Revision Session

 

            Revision can be a hard process to endure. It is especially difficult if you are attached to the work right off the bat. I have found that I am usually extremely satisfied with a first draft, making it hard for me to make any changes at all even if I know they are beneficial to the work as a whole. When I do finally force myself to revise something I worked so hard on, I have a kind of strange process.

            The first thing I do when preparing to revise is send out the work. I share it with people who will tell me only good things, people who will tell me only bad things, and people who will do both. This usually builds up my confidence in my work while forcing me to see the flaws as I take into consideration all of their comments. I like to sit with their words for a few days and mull over them, making choices, then changing my mind again and again. I do all of this without looking at the work because I do not want to make any changes right then that I have not fully considered that I might regret later.

            When I finally sit down to revise on the page, I stare at the work for a while. I do not immediately start changing things because I like to sit with the original work for a bit longer before I alter anything. At this point, it would probably be beneficial to me to create a new document for me to revise so that I will always have the original, but I have realized that I usually forget that step unless I am actively reminded.

            Even though I took days to consider all of the comments that I received, I start by looking at the diction of the piece. Where can I use fewer common words? Where can I describe something a bit more or better? This usually makes me feel a little bit better about my work because it feels more cohesive after more description. It is at this point that I will finally take the comments of my peers and apply them to my work.

            Most of the time, the comments that I receive are related to a scene that needs to be fleshed out more or moments that they get lost in the action. I take a considerable amount of time reworking these parts because I want to be precise in creating the storyline and the action of the characters. As I go about making these changes, I remember the skills that I have learned in class and try to apply them as best as I can. One technique that I have never used but want to try is starting at a different place in the story. What will that really do to the work? What will the reader miss out on, or what will they gain? These are questions that I have to ask myself before I make any sizeable changes.

            My revision process takes days, sometimes weeks. By the end of the first time revising a work, I wonder if it is truly worth it because I wonder who is even going to read it later on? Nonetheless, I continue to revise my work, always trying to make it better than it was before.