1.2 The Revision Trap
So I've spent last week in the hospital having my gall bladder removed and all the days in between so high on medication that I dreamed the entire first episode of a bad B grade TV show of a series of novels I can rant about for hours on end.
I've seen this picked up from a lot of different places, but I'll share the trap that I find myself most often falling into; a desire to publish chapter at a time for an audience but to ensure that each chapter is 'good enough' before throwing it out. This is probably most common from authors like me who learned their craft from fanfic and crowds of short reviews or quick 'update more!' expressions that make you rush a story at first and then bury yourself in a hole about halfway through.
The revision trap for me, especially is a moment where after 20,000 words I stop and say 'I need to revise, adjust, change some things before I can continue on.' So the story, at this point, is placed on the ground. I dance around it a little. I write a few new lines. Rewrite a few scenes.
Then four years later, I get someone ask me if it will be finished one day. Because I'm 'working on it' but not actually working on the finishing part.
Revising is definitely important, but I have learned it really, truly is best to do once you've finished. Most published and plenty of successful authors offer this same advice- just finish the draft, just nut out all the words. Don't fall into the revision pit.
For me, the revision trap happens because I am a creative machine-gunner. I spray idea-bullets all over my computer; projects start and stop at the drop of a hat. I have premature creative ejaculation.
I can't control it- I don't know that it really can be controlled, but once I start something, a now less interesting topic will drop away while I race after this new shiny one.
I have note-books filled with pages and pages of ideas that I've scribbled down. Five word plots, six page character arcs, a doodle of a wand for a special villain. These are pretty safe- just brains splattered all over pages. But too often I start a project as the idea latches on to my mind and I can't get it out.
Some people work well this way- others focus all their energy one gumball at a time. There's no 'right way' when it comes to creativity because we're all different.
For me, if a project is solid, it will last. Much to my dismay, I actually cannot tell the difference between what is and isn't solid. If you want to revise something, you probably like it; but if you find yourself revising too much... that's a sign that maybe you can allow yourself to drop it.
Here's a secret; you are allowed to give up on some works. Being able to acknowledge that there won't be another chapter of this novel because it doesn't touch your soul any more is fine. Learn what went wrong, place it gently in a dark coffin and let it go.
Don't hold on to a story that you've let die, unless you are going to seriously plug those electrodes into its nipples and force life back into it.
Let something die if you have to move on. You are allowed to have unfinished bits and bobs floating around.
That said; if you have discontinued something, put your fans and readers out of their misery- don't post something that is dead in new realms. Don't keep pimping it. I would suggest taking it off any public sites overall; because reviewers want your work to have an ending. Posting something you don't intend to finish is hard on them.
What is the revision trap?
I've seen this picked up from a lot of different places, but I'll share the trap that I find myself most often falling into; a desire to publish chapter at a time for an audience but to ensure that each chapter is 'good enough' before throwing it out. This is probably most common from authors like me who learned their craft from fanfic and crowds of short reviews or quick 'update more!' expressions that make you rush a story at first and then bury yourself in a hole about halfway through.
The revision trap for me, especially is a moment where after 20,000 words I stop and say 'I need to revise, adjust, change some things before I can continue on.' So the story, at this point, is placed on the ground. I dance around it a little. I write a few new lines. Rewrite a few scenes.
Then four years later, I get someone ask me if it will be finished one day. Because I'm 'working on it' but not actually working on the finishing part.
Revising is definitely important, but I have learned it really, truly is best to do once you've finished. Most published and plenty of successful authors offer this same advice- just finish the draft, just nut out all the words. Don't fall into the revision pit.
How to climb out of a revision pit for an older story?
If you have just found one of those ancient documents in the dark folders in the back of your PC and you've remembered how amazing said story was; you've given it a read and decided 'yeah I can finish this, I just want to fix this scene here a bit before I continue writing' don't edit it! While yes, after a few months/years/solar eclipses, you can now see glaring errors that you couldn't before- you must fight that editor back. Just jump to the last page and start writing again. You can fix character voice later, you can wrestle with plot holes once the whole thing is done.Why does this happen?
For me, the revision trap happens because I am a creative machine-gunner. I spray idea-bullets all over my computer; projects start and stop at the drop of a hat. I have premature creative ejaculation.
I can't control it- I don't know that it really can be controlled, but once I start something, a now less interesting topic will drop away while I race after this new shiny one.
I have note-books filled with pages and pages of ideas that I've scribbled down. Five word plots, six page character arcs, a doodle of a wand for a special villain. These are pretty safe- just brains splattered all over pages. But too often I start a project as the idea latches on to my mind and I can't get it out.
Some people work well this way- others focus all their energy one gumball at a time. There's no 'right way' when it comes to creativity because we're all different.
For me, if a project is solid, it will last. Much to my dismay, I actually cannot tell the difference between what is and isn't solid. If you want to revise something, you probably like it; but if you find yourself revising too much... that's a sign that maybe you can allow yourself to drop it.
When to admit you don't want to work on something anymore.
Constant revision, never-ending feelings that it's wrong; trust your instinct. Don't trust your heart, it will lie. We love everything we make at first. But sometimes, you've placed this story, this poem, this novel in revision because it's not going to happen.Here's a secret; you are allowed to give up on some works. Being able to acknowledge that there won't be another chapter of this novel because it doesn't touch your soul any more is fine. Learn what went wrong, place it gently in a dark coffin and let it go.
Don't hold on to a story that you've let die, unless you are going to seriously plug those electrodes into its nipples and force life back into it.
Let something die if you have to move on. You are allowed to have unfinished bits and bobs floating around.
That said; if you have discontinued something, put your fans and readers out of their misery- don't post something that is dead in new realms. Don't keep pimping it. I would suggest taking it off any public sites overall; because reviewers want your work to have an ending. Posting something you don't intend to finish is hard on them.
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