Revision

Here you'll find:
FAQ 
Revising for Character: Personality, Motivation, Worldview, and Voice 
Revising for Plot: Pacing and Structures 

FAQ

 

What is revision?

Revision is the process of fixing up a draft to make it better. It's normal to have to do this a few times! No book is ever perfect, and nobody's first draft glimmers the way they want it to. 

What's the best method?

Some people love flow charts, graphs, and worksheets. If that sort of thing works for you, go for it! If not - don't worry! There's no one way to do this. Try things out, and see what works best for you. Don't beat yourself up if you can't color-code all your chapters; don't feel bad if color-coding them helps you focus. This isn't about what everyone else is doing. This is between you and your story. 

How long does it take?

The simple answer is that it takes as long as it takes. Don't stress if you can't keep up with someone else's recommended schedule. Just recognize that at some point you have to let it go and show it to someone else. Then you get to revise it some more! 

How do I know when it's ready?

Revision is going to be different for every person, and every book. 

With that said: finish your first draft. Before you can do any real revision, you've got to have a whole story, not just pieces. Yes, it'll be in bad shape. Don't worry - you get to fix it. 

Now, put it down for a little while - maybe a couple of weeks, maybe longer. However much time you feel necessary to get some distance from it. Then come back and revise it again. Polish any obviously rough edges. 

Then, if you feel pretty good about it, show it to someone else. Take their feedback and listen, even if it's not what you'd like to hear. If you're getting the same feedback from several people, it's probably something you should address. 

Get distance. Go back. Revise again. 

Remember, the ultimate goal isn't perfection. It'll never be perfect - no book is. No, not even the one you're thinking of. I guarantee it's not the story the author had in mind when they started. Trying to force your book to be perfect before you show it to anyone is like never sending your child to school because you're afraid they won't get straight A's. Be reasonable. Be kind to yourself. Give yourself, and your story, a chance. 

I know sending it to agents is intimidating. I know rejection is scary. It's normal to want a definite set of rules to follow - something that'll spare you any doubt or pain. 

That shortcut doesn't exist. There's no magic formula to help you decide when it's good enough (and anyone who says differently is selling something). Here, you've got to take a deep breath and trust yourself. You know if you've tried your hardest. After that, don't be afraid to let it go and see what happens. 

Revising for Character 

Sometimes, we start with a rough idea of our protagonist, and have to fill them in later. That's okay! Here are some things I've found useful. 

​Personality 

1. Hold a conversation with them on a page, asking them anything that comes into your mind, and see what they say. You might also stage this conversation between your character and a character from something else you love (how would they respond if faced with your favorite villain?) Then go back to see what you've learned.
2. Take your character shopping (or to the gym, the park, the library, wherever). What would they pick out? Where would they go next? Why? 
3. List 20 facts about your character, starting with basic stuff like their favorite color. As you go, it'll get harder, and the things you find out will get more interesting. 

Motivation
The most important thing to know about your character is what they want most. To find that out, you've got to learn  what basic emotions make them tick. Ask:
1. What is my character most afraid of? 
2. In what situation would this person be most uncomfortable or challenged?
3. What does my character believe will make them happy? 

While you're revising, check back in with these three points, and use them to shape your character's decisions in the story. If something feels off, it might be that your character isn't acting in accordance with their motivations. 

Changing Worldview
We're invested in watching this character grow and change throughout the story. If they're the same basic person we met on page one, not much has changed, no matter how many obstacles they've defeated.  But to know if your character has changed, you have to know where they started, and what made them reconsider along the way. 

What's your character's worldview? 
Whether you call them worldviews, guiding principals, mantras, or beliefs, everybody has a few ideas by which they live their life. Maybe it's 'do no harm, but take no crap.' Or perhaps it's, 'Always look out for number one.' Maybe they believe they'll be happy if they prove their worth to a parent, or that they'll be safe if they never fall in love. This is the principal that guides their decisions, on their way to achieving their goals. 

