Revisions are a good thing

Notice I didn’t say easy, just good.  A second pair of eyes looking at the manuscript really illustrates how close you are to your own work.  I can’t tell you how many times I cringe when my editor finds a stupid mistake, a misspelling or a dropped thread.  I think that’s because when I proof my own stuff, I know what it’s supposed to say so my eyes don’t see the obvious.

I’ve published 40 books and only twelve have gone directly into production.   The others have always needed a second look.  Luckily for me, only one book ever needed a major rewrite but in my defense, it was continuity and an author before me had killed off a character and no one told me.  So, I had to go back in and redo the plot without said character.

I have some revision pet peeves.  First, the whole point of revisions is to make the book better.  I hate it when I hear people say “I’m not changing that” or “What does he/she know?”  Well he or she knows books.  Secondly, there’s a delete key for a reason.  It’s easy to cut stuff you don’t love but it’s another thing to cut a scene/paragraph/sentence you like and is good.  But if it screws up the pacing or feels out of place, time to slash that good thing.  Remember, you didn’t write the thing in granite, you have the power to work in tandem with your editor to make sure your book is the best it can be.

I rarely stet (stet means you aren’t making the change, put it back the way it was) a comment.  Because of that, when I do stet something, I normally don’t get any flack.  I just keep remembering something a friend once told me – if it isn’t clear on the page, it doesn’t matter how good or bad it is since the book doesn’t come with a cassette (dating myself again) explaining what I actually meant.

If it makes you feel better, call it polishing.  In effect, that’s what you’re doing.