Every time I see this meme pop up, I have a little chuckle.
But I also want to be clear: revisions don’t always have to feel scary (or like an attack). In fact, with the right mindset (and the right help) they can be exciting and fun.
When we finish a first draft, we deserve to feel good about...
...ourselves—it’s a huge step and an accomplishment worth celebrating. We even deserve to celebrate that for a while without thinking ahead to when those pesky rewrites come knocking (hopefully without the knives).
But first drafts are usually just us getting the initial shape onto the page and...
...there WILL be work to be done.
By the time we’re ready for the revision phase, we should be removed enough from that first draft to be open to that work. We may find that our ideas expand beyond what we thought we could do in the first draft. They could take us in new directions that are even...
...better. And yes, sometimes, it can feel like we’re having to hack the draft to make it all happen.
Part of what I love about developmental editing is that I can come into a story and treat it like a puzzle. Do we have all of the pieces? Are they where they should be? I investigate and...
...muse over things. I consider what the final picture would look like if that piece that seems to fit in one place actually fits better somewhere else.
I like to hope that when my clients receive my feedback, they don’t imagine someone behind the door with a knife, but rather someone...
...handing them a map that helps them get through what comes next.
🙋🏻♀️ How do you feel about revising? Is it something to be afraid of or you like to dive in?
I’m no professional, but with my excessively long story I’d have to go into revising it like Anakin Skywalker killing younglings with no remorse…but I’m not without feeling and it’s hard to do!
