Sometimes, the words “editing” and “revising” are used interchangeably. Even when a distinction is made, the line is usually so blurred it hardly counts.
Editing and revising are two different creatures, and should be studied in two separate steps. Confusing the two or hunting both at the same time isn’t fair to your novel—or your readers.
So what counts as editing, and what counts as revising? Editing can be broken down into several forms, but for the sake of argument, we’re defining it here as such things as wrestling semantics, tracking stray commas, and trapping awkward phrases. Revising is more about reinforcing the big picture. I have no woodsman metaphor for that. Carry on.
Here are six reasons why you should revise.
You know who you went with. Characters turn up to fill a role. This isn’t always a bad thing, but if they came out of the blue, revising allows you to weave them into the story better. For example, maybe that kid at the park is actually a classmate from school. You didn’t know he was going to stand up later, so you didn’t know to make note of him in class. You can if you revise.
You know what it took. Even if you outlined the story, even if you know the characters better than your real-life friends, even if you had it all figured out in your head, chances are you didn’t really know what the character went through until you actually take them to the end. Characters develop on each page. Once you finish the draft, you know for a fact what the journey took from them Maybe you didn’t realize you character feared being left alone, but they have to face the final obstacle by themselves. Revise, and make it stronger.
You know when it happened. Sure, you probably had a general idea of when events occurred. You might even have a time line. But you didn’t know every word that would be said, every action that would occur, every thought that would italicized—I mean, thought. During revision, you can cross-reference these things. For example, maybe a character goes off on a tangent, maybe as a way to reveal key facts to the reader. Now that you know the rant was brewing in the characters’ mind, you can go back and plant the seed that started it.
You know where you went. Many authors write by the seat of their pants, but even the ones who plan everything out first are usually surprised where the story leads them. At least to some degree. They might reach all the main points on the map, but perhaps the characters took a necessary, albeit unplanned, detour. Now that you know where they went, you can build up to it during the revision. Did they plummet down a mine which hadn’t been previously discussed? Go back some pages and mention the mines in dialogue. Now the fall won’t seem so conveniently inconvenient.
You know why you went. Characters need a motive. Sometimes, their motive isn’t clear for many chapters. Then it becomes apparent. It might not even be the reason you, their omnipotent god, had decided at first. Characters can be surprising. But don’t let them be too surprising. Revise to make the motive real from the beginning. Maybe the character had to trek across the continent to buy medication for her sick mother. The motive is obvious—or is it? Maybe there’s more to this story. Maybe the girl had felt helpless over her father’s death. Now nothing is going to stop her from saving her mother. Go back and plant the references and poke at the fears.
You know how you got there. This encompasses all of the above and more. You started out knowing what was going to happen, or at least, an idea of it. But you don’t truly know the entire story—how it really happened—until you reached the end. Revise by keeping in mind the actual story, not just the idea.
Even if a story feels solid to you, chances are, it can be greatly improved for the reader with a little revising. Some people shudder at the idea of tearing apart their manuscript. They feel lucky they made it through alive the first time. While revising isn’t an easy task, it doesn’t always have to be a major overhaul. Little changes can make it feel like you meant this story just as it is.
Have you ever revised a manuscript? Was it worth your effort?
