Revision

So, you’re finally finished with your piece. You’ve spent what has felt like a lifetime brainstorming ideas and constructing the perfect story, poem, script, or whatever masterpiece you’ve come up with. It’s all there, beautifully written out on paper for all to see. You’re finally done…

But not quite! 

When you finish that last sentence or line, it feels like a huge weight off your shoulders. And rightfully so! You’ve put the work in and you’ve come such a long way. Finishing an entire piece is no easy feat. But the work isn’t done yet!

Bringing your piece from a first to a final draft is a separate battle. But don’t worry! You’ve got this, and I’m here to offer some tips for success. 

Different Types of Editing

When you think about revisions, perhaps your mind jumps to reading your piece and checking for typos, or making sure everything is spelled and punctuated correctly. However, there’s much more that goes into revising than simple grammar fixes. 

After your first draft, you’ll want to focus primarily on developmental edits. This is arguably the bulkiest and most involved portion of revising. Developmental edits focus on the actual structure of your piece; the plot points, characters, images, etc. that make up your work. You might need to cut out, replace, or rewrite entire parts of your piece. It can be challenging to abandon parts of what you worked so hard on. The truth about writing, though, is that sometimes you need to overwrite in order to discover what your piece really needs. Sometimes, you’ll need to cut a beloved scene or sentence for the betterment of your piece as a whole. That doesn’t mean these words weren’t important; your choice to write them down brought your piece to where it is today, even if you don’t keep them in the end. And who knows, maybe you’ll use those ideas for a different project in the future! 

Moving on from developmental edits, you’ll want to focus on line edits next. This type of editing focuses on the language and word choice of each line, making sure you’re consistent throughout. A specific word can change the whole meaning of a line. Perhaps you wrote that Sally got into bed one evening. But what if she climbed into bed? What if she curled up in bed? What if she fell into bed? These different word choices have different associations that come with them; you want to choose the best words for your tone! 

Copy edits involve checking your work for basic grammar mistakes you may have missed. Do all of your sentences begin with a capital letter? Is all of your dialogue properly tagged with quotation marks? Have you misspelled any words? You want to make sure that readers are able to cleanly and clearly read your piece, and proper grammar is essential in ensuring that experience!

Proofreading is your last step. Give your piece a final read and make sure everything is formatted correctly. I know, I know, you’ve read this piece a million times. There’s no way you wouldn’t have already caught a rogue space or line break! Trust me, sometimes the little things go unnoticed. 

Read Your Piece Aloud 

My favorite advice to give when it comes to revisions is to always read your piece aloud. There are some things you just can’t catch without hearing your piece and how it flows. Perhaps you thought you nailed a line of alliteration in a poem, but once you read it out loud, you find it sounds more like a jumbled mess. Perhaps you read your story out loud and find that it sounds as though Sally is saying all of John’s dialogue. Reading aloud is a great way to catch these mistakes, as well as a fun chance to see what your piece really sounds like!

Ask for Help

In the publishing world, you’ll often work closely with an editor. You and your editor might have a strong back-and-forth dialogue, where you can ask any and all questions that might come up as you revise. This professional resource can help you notice details that you might have missed.    

However, having an actual editor to assist you might not always be an option. This doesn’t mean you are alone. Friends, family, and fellow writers can look at your piece with a fresh perspective. They might be able to notice things you never would've noticed yourself. Remember, as the writer, you are the person that is closest to your own work. Sometimes you need someone with a bit of distance! 

Remember, no one person knows exactly what is right for you and your piece. Sometimes, you’ll receive suggestions that just don’t make sense to you, and that’s okay. The best part of asking for help is that you can accept what feels right and leave the rest. Don’t feel obligated to abide by every suggestion you receive. 

So, to conclude… 

Revising can be tricky. It can be challenging to try to look at a piece you’ve worked on for so long with a fresh lens in order to make edits. Take a deep breath, and remember that you’ve got this. You’ve worked hard on a brilliant piece, and it deserves care and attention until the very end. Good luck!

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About the author: Kiran Narula is a student at Emory University from Charleston, SC. She studies English and Creative Writing, and has been writing for as long as she could spell! Kiran is a poet, and frequently explores themes of love, gender, and identity in her writing. Her poetry can be found on her website, https://www.kiran-narula.com/.