In my revision process, I’ve made a list of words that I highlight and remove or replace. This time I used different colors. Red for passive words, yellow for those that needed to be replaced and green for those that need to be removed.
It is very eye opening to see your manuscript with these highlights. If you want to improve your manuscript this is a good way to do it. You can see the strong sentences because there’s nothing highlighted. The weak sentences are filled with highlights.
Last night I worked on chapter one again with the highlights this time. I was able to build on the sentences and hopefully make it a stronger chapter.
As I was sitting on the bed, it clicked in my head, this is what revision is about, making your story stronger.
What do you do to make your story stronger?
Showing posts with label revisions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label revisions. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
REVISION BEGINS
I revised a chapter last night. I decided to take each sentence and try to make it better. That’s hard when you think its fine already. I ended up re-writing the beginning of my first chapter, it sounds better.
My mother always says you can’t plan your day. I had it all figured out, I’d write from 10 pm until 12. I’d put the baby down to sleep and have all this free time to myself. Why don’t I listen to my mother? I put the baby down at nine. He’s sleeping peacefully, then my daughter and mother come down stairs and his nosy self wakes up. So now he’s wide awake and does not want to go back to sleep. I’m talking, super hyper as if he’s had a ton of sugar.
I so easily want to change my mind about the writing, but I tell myself no, this is just another bump in the road, you can get through it. As Sean jumps over me and runs his mouth non stop, I revise my chapter. It was hard, trying to keep the pages away from those small hands, but I did it.
Yes you can write with small children, but be prepared to fight for your pages.
Pray Sean sleeps tonight.
My mother always says you can’t plan your day. I had it all figured out, I’d write from 10 pm until 12. I’d put the baby down to sleep and have all this free time to myself. Why don’t I listen to my mother? I put the baby down at nine. He’s sleeping peacefully, then my daughter and mother come down stairs and his nosy self wakes up. So now he’s wide awake and does not want to go back to sleep. I’m talking, super hyper as if he’s had a ton of sugar.
I so easily want to change my mind about the writing, but I tell myself no, this is just another bump in the road, you can get through it. As Sean jumps over me and runs his mouth non stop, I revise my chapter. It was hard, trying to keep the pages away from those small hands, but I did it.
Yes you can write with small children, but be prepared to fight for your pages.
Pray Sean sleeps tonight.
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