The 3-Step Revision Process
The only thing harder than writing a book is revising it, but don’t despair. I’m here to help make this complex process a little less complicated.
As in, just three simple steps uncomplicated.
Now, I can’t promise that these steps will be easy or quick, but I can promise you a clear path from one draft to the next.
Your overwhelm-free revision plan consists of three steps:
Analyze
Strategize
Revise
And a bonus fourth step: repeat!
Sounds easy enough, right? Let’s dive deeper into what each step requires.
Step One: Analyze Your Draft
Step one is where you figure out exactly what you’re working with in your draft.
Your goal is to get clarity on what you’ve actually written. Not what you intended to write or thought you wrote.
How do you do that? It depends on where you are in the writing/revision process.
If you’re working with a rough draft (think the first or second, maybe third if you’re a beginner) I do not, I repeat, I DO NOT recommend printing out and trying to read through your first draft.
If you happen to write clean first drafts, this doesn’t apply, but that most likely isn’t the case if you’re a pantser and/or just starting out (no shame, we all work differently, and it’s the final product that counts, not the steps you take to get there).
Instead, I recommend creating a reverse outline of your story. That means summarizing your story as it currently stands. If you’re a pantser, this may be your first attempt at capturing your story in outline form. Don’t panic; you’re not constraining your story, you’re just giving yourself a condensed version to play with as you revise.
If you’re a plotter/planner, you might be tempted to skip this step and work from an old outline. Don’t! Stories can evolve in so many ways as we write, and it’s worth it to go back and double-check what ended up in your draft.
Not sure what kind of outline to create? Here are some options to consider:
a bulleted list of plot events
a synopsis (summary) written in narrative form
a spreadsheet/book map with one scene per line
a PPT with one scene per slide (the tech version of an index card outline)
a Plottr/Dabble/Scrivener/[insert other tech tool] outline
Pick the option that works best for you and your brain. There is only one rule: don’t use paper. Or at least, type up your reverse outline at some point, even if you draft it by hand.
Why? You’ll need this reverse outline to be editable when we get to our next step.
Now, for the people who are working with a second, third+, or clean first draft, you are at the stage where you can print out your draft and read it cover to cover like a reader. Trying to save money on paper & ink? You can always export your document to an ePub file or PDF—as long as you can’t edit as you go, you’re good.
Your goal is to shut down your writer/editor brain and experience your story as a reader. Take notes on what you’re feeling, where you get bored, or confused, or realize that the characters just aren’t coming across the way you wanted them to.
Remember, you’re just gathering data at this point. Keep a running list but try not to jump straight into brainstorming new ideas or editing your story.
Once you’ve crafted your reverse outline or read your manuscript, it’s time to dig deep and assess the current issues in your draft.
Here are the big issues I see in client manuscripts:
Underdeveloped conflicts
Structural beats happening too soon, too late, or not at all
Inconsistent characters & worldbuilding
Lack of cause/effect
Lack of character agency
More specifically, these issues can look like…
Starting too early (no context about the character) or too late (the inciting incident happens at the 50% mark).
A major conflict gets resolved by coincidence instead of your character taking action.
A mystery that is never resolved.
A subplot that disappears halfway through the novel.
A series of small conflicts that are resolved quickly with little effort from your main character.
Summaries of story events that didn’t happen on the page to explain what is happening in the current scene.
Once you have a list of the issues you need to address in your story, it’s time to dive into step #2!
Step Two: Strategize Your Revisions
You know what’s happening in your draft, so now it’s time to make some decisions. How are you going to address the issues you discovered in step #1?
Look at your notes and determine the solutions that will bring your vision to life.
Sometimes, those decisions are easy. You started too late, so you add scenes to the beginning. A thread gets dropped, you either snip it from the start or tie it off at the end.
Sometimes the solutions are harder.
