see it as a time to fix, correct, fill holes, etc. to realize an already clear vision. Others use revision as another discovery phase, making bold changes, experimenting & just _playing_ with their stories.
If you're up for it, I'd love to talk more about all of that.
#WritingCommunity #WritingLife #Revision #Revising #AmEditing #AmWriting
I have long thought that a "draft" is just about the most useless unit of measurement of all time. I mean, I use the term quite frequently and I have a (vague!) sense of how I mean it. But some writers move a comma and call it a new draft, while others do a complete overhaul before they save as "draft2."
What constitutes a new draft for you? Maybe it doesn't matter as long as you keep moving forward, but I'm curious.
#WritingCommunity #WritingLife #Revision #Revising #AmWriting #AmEditing
Drafting J used "glance" three times on this page, but that is a problem for Revising J.
#writing #writingcommunity #drafting #revising #fiction #fictionwriting #kidlit
Trying to make progress on revising #ApocalypseSummer. At a really difficult part now with lots of bits of story coming together.
Just to say that in a few days I'm turning in the next 100 draft pages of my book, and I know it's not supposed to be perfect yet, but will I always feel this urge to yank the pages back and go "just kidding! not yet!"
#writinglife #writingcommunity #bookstodon #writing #revising
Hi, #writer friends! Anyone need #writing #support or #encouragement today? Feeling discouraged/stuck with #plotting, #drafting, #revising, #editing, #writersblock, or just like you’re not where you hoped you’d be? We’ve all been there (the mug in the pic could be a self-portrait). 🤣 Please share if you’re struggling & I will help if I can!
#WritingCommunity #WritingTips #WritersofMastodon #Authors #Books #AmWriting #Editing #Revising #Romance #Fantasy #Romancelandia #Write #MondayMotivation
Guides to #revising a #novel which I've found useful so far:
Revise a First Draft - Step by Step https://jerichowriters.com/how-to-revise-a-first-draft-2/
5 Novel Revision Tips https://www.jessicabrody.com/2020/01/5-tips-for-revising-a-first-draft/
8 Awesome Steps to Revising Your Novel https://writersedit.com/fiction-writing/eight-steps-revising-novel
The Grand List of Overused Sci-fi Cliches https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/XmAmZ00XGFE?pli=1 (I'm guilty of 2 so far)
How to Avoid Info-Dumping https://ellenbrockediting.com/2014/07/03/novel-boot-camp-lecture-3-how-to-avoid-info-dumping/
I read some guides to #revising longform #fiction, which recommended taking a break from your work before revising it. I've had two days off from it, but one writer suggested a month. So I thought I'd do that and write fanfic or something to maintain my daily practice. But when I got to my desk I had no interest in fanfic: I wanted to work on the #novella. I've started a readthrough, making notes. I don't hate it, but maybe I'm still too close to it...
Good morning, #writer friends! Today’s a goal-setting day for me. I’m busy figuring out what I’d like 2023 to look like, #writing wise. Anyone else thinking about what they’d like to #write in 2023? Any dream projects on deck? Please share! 💕
Also, greetings & salutations from my happy gingerbread buddy. 🤣
#writingcommunity #WritingLife #romance #fantasy #KidLit #writers #writersofmastodon #authorsofmastodon #books #book #author #authors #revising #romancelandia #romancebooks #bookstadon
“You don’t need an idea to start a story. You just need a sentence. Where does that sentence come from? Wherever. It doesn’t have to be anything special. It will become something special, over time, as you keep reacting to it. Reacting to that sentence, then changing it, hoping to divest it of some of its ordinariness or sloth, is . . . writing.” George Saunders, born #OTD in 1958 (from A Swim in a Pond in the Rain) #writing #revising #editing #GeorgeSaunders
Happy that I have been keeping up the revising of the book on narrative design & change each day during the Write-Ins with Nisi, and after. This week I have a prototype to update for playtesting (freelance gig), and a PhD to examine, but keen to try and keep up the revising too!
#AmWriting #AmEditing #Design #Revising #NonFiction #NarrativeDesign #Change
‘I’m right back on the island.’ William Golding writes to his editor at Faber, Charles Monteith, about revisions to Lord of the Flies, 1953 #editing #revising #publishing
The great Claire Keegan in the New York Times on #writing, #revising and the power of brevity https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/books/claire-keegan-foster-books.html
Hi #writing friends! It’s disgustingly early & I’m waiting for a flight & in need of distraction. So…ask me all of your burning writing, #revising, #querying & #publishing qs. Qs on #drafting, world- or character-building, writing a #series, #writersblock, pantsing vs #plotting, mucky middle? Send them my way!
#writingcommunity #thewritersroom #romance #romancelandia #author #authors #bookodon #books #mastowriters #writer #writersofmastodon #fantasy #scifi #writerschat #KidLit #ya #editor
Why You Can’t Just Kill the Dog
Recently, a college friend of mine reached out on social media to let me know he’d started reading my most recent novel and, in the course of chatting, let me know he was rooting for me not to kill the dog.
The dog in question’s name is Rabbit. So far, he’s made it through two books. If you’re waiting for the final book in the trilogy, you
http://lunastationquarterly.com/why-you-cant-just-kill-the-dog/