Revision Hell

Today was the monthly meeting of my RWA chapter, North Texas RWA (NTRWA). Our featured speaker was Candy Havens, author of Charmed and Dangerous and the upcoming Charmed and Ready.

The title of Candy's talk was "Revision Hell." She made several excellent points. You've heard many of them before, but they bear repeating--again and again:

**After you finish your manuscript, put it aside to marinate. Try to give yourself several weeks (or at a minimum, several days) away from it. By doing so, you gain some perspective. My habit is to put my manuscripts aside for at least a month.

**Be sure to line up your critique partners to go through the revisions with you. This is a time when you need all the input you can get from objective readers--not your spouse, your mother or your best friend.

**Is there tension and conflict on every page? Does EVERY scene move the story forward? If not, it needs to be deleted, no matter how much you love it.

**Remove superfluous dialogue. You don't need a bunch of, "Hi, how are you?"

**Replace your dialogue tags with action tags. Instead of saying, "he said," try something like, "he scratched his five o'clock shadow."

**Are you including at least three senses on every page? Make sure you describe smells, sounds and textures in addition to visual and taste cues.

**Include a good balance of dialogue, introspection and action on every page. Think of introspection as "scene/sequel." Something happens and you need to include your protagonist's reaction.

**Don't get caught up in a Bermuda Triangle of endless revision. Know when to stop. DO NOT SQUEEZE EVERY DROP OF SPONTANEITY OUT OF THE MANUSCRIPT.

Happy revisions!!!