Writing Without Revisions

I don't know about you, but I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my fiction writing. I'll often write a paragraph, a sentence or even a word just to return to it ten minutes later and rewrite it. I do this because I want my story to be perfect. Not only that, I want it to be perfect the first time I write it. Do you do this? If so, this article is for you. It covers the following topics:

Not While Your Write
When
How
Wrap Up

Not While You Write

This is what usually happens to me when I start revising a story while I'm writing it. I'll be inspired and I will have just completed the fourth page when I realize that I could rewrite a paragraph back on page one. This usually happens because my stories often take turns I don't expect, making it necessary to revise earlier parts of the story to match its new direction. So, I rewrite the paragraph. I then continue on with page four when I suddenly realize that I could write a paragraph on page two a little bit better. When I finish that revision, I notice that there are a couple other paragraphs that I want to revise. So I revise those too. I do this for about an hour. I then return to page four to continue on with what I was writing, but it's a lot harder now. I struggle with a few sentences that are just plain bad and I give up in frustration.

Sound familiar? If it does, you've just revised your inspiration to death. You may even lose your enthusiasm for the story all together.

Why does this happen? I think because aspiring writers believe the myth that the great writers just sit down and write masterpieces with little effort. That notion can really discourage you when you read your favorite stories and wonder why you can't write as well. But the myth isn't true. The great writers make mistakes. They make revisions. They have many drafts. There's nothing wrong with that.

I think this point was really hammered home to me when I went to the Rene Magritte exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2000. On one of his paintings ("The Empire of Lights" I believe), I noticed several thick clumps of paint on the canvas that traced out a different scene. It looked like Magritte had begun painting one thing and had decided to do something else instead. I realized at that moment that the Greats don't just churn out greatness at a whim. They revise their work over and over until they are satisfied. There's nothing wrong with this. It's how you make great work.

When

So why is the title of this article called "Writing Without Revision?" Well, because you shouldn't revise while you're inspired. You should write. You can revise once you finish the story. Doing so preserves those precious moments when your ideas and words flow from you. It also saves time. Once you finish a story, you know the plot and you know the characters. This knowledge makes your revisions much easier.

I've recently finished a story in which a character's name, demeanor and general purpose changes midway through. I didn't go back to rewrite the first part of the story though. I knew if I did, I would lose my inspiration. So I simply went on writing the story, using the character's new name and attitude. Once I finished the story, I went back and revised.

How

So how should you revise your stories? You should think of the first time you sit down to write a story as your first draft. Don't write it with perfection or greatness in mind. Don't even write it to your best ability. Just write. Enjoy the inspiration when you have it because that's the fun part of writing. When you finish your story, call it "draft000," or something similar, and save it. Calling it a draft and/or numbering it puts you in the mindset that what you have is just one possible version of your story and there will be more drafts to come. This is good mindset to be in.

Once the story is finished, its time to revise. This is the not-so-fun part of writing. To revise, read your finished story all the way through to get a better feeling for it. Then, save a copy of it as "draft001," or something similar, and begin editing. Read through the story this time editing as you go. Resist the urge to return to earlier portions of the story. Just revise it in one pass. Once you're finished, save the changes. Then, read through the story again. Save a copy of the story as "draft002" and revise again. Repeat this pattern as many times as you need to. You might want to wait a day or so between edits so that you can read and edit the story with a fresh perspective. I recently pulled out a story I had written for a class in college a couple of years ago. I was very proud of it then. When I read it, however, I was basically repulsed by it. It was actually pretty bad. I suddenly understood the comments I had received in that class; comments I hadn't understood at the time because I had been too familiar with the story.

Wrap up

Acknowledging the fact that revising my work was okay turned out to be a pretty tough lesson for me to believe. Even though I read about other authors revising their work, I never really "believed" it. I did believe it when I saw that painting though. For some reason, the revising myth died that day for me. It's a myth you need to give up too. Revising is good. Revising is great! But when you do revise, and you better, save it until after you finish your first draft. You'll be able to enjoy those moments when you're inspired, and you'll be able to produce well-written stories through your revisions