Rewrites, Revisions, and Red Pens

Hello Fellow Writers!

Yesterday I basked in the happy glow of having a completed first draft sitting on my lap. I decided to take the day off from writing as a reward for having finished writing a 50,000 word romance in three weeks. Instead, I realized that for me, writing itself is the reward. I like doing it, that's why I do it. So I picked up my red pen and started reading through my novel.

I had written it so fast that I barely remembered putting the words on the page. I even found myself laughing at some of funny things my saucy heroine says - it was almost like I didn't write it myself. So strange.

From FictionWriters.com, here is an excerpt from an article about revising your manuscript. Read the whole article here.

• 1. Look for the deadwood, the unnecessary bits that don't move your story forward.
• 2. Check the first paragraph of each chapter for "hooks."
• 3. Check the end of each chapter for "cliffhangers."
• 4. Examine each page for balance between dialogue, action, introspection and description.
• 5. Find places to build in more character traits.
• 6. Look for inconsistencies.
• 7. Look for repetition, words (and ideas) repeated too often, too close to each other.
• 8. Find typos and grammatical errors.

Each time you sit down to reread your manuscript, choose one point from the list to look for; ignore everything else. Every rereading needs to accomplish something specific. Have a set goal in mind each time you start. Know what it is you plan to accomplish, and your rereading time will accomplish more.

Today I will continue reading through my manuscript, red pen in hand.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers