The Total Revision Mindset
Photo by Elisa Ventur on Unsplash
What happens when you or your beta readers or coach read through your manuscript, and you realize there are significant flaws, that mean you basically need to start over from scratch? Cue sobbing emoji.
Believe me, I know how it feels. I recently did a total revision of a book I thought was done two years ago. But as I sent it out I realized it was simply not where it needed to be. So I did a complete rewrite, and now it's out with my beta readers and I will have to see what they think. Did I improve it? Or is it even more of a mess?
There are many reasons why you might end up needing a full manuscript makeover:
If there is no clear character arc of transformation throughout the story.
If there is no action arc that builds in a cause-and-effect trajectory and you just have a bunch of scenes without any narrative drive.
The voice falls flat or is completely wrong for the story.
You discover that it would be much better if you changed it to first person or from first to third or added another narrator or cut it down from multiple narrators.
You need significant subplot development.
The theme isn’t significant enough to carry the story, or the story doesn’t illustrate it well.
You’ve missed major genre conventions that will torpedo the book’s success.
These are some of the many reasons why you might have to go back to square one. In this case it is easy to get discouraged and to wonder if it's even worth it.
Of course, you are the only one who can answer that question. You may need to take some time away from the manuscript and see if you want to come back to it and do the work required to make it great. You may decide that it was an interesting experiment or a learning experience but you don't have the energy or the inclination to revise it completely and you'd rather move on to something else.
That is perfectly okay. Most writers have novels that have sat in their desk drawers or on their hard drives for years and will never see the light of day. It can be painful to let it go, but know that you learned a tremendous amount from the process of writing it. All of this will help you when you move on to your next book.
If you do feel like taking on such major revision, there are a number of steps you will need to take. All of these issues are fixable but depending on how many there are it can be a daunting task to figure out where to start.
The worst thing to do is to go back to page one and simply start from there. If you are looking at a complete rewrite, you will have a lot of conceptual work to do before you can move forward with the writing. The other worst thing you can do simply throw it up on a self-publishing platform and call it done. That may come back to haunt you!
What do I do now?
Mindset will be the most important thing to develop. You definitely have to have a growth mindset to be a writer. Understand that everything you do will teach you more about writing a novel. Just because this novel isn’t working the way you’d hoped does not mean you’re a terrible writer and you should take up knitting instead.
The first thing is to see what can be salvaged from the first draft. You don't want to throw out all the good stuff in the name of fixing it. Hopefully you and your readers will have identified the good stuff as well as the stuff that isn't working.
Make a list of all of the elements you definitely want to keep - but remember to be flexible as they may need to make room for other things if the story changes significantly. You don't want to awkwardly shoehorn in elements just because they were a beloved part of the first version.
Don't be too attached to the way things were. Accept that you might have to “kill your darlings” in order to move forward.
Take your time! Don’t rush the process. Now is the time to get strategic. At the same time, trust the creative process – and revision is very much a creative process, as much as a first draft. Take some time to let ideas develop and percolate in your brain.
If you’ve done the Stoplight Method for evaluating a manuscript, you will know what Red Light Issues you need to fix (for a refresher on what Red Light Issues are and how to fix them, go here).
Step 1: Identify the major issues
Step 2: Figure out what needs to be done to fix them
Step 3: Create a new Inside Outline with the new story in mind. Identify scenes you will keep from the first version, and where they will go in the new version (as you see it now).
Step 4: Begin to write, from Chapter 1. Now that you’ve done the conceptual work, you do need to start at the beginning and work your way forward. This is when the issues you’ve identified are so pervasive or change the story so significantly, you simply need to start again.
What if there are problems I don’t know how to fix?
In that case, you need to think about getting some help.
Read a craft book and apply it to your work
Read blog posts of writers, coaches, editors, etc.
Take a class
Get a coach
There is so much information available now that you can always find a way to learn what you need to know. If you have difficulty structuring scenes, or plotting effectively, or developing characters, tons of information is available in books or online or through teachers.
After you’ve completed your new Inside Outline, and before you start to write, you may want to check in with a beta reader, coach, or other trusted writer friend who can take a look at it and guide you in making it clear for dealing with any remaining issues.
Once your revision is completed, you will send it out to readers again for feedback. Especially with a page-one rewrite, there will be some things that will need to be fixed, since in many ways it will be first draft material.
Remember, writing is rewriting. There is no magical number of drafts before you consider the work “done.” Commit to doing as many drafts as necessary to create your best work.
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