Writing, Self-Publishing, Book Marketing

As a writer, you know that the writing process is filled with as much enjoyment as it’s loaded with doubt. As you type out your prose or draft your poetry, second guessing your word choices is hard to avoid.

Of course, every process is different. Some writers don’t think about revision until they’ve batted out a complete draft. Others reread paragraphs immediately after they’ve typed their last paragraph. Simply put, there’s no objectively correct method of writing. But there are some helpful rules of thumb you can follow when revising your work that should help you turn your writing into quality, publishable material that can eventually earn you acclaim and higher royalties.

Traditional Revision Guidelines
Only Time Will Tell
Give your manuscript time to cool off. As soon as you finish a writing piece, you might be too close to your sentences and characters. As a result, you may overlook typos and opportunities to enrich the dramatic action of your story. Giving yourself a few weeks to forget about what you wrote may give you the objectivity to return with a clean, unbiased eye.

Honesty Is the Best Policy
Don’t lie to yourself about a chapter, a section or even a single line. Anyone can convince themselves that a piece of writing reads beautifully, but only an honest writer can weed out their weakness and strengthen them with careful, honest revision.

Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself
But if a critic should smell blood or find the smallest underdeveloped detail in your new publication, heaven knows they’ll be vicious and cutthroat. Remember, the harder you are on your writing during revision, the deeper your characters will become and the more your prose will blossom into an undeniably profound story or poem. Don’t give your potential book reviewers fuel for the book burning party. Instead, when revising, listen to the writing devil on your shoulder before your real critics catch wind.

Note: Many writers actually keep annoying stuffed animals or little gnome figurines on their desks as dummy critics. This way you can project your doubtful voice and discuss your choices with your worst critic in real time.

Listening to Yourself
Sharing your work with others is a great way to begin the revision process. Their objective eye and constructive comments may give you insight into your own writing. That said, never discount your own instincts. In fact, your instincts are what give you a unique voice as a writer after all. Of course, constructive criticism is helpful and should be evaluated, but don’t make changes with which you’re not comfortable. Essentially, don’t compromise your whole project trying to please everyone. It’s impossible to please every reader and critic. Remember, write for yourself, not others.

Done and Doner…
Approaching contest deadlines combined with your publishing enthusiasm, you may want to publish your manuscript as soon as possible. But you should also be careful of jumping the gun. Don’t rush your creative process. By rushing to finish your piece, typos and writing flaws may slip past your editorial eye, and your may end up inadvertently hurting your future book as a result. Of course, nothing is ever 100 percent finished, but keep in mind that a false start could injure your entire writing career before you really get started.

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Following these basic revision guidelines should give you the added editorial edge over other competing authors, whose writing may have suffered due to an inadequate revision process.

This is Justin, blogcasting from Wordclay, signing off.