Revision Matters: Techniques to Polish a Novel or Short Story

Creative Writing - Revision Matters
Techniques to Polish a Novel or Short Story
Available at: http://suite101.com/article/creative-writing-revision-tips-a214811

What does a writer do when she has finally finished that short story or
novel? The best thing a writer can do is revise her creative writing,
polishing it to perfection.

Sometimes it seems like getting a short story or other fiction on
paper is the hardest part of creative writing, but very often it's not.
Most of the time, it's difficult to revise one's creation. It's hard
because when a writer has put all his efforts into that first draft and
tried to make it perfect to begin with, it's not very easy for him to go
back through his work and pick it apart.

It's necessary, though, if one wishes to find a home for his work or
if he wants serious consideration. Below are some simple tips to
manuscript revision.

Pick Up the Pace

Yes, it's difficult, but this is a helpful exercise. A writer can
either go through her own manuscript or ask someone else to do it,
asking the following questions:

• Are there any parts of the story that seem to drag?
  
• Any places where the reader loses interest or drifts off?
  
• Are there any areas that could stand to be "sped up"?
  

If the writer determines that there are, in fact, places that need to be
sped up or cut, sometimes it can be done by condensing a paragraph into a
sentence or changing a descriptive scene into one filled with snappy
dialogue.

The Deadly Adverb

Noah Lukeman, in his book The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile,
says that overuse of adverbs (and adjectives as well) can be a problem
in writing. He recommends that authors go through their manuscripts,
closely evaluating adverb use, before sending their manuscripts to
publishers or agents.

In his book, Lukeman offers the following advice:

• Simply remove many of the adverbs in your manuscript.
  
• Use nouns and verbs that can stand on their own.
  
• Use a comparison, such as a metaphor, instead.
  

He says that the occasional adverb is okay, but "manuscripts heavy on . . . adverbs generally don't work."

Stop Telling and Start Showing

Many authors will go through their manuscripts only to find pages and
scenes full of exposition, when instead their writing should be full of
vivid imagery. If a writer finds potentially boring explanation instead
of exciting scenes in sections of his manuscript, he can try asking
himself the following questions while revising:

• What do I want the reader to see here? In this case, a picture (even if a written picture) is worth a thousand words.
  
• What are the sounds or smells a reader should experience?
  
• How
  do the characters feel? Specifically, how does their physical feeling
  reflect how they feel emotionally? (For example, "Jane shifted her
  weight from her left to her right foot" can communicate impatience.)
  

Many
creative writing teachers urge their students to focus on "showing, not
telling." This technique is an easy way to quickly improve one's
manuscript.

Simple Revision Tips Can Easily Improve a Manuscript

While it might seem difficult at first, going through one's
manuscript with these revision goals in mind can take a writer's work
from rough draft to polished and publishable. It takes time and a
careful eye but is a necessary part of creative writing.