Tuesday's Writer's Tip Revision - Where to Begin #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #amwriting #Revision

When you're revising your story, you look at all those pages and wonder where to begin. Probably at the beginning unless you're someone who revises as they go. Still, there needs to be a final read to see where you've gone right and wrong. Somethings to keep in mind no matter how you begin the revision process will help. Let's look at them.

Check the organization. Is this scene in the right place? Do you need the scene? The sequence of the story matters. Recently I had to rewrite seven chapters of my latest release to get the sequence right. I had things happening in scenes before they happened to the characters.

Have I left things unsaid? That can be a problem. Some scenes are harder than others to write and if you're like me, often I write things like. Fight here. They make love. Then even in rewrites I skimp these scenes. So when reading for revision, I have to keep these events in mind.

Are the words I've chosen the right ones to convey what I want the reader to take away from the scene? Sometimes you can throw in a word and think about the right one later. Revision is the place to find if the words are right.

What about adjectives and adverbs? Am I using too many. I usually use too few and that should be rectified, too. I once read a sentence describing an object with at least twenty adjectives. By the time I reached the end, the picture was so muddled I never knew what the object was

Are my sentences raried or are the the same length. You don't want to hypnotize your reader or make them fall asleep. Also avoid run on sentences when looking at the structureof your prose.

Do I sound like me or the writer of the last book I read? This can be hard to know in the beginning. One thing i've found to help prevent this is never to read books in the genre I'm writing while I'm writing that book.

I'm sure there are other things to be aware of as you're revising. After awhile, you'll learn where your weaknesses lie and soon you'll be alert to them while you're writing.