Revision--oh my!

Tip of the Day: mojitos can be your friend. Especially on revision days.

REVISION--the dreaded eight letter word.

Sometimes we welcome the thought of it; other times we want to poke our eyes out in the hopes we won't have to look at our book anymore.

Recently I've decided to revise some old books with the attempt to bring new life to them. And what I've found out is that when everyone tells you to let a novel "rest" they are 100 percent correct.

I thought I was doing this before: waiting two, three, or even four months before going back to a project. But there's nothing like waiting three, four, or even five years to give you perspective. Because if you are anything like me, you can hardly remember what you wore on Monday, let alone significant details from that many years ago. And reading your novel with completely fresh eyes gives you much needed objectivity.

After all this time, what am I finding:

• I really like boys that fight for no reason. Hhmmm...not sure what that says about me.
• I was quite fond of heavy dialogue and no description.
• My character's had some growth, but it was not really as much as they could have. And with four years more life experience and more growth as a writer, it's much easier to spot that out now. Kind of like when you are 18, you think you are completely grown up and know everything about the world, and then when you turn 28 you realize what an idiot you were. Yeah...like that.
  
• That I'm decent at writing, but just need to kick it up a notch.

So that's what I've been doing lately is trying to kick it up a notch. But first I'm still rereading everything and trying to figure out how to get across what I really meant. Which is the fun part. Everything up ahead will soon become the "wanting to poke my eyes out" part. Oh the joys of being a writer :)

--Emily, Miss Trying to Figure out How to Revise Again

* make sure to check out all the other comics at inkygirl.com. Too funny!