Understanding Revisions: What you get and what the editors/agents want

I wanted to address the idea of revisions today. Now, for many of you, getting revisions will happen after you have an editor or agent, but there will be times when and editor or agent will indeed provide you some revision notes and give you the chance to resubmit the project. In either case, it is crucial that you understand what is really going on when it comes to revisions.

First of all, let me stress that revisions, in no way, are an attempt to re-write your story into something you don't want it to be. Editors and agents see some great elements in your story and want to see it tweaked a bit to better fit the market, or to pull out some key story elements that might be missing. The tweaks might also be there to answer some questions that you may have over-looked in your initial writing of the story. So, there is no need to worry about losing "your story." It will still be there.

But here is something we need to remember. The editors and agents will not be re-writing your story for you. They want you to make the changes and they want you to personalize it in such a fashion that represents your voice and style. For this reason, you will often see revision notes that spend a lot of time asking questions. "What did you want to say here?" "Is this really necessary? You might want to rethink this."  In other words, the editor and agent will provide you some things to consider and contemplate in your story.

What they are looking for is to see what you do with the story. This is especially true when you submit a project to an editor and they want to see the revisions BEFORE they consider contracting you. Consider this a test of your ability to follow directions and take critique. I honestly have to say, if you ever get the chance to do this, DO NOT BLOW IT OFF!!! Those editors really took the time to come up with some things to consider in the story. They found some things that didn't quite work for them. Now, it is your turn to demonstrate you can make those changes, without damaging the parts of the story they really liked.

I do know I have heard some writers complain that when they get critiques, or revision letters, they weren't told the exact changes to make. They truly wanted someone to say, "No, you wrote it this way but this way is much better...write it like this." While that might fix the problem, in the end, the writers simply didn't learn and grow. They never really understood why the change was made and what the newer version did differently. They simply saw the change.

Revisions are great when you get them. Really take the time to think about how you want to approach those changes. Make it good though. This might be the last chance you get to push that story with the editor or agent.

Scott

You Still Have A Long Way To Go - Revisions

It is the wishful thought of all authors of never seeing revisions for their stories. You have worked so hard and the thought of someone telling you that "you have a few things to work on" is far from what one would hope for. Yet, revisions are a necessary evil and sometimes, as much as we hate it, the revisions may be a bit more than we would hope for. I am bringing this up because one of my authors is working through some serious rounds of revisions now on a project. She had asked if I really thought the story would be something that would be able to be submitted, or was the project so far out of the running that it would be better to start on something new. Unfortunately, the answer is not that simple.

In reality, until we see all of the revisions and that final project, we can't say for certain if the story would be ready. In the case of my author, these revisions go back to the first moment she first queried me.

This story, (which I did reject) had some interesting points to it, but in terms of the over-haul necessary to make it ready, I passed on the project. She later submitted an amazing project to me and while that story is out on proposal, we went to work on this first project. As I said, the story needed some serious over-haul. It really required a complete make-over so she went to work on it.

Although she did the revisions as we talked about, the story still wasn't quite right. She literally had the penduleum swing too far in the opposite direction. So, we went to find that happy medium between the first and the second story. This is where we are now.

At this point, some of you might be saying, "why didn't we just find that happy medium the first time around?" The answer is simple. We couldn't see the errors. The first revision was a real shift in story that the revisions we are working on right now just weren't apparent. I think of this is working with a piece of furniture you are reconditioning. Sometimes you have to take off several layers of old paint just to get to the real wood and see what you can do.

This happens and you should be ready for it. Now, as for her question of whether or not I can forsee if the story will be good enough to send out, or should she just quit? At this point, I would say we are really close. We have to tie up a few loose ends but IF the last round of revisions works the way we think they will, then we should be good to go.

The simple point of revision is to not stress out. There is always an easy solution to the problem. I am a firm believer in finding the easy approach. Maybe it is getting rid of one character. Maybe it is changing the location of the story. You just have to look at all of the revision comments and see if there is one thing that will fix multiple problems. The odds are, the solution is there.