You have a character that isn’t likable, but does that mean they need to save a cat or that you need to add more interiority so readers know where they’re coming from? Maybe it’s both, and you need to show us their interior thoughts while they’re saving a cat.
If you got bored while reading your story, do you need to cut the slower scenes, mix in some faster paced ones, or simply raise the stakes in the scenes you already have?
Sometimes the solution to one issue will have ramifications for other parts of your story. This is where revision gets complicated.
The best way to make it approachable? Narrow your focus to planning.
If you created a reverse outline in step #1, it’s time for that document to shine. Instead of jumping back to page one and trying to tackle everything, you’ll make your revisions to the reverse outline first.
That means marking scenes to cut, adding quick summaries of scenes to add, and noting any changes you’ll make to existing scenes.
By the end of this step, your reverse outline will become a checklist of changes to make when you move to step #3.
If you read through your draft and took notes on the current issues, it’s time to take those notes and brainstorm a revision checklist for yourself.
You can make that list as specific or general as you want, just make sure you’ve given yourself clear action steps that will make sense a month from now as you sit down to tackle chapter 45.
I also recommend differentiating between targeted revisions (e.g., add more conflict to scene 10, make the main character’s motivations clear on page 30, etc.) and incidental revisions that you will need to implement throughout the manuscript (e.g., add more interiority throughout, make sure the characters don’t shrug too often, etc.) so that you know where you’ll need to make precise changes to a particular section and which changes you’ll implement when you go back through the entire manuscript.
Now that you have your action plan, it’s time to get to work in step #3!
Don’t let this be you. Approach your revisions one step at a time and leave the overwhelm behind.
Step 3: Revise Your Draft
After all that prep work, it’s finally time to start working with your actual manuscript! For some of you, that will mean a cover to cover rewrite. For others, it will mean targeted changes to take the manuscript to the next level. Wherever you are in the process, take it one step at a time and plan your work in the way that will keep you motivated throughout.
Here are a couple of ways you can approach this process:
Start on page one and work chronologically through your rewrites
Start with the biggest changes while you’re excited to revise and smaller changes for later when your motivation wanes
Start with the smallest changes and build momentum before tackling the bigger, scarier changes ahead
Choose a different method that works for you.
If you’re working with a super messy draft, I recommend making targeted changes first. Shore up the big plot holes and story gaps, and then move on to more holistic revisions.
If your story needs intense scene-level rewriting, I recommend actually retyping your story. That means no copy-paste, no pretending you’re making edits while you simply move a problem into draft two, no reusing words that aren’t 100% serving your story.
Is it a lot of work? Sure. Worth it? In my experience, 100%.
Why? Retyping your story will force you to evaluate everything in your manuscript with a critical eye. Instead of accepting the “good enough” sentences, you’ll work toward upgrading every part of your story. This is also an opportunity to double your impact by addressing story level and line level issues at the same time.
Now, it’s time to dig deep and work your way from page one to the end. When you reach the final page, it’s time to celebrate! Pour a cup of your favorite beverage, take a night off, or treat yourself to a new book (or all three, I’m not judging!).
But don’t get too comfortable; there’s still work to be done.
Step Four: Repeat!
Someday you will reach the final draft, but until then, step #4 is to keep repeating steps 1-3 until you’ve created a story your future readers will love!
That doesn’t mean going back and repeating the same steps in the same way. If you completed a reverse outline in round #1, it may be time to read your draft straight through. Or maybe not. If you started with a super messy reverse outline, it’s totally fine to go back and create a stronger one now.
If you’re completely done with developmental edits, it may be time to move on to the editing stage, by rereading your draft and line editing as you go.
This process is flexible and it will evolve with your drafts. Don’t get hung up on doing this the “right” way; part of becoming a writer is discovering exactly what works for you.
Don’t despair if the road ahead seems long and winding.
You can absolutely do it, and if you need help, I’m here to help! Drop a comment with your questions, revision quandaries, or the milestones you can’t wait to celebrate—I’m all ears!