1. First, pick one of your favorite fictional characters - not one from your own writing. Try to distill that character's worldview into one sentence, or even one word. 
2. Now, try to do that with your character. If it helps, fill in these blanks:  "I'll be happy if I can just _____. If I don't ______, the worst result will be _______. I will be loved if I _______. I'm most afraid of facing __________. The most important thing is __________."  

Now, challenge that worldview.
A character's worldview is like a coin. It has two sides - positive results, and negative results. In moments of decision, that coin flips - and depending on which side turns up,  the whole story changes. 

If they get mostly positive results, they hold onto their worldview. But negative results will cause them to rethink things - and that's where you get character growth. 

In Lord of the Rings, Boromir's worldview could be summarized as 'It's my duty to defend my people, above all else.' That coin is flipped when he has the chance to seize power - power that would help him uphold his worldview - by betraying his friend. The negative ripple effects of his betrayal alter the entire story. 

What would flip that coin for your character?
Are they faced with something they've always wanted? Confronted with something they've always feared? Made to question what they believe? 
Challenge them with something that doesn't fit their worldview, or causes two of their beliefs to conflict. Give them a chance to obtain what they want through dubious means. How do the results change their story? How will they be challenged further by what they've done? 

Don't be afraid to let them make the 'wrong' choice - sometimes that's where the best stories come from. Now you've got an arc! 

Voice 
The first few times you write your story, all the characters will probably sound alike. Mostly, they'll sound like versions of you. But compelling characters have distinct personalities. They choose their words differently, arrange their sentences differently, think differently. Here are a few things I've found helpful in making characters more distinct. 

1. Take some major dialogue from your story and remove all identifying tags from it. Now read it. Can you tell who said what? If you show it to someone else, can they tell? If not, you need to do some work.
2. Practice listening to the different ways people speak in real life. Copy down a few sentences you overhear around you. Study what makes them different, what brings out the personality in them. Then try to mimic it on the page. 
3. Not everybody structures their sentences in the same way. Try switching clauses around for different voices. "Isn't it a nice day?" might become "Nice day, isn't it?" Or "Nice, today." 
4. Without stereotyping or trying to write in dialect, give your character a new accent, and see what it brings out in their personality. Accents can be achieved purely through word choice and sentence structure, without dropping letters or spelling things phonetically. "I reckon this here's a fine morning!" conveys a different voice than , "I say, isn't this morning fine?" 
5. Consider what slang or phrases your character might use, based on where they're from. Do they say 'soda' or 'pop'? Would they push a buggy or a cart through the store? If they stubbed their toe, what would fly out of their mouth? 
6. Think of your narrative voice, in addition to character voice. What tone does it convey? Do you want it to hide behind the scenes, or take center stage? 

Revising for Plot

Plot takes different shapes in different stories, and there's no one-size-fits-all answer to moving your story along. If you look around, you'll find some basic structures like these - but keep in mind that these are from a mostly English-centric, Western worldview of storytelling, because that's what I know the most about. There are many, many other ways to tell a story.

If your story doesn't seem to fit any of these, you don't have to force it to be anything it's not! 

I've made these super basic. For more in-depth resources, check out the links on the resources page!

Pacing
When people worry about plot, they're often actually worried about pacing - particularly in the middle of a story. To keep your story moving along, try these: 

1. List your story's major scenes - the big ones, vital to the overall plot - by writing a brief description of each one. "Protagonist gets magic sword," for example.
2. In each scene, what changes from beginning to end?  Have we learned something? Relieved tension? Studied a character? 
3. State the purpose of each scene - how it supports the rest of the story. "The purpose of this scene is to show the villain's change of heart." If there isn't a purpose, consider moving it to a more useful place, or cutting it.  
4. Are any of the scenes working to do the same basic stuff? Maybe you've got two scenes that both show your villain's change of heart. Consider combining their events, or dropping one. 
5. You've heard a small child tell an 'And then" story, right? "The princess rides a dragon, and then she goes to the island, and then she meets the witch, and then..." It's a slog because readers don't turn pages to watch random events stack up; they read to see how events affect each other. In front of each of your scenes, add "But" or "So." Do they mostly form a cause-effect chain? If not, you've got an "And then" scenario. Label those too, and then revise to get mostly "But, So" scenes instead. 