Scott

Sometimes It Is Better To Start Over

I've been working with one of my writers on a project of hers. After a discussion with her yesterday, we both came to the same agreement about some of the writing. It is better to trash it and start from the beginning.

This is certainly something no writer wants to deal with, but in this business, sometimes we have to face the truth. The darn story simply cannot be fixed. In many ways, it's like having that car of yours, the one you love, run into problems and the cost to fix it is much more than the cost of getting a new car.

I think, in all honesty, many writers simply try too hard to fix something that can't be fixed. They revise and they edit. They delete sections and write new sections. And all of this work continually yields the same response from editos and agents -"The story isn't right."

The problem further becomes painful when you think of that story as your little baby. You saw it grow from a little fragment of an idea jotted in the margins of your business department weekly agenda to the completed story with a "THE END." You love it and it is just too hard to say goodbye. But you have to.

The simple truth is the story was likely DOA from the beginning. No matter how many revisions and edits you would have done to it, nothing would have helped. But this is a fact of life and something all writers have to deal with.

So, if you are stuck in a situation like this. Smile. Give the story a big hug. Find a great box that you would have for Christmas or a birthday and wrap that prized possession up. Sit it next to your desk in a wonderful place so it can get all of the light from outside and inspire you with your next project.

Scott

Be Careful Over-working Your Story. You Will Never Finish

We've all heard authors say this time and time again.
"Yeah, my story is finished but before I send it out, I want to tweak it a bit more."

Argh! This is sometimes the most frustrating thing I have heard authors say. At some point, you have to put your story to bed and move on to a new project, or move that story to a new point in its life. In other words, it is time to send it on.

In all honesty, I think a lot of authors use this comment as a way of saying they aren't personally ready to move on with their writing. The story becomes the "fall-guy." To me, I really don't have a problem with that. The writer isn't ready to send it out to other people, so start on a new project. Quit tweaking the current project.

The problem with this constant tweaking is that the story will become something that you likely didn't want it to be. In some cases, you will do things to the story that will actually make it worse. For authors that do this, the odds are they are listening to other authors talk about their stories, sitting in conference workshops, or reading on the loops about a "really cool technique." Their brains think briefly to something in their stories and they go to work fixing.

We have to remember that every story is different. What worked in another story may not work in yours. You have a completely different context and things don't always translate well from one story to the next.

The message here is simple.

If you are finished with your story then keep it as such. If you aren't ready to send it out, go on to something new. It may sit there for a while, but at least you won't damage it.

Scott

On Dealing With Revisions and Critiques

This is a tough one for many writers. I was working with one of my current writers on the issue of revisions. I should note, that she has always done really well with revisions but at this particular time, the revisions were really kicking her in the butt. Are the revisions bad or near impossible? Not really. So why were the revisions kicking her around?

When the issue first showed up, we talked through her concerns and in doing so and she realized that the issue came down to simply having the revisions come in at a bad time. Things were just hectic around her house, the kids had just gotten out of school and now she and her husband were having to adjust their work schedules to accomodate the kids. In other words, the real world. The impact of this change, however, created a situation in her head that made the changes look a bit more challenging that she thought.

So we did two things. The first was to take a single day off of writing. Just enjoy the day and the kids. In doing so, she would be able to come back and see everything again without the stress and the panic.

The second, and this is the bigger one, was to really look at the revision recommendations. She was able to categorize all of the changes and realized that, while the list was long, the revisions really stemmed from three things she had to fix. This is where I was thankful that I sign plotters instead of pantsters. She could look at the changes now, look at her manuscript and know just where the changes had to occur and how to accomplish it all with little or no effort.

I honestly think that for many writers when revisions or critiques come back, there is an instant panic and a feeling that your writing is awful and you might as well throw in the towel. This is normal. But, take a breath, relax and really examine the issue. I can promise you that there is an easy solution out there.

Scott