The Write Way | ✔︎

07 | REVISIONS

     Ahh, revisions. I can't be the only one who hates them. Of all the works I've had to submit to my fiction classes, I've revised zero beyond the basic spell-check and the odd grammar improvement here and there. I'm not sure if that makes me a bad student or a lazy writer or both, so if you're wondering what makes me think I have the authority to speak about this matter, I will be the first to tell you that I don't. 

     What I do think, however, is that revisions are important, and I know enough about them (and my attempts at them, for that matter) to be able to share a few things with you. The first being that they suck, because after you've written that sucky first draft, you're now going to have to read it and let your restless inner editor go to town on it and keep doing that until you've practically memorized your words to the point where you're sick of it. This can sometimes lead to insane bouts of insecurities, inferiority complexes, and/or—if you're like me—depression.

     When I finished writing my first book, a Birdy and Harry Styles fanfiction (I know, I know), I became blocked by my desire to improve it. I printed out my work, read through it with a red pen, and encircled, slashed, and underlined every little flaw I could find. It was good exercise for me to be critical about my own work, but it got to the point where I would stare off into space, come back to it, and realize I'd burst out into tears somewhere in the middle of it. I felt so horrible; I'd led myself to think that I was a good writer, but there was the finished work in all its terrible glory, staring back at me, taunting me, proof that I wasn't, in fact, good.

     What I mean to say is this: when you're revising, be sure that you won't let get it too personal and out of hand. Sometimes you have to step back and ask yourself: how much is too much?

     At the end of it, I was feeling so low and ashamed about my writing that I deleted the work off of Wattpad while it was sitting at 700,000 reads. I thought it'd make me feel better, but now, four years later, I'm sad. It was the first book I'd ever written and people enjoyed it. When I told my dad's friend, a film director, about my experience, and how cheesy and terrible I thought the work was, he told me this: "You may think that now, but at some point, it was your truth. And to all the people who read your work and liked it, it was their truth, too."

     Those powerful words could not have been spoken to me a better time. His words changed my perspective on my writing instantly, and I have never been the same since. So I want you to remember that when you start working on editing and revising your work. Don't let yourself be discouraged. I know I've used the word 'suck' so many times now that it might seem like you'll never get better, and for that I'd like to apologize (writing doesn't suck nearly as much as I've said it does because if it did I wouldn't be doing it), but take it from me: when you let yourself be raw and vulnerable and honest in your work, even if you have to edit it out later on or fix the way it was worded, your work is better for it. The whole world is better for it because you wrote that, but now your responsibility is to make it the best work it can possibly be—not just for us who will read it, but for you. Because you owe it to yourself to get that story out in its truest, most beautiful form, and I know that you know that.

     So revisions. I've touched on a lot of things already so let me try and get back on track. Remember a few things: as writers and creators, we will never really 'finish' a work. There will always be more to improve on, so learn to practice restraint and to recognize when you've done all you can and when it's time to move on (this is a lot more difficult than it seems). 

     Another thing is to not be afraid to kill your darlings. You might like a line or a paragraph or hell, even a character a lot, but if it doesn't make sense in the larger context of things, take it out, especially if it'll make your work better and stronger. You don't have to get rid of it completely; file it away in a corner of your mind (or notebook), to be reconsidered for another project when the time comes. Because another thing about writing and revisions is this: you never really get rid of something completely. We always find ways to incorporate them into other works. Trust me; I've done it.

     So be ruthless to your work, sure, but don't forget to be kind to yourself, too. Tread gently, tread carefully, and don't forget to have fun.