• Example: Scene 1: The princess fights the dragon. Scene 2: But, she's defeated. Scene 3: So, she goes to the witch for help. Scene 4: But, the witch is in league with the dragon! Scene 5: And then, a knight knocks at the door.​ ​

Some Plot Structures
The most basic structure you'll find is this: 
[Somebody] wanted ________, but ________, so _________. 
Everything below is just a variation on that theme. 
​
3 Act Structure
(Action movies and romantic comedies are good examples of this.)

Act 1: An inciting incident establishes what our characters want, what they stand to lose, and what they plan to do about it. 
Act 2: They try their plan, but something goes very wrong, and they seem to have lost everything. 
Act 3: Using lessons, tools, or abilities from earlier acts, they come to a new understanding of how to face their challenge and over come it.  

The Hero's Journey
(Just about every classic fantasy you've ever read.)

• A hero receives a call to adventure. 
• They cross the threshold of their ordinary world and enter a new realm where things are mysterious and dangerous, but exciting. An older guide helps them along the way. 
• That guide is lost, and the hero has to go forward alone. 
• This goes very badly, and the hero enters some kind of 'underworld' realm in which they must face their deepest fears.
• The hero emerges from the underworld, stronger and wiser. 
• They face the story's ultimate challenge - and may seem to be defeated for a time, but ultimately emerge victorious. 
• Now, having mastered not only the challenges but also their own inner weaknesses, the hero returns home to the ordinary world to be a leader and a link to the world of adventure. 

A plot, B plot
(Episodic TV shows are good examples. I recommend studying Star Trek and Doctor Who.) 

Basically, you have a Main adventure (A Plot) and a subtext adventure (B Plot) which play off of each other until the conclusion. 

• The heroes are on a dangerous quest to defeat the enemy. (A Plot)
• But also, the heroes are in love with each other and don't want to admit it. (B Plot)
• Turns out the only way to truly defeat the enemy is by resolving their feelings for each other first. 
• They do, and they win (or they don't, and it's disastrous). 

7 Point Story Structure
(Lots of things use this pattern, and it has a lot in common with other structures. This is mostly helpful in planning out the major beats of your story.)

Hook:  The premise that gets us interested in the story.
In an ancient age, great heroes once fought terrible monsters to prove their bravery and earn lasting honor.
Plot Turn 1: The inciting incident that kicks off the story. 
A terrible monster named Grendel viciously attacks the hall of King Hrothgar, and no one can stop it. A mighty warrior named Beowulf, eager to prove himself, volunteers to try. 
Pinch Point 1: Your protagonist faces their first challenge. 
Beowulf, weaponless, battles the monster. It's no match for him, and Beowulf wins, proving his strength and ending Grendel's reign of terror.
Midpoint: Your character is no longer reactive, but proactive. They see a problem and they decide to do something about it. 
Beowulf decides to also rid the land of Grendel's mother, a much more dangerous creature and a true match for his strength. After narrowly defeating her, he returns victorious and is made a king who protects his people. His honor and worthiness seem certain.
Pinch Point 2: Up the stakes, apply more pressure on your protagonist. Things take a turn for the worse. 
In Beowulf's old age, a dragon is disturbed. Beowulf goes to face it - but he's not as strong as he once was. If he truly deserves honor, he will have to defend his people against an enemy that outmatches him. 
Plot Turn 2: Here, you see the results of the Midpoint. Your character faces their biggest challenge. 
Beowulf knows he can either be like old King Hrothgar and wait for a younger, stronger hero to turn up and solve the problem for him, or face the dragon himself, risking almost certain death. He faces the dragon and kills it, but is mortally wounded. 
Resolution: Here your character either achieves what they set out to do, or fails. Your story comes to its conclusion. 
Beowulf ultimately proves himself a brave and worthy leader not by being stronger than the monster, but by sacrificing himself to protect his people. He is buried in honor, and his story lives on.

However you revise, good luck! I believe in you.