On Writing: Gevalt on revision

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The Art of Revision
How to make your work better
By Geoffrey Gevalt
Editor, Young Writers Project

REVISION is the act of looking again. It is the act of stepping back, stepping outside yourself and seeing more clearly what you have written, where it succeeds and where it needs to be strengthened. It is the act of discovery and observation: Does it say or do what I intended? Revision is the process of understanding – and achieving – what you intended – with some surprise along the way.

Revision is also a process of discipline. The best writers develop their own methods for objectively looking at their work and making the changes necessary to elevate, enliven and improve it.

What follows is a process I follow both as a writer and editor; as outlined it is designed for a long piece of nonfiction or fiction or narrative poetry. Revise the steps as you see fit for smaller efforts.

STEP ONE – Observe.

1. Read it. Take a rest from the piece; come back to it when you can separate from your emotional hold on it. Put on your objective reading glasses, forget who wrote it and read it quickly, in one sitting. Make marks wherever you slow down, get tripped up or get confused, but keep reading.
2. Make notes. Go back to the marks and put brief notes as to what you were thinking/feeling as a reader.
3.Ponder. Go for a walk-about and noodle on this broad question: Does it work?

STEP TWO – Reorganize.

4. The idea? When you return, and without looking at the piece, jot down what you had intended. What was the idea or storyline? Main characters? Conflict? Resolution? Theme? Point?
5. Reread. Go through your piece again all the way to the end. So, does it work? Does it fulfill your intent as defined in the questions above? Does it meander? Where? Does it succeed? Where?
6. What to do. Determine what you need to fix. Look at structure, pacing, characters, tone, consistency and main points. Do you need to move parts around? Are the characters clear? The dilemmas clear? Is the writing strong, confident?
7. Logistics. Plan your revision – how much time will you need? How much energy will you need? Too often we don’t leave enough time or do it late when we are tired. Be fresh. Give yourself time. Set a time and a deadline. Step away if you can and let your mind go over what you’ve learned.

STEP THREE – Rewriting.

8. Come back. Honestly, now, how much work needs to be done? Look at your notes. Hone those notes down to a brief outline and a list of changes.

The Total Rewrite?

9. Rewrite. Presuming the changes are substantive, create a new file and rewrite the whole dang thing. Do it all in one sitting. Move over paragraphs from the original if you want, but be cautious about it – on this new version you are in a different mood, different mind-set; your style, tone and ideas may differ greatly from your first draft; the paragraphs that get moved over may not match at all.

Or, The Revision?

9. Revise. Draw up a list of the changes, a note to yourself on the things you must move, change, and add. Presuming you are close – the structure is good, the characters in the right places, the storyline well-enough developed – work on a copy of the original. Go through the text to make your changes. Follow your notes. And do not spend too much time agonizing over the phrasing or, particularly, the opening or the ending; move on through. Do it all in one sitting.
10. Outside reader. Find a trusted reader to give you independent feedback; choose someone you know will give you straight, concrete feedback – not empty compliments. With that additional feedback, repeat the process at Step 1.

STEP FOUR – Wordsmithing.

11. Be patient. Too often young writers a) begin writing their story too soon – they haven’t prepared enough, thought enough, researched enough – or b) try to fix the words too soon – they haven’t taken care of the big issues – structure, story, flow, characters, information, etc. Now’s the time.
12. The comb. Most writing suffers from being weak or cluttered. If you don’t have Elements of Style by Strunk & White, get it. Simplify your wording. Make passive verbs active. Take out unnecessary adverbs and adjectives, particularly words like “amazing,” “enormous,” “beautiful”, etc – descriptives that don’t add detail. Take out the hedge words “sometimes,” “almost,” “usually,” etc. Take out unnecessary clauses, particularly those that begin sentences.
13. The insert. Conversely, look at where you can insert material – often a phrase or a sentence or two – that will add specific detail that will help the reader get a clearer picture.
14. The opening. NOW work on your opening: Does it grab the reader and draw her in? Does it make the reader want to continue on? Does it set the image, tone, and character well? Does it introduce too much too quickly?
15. The ending. Do you give the reader a nice “walk-off,” a line or paragraph or scene that leaves the reader satisfied? Have you made the circle? Is it how you want to leave the reader?

STEP FIVE – Proofreading.

16. Now is the time to go over everything with a magnifying glass. Check spelling. Check grammar. Check for misplaced modifiers and horribly awkward sentences that you somehow missed. If you are bringing in real events or characters, double-check the accuracy. Check for what they call in the movie business continuity: Is your main character wearing a yellow cotton dress in one scene but is now suddenly wearing pants? Is your character in the dining room in the beginning of the scene but is now speaking in the verandah?
17. Send it somewhere to be published.

Geoffrey Gevalt, founder of the YWP, is an award-winning writer and editor with 33 years experience in newspapers, magazines and wire services throughout the Northeast. For two years he was a juror of the Pulitzer Prizes for journalism.