A Guide to Major Book Revisions

Hi guys! 

I am thrilled to announce that I finished the major revisions on Blood and Dust. 

I’m now working through and doing a line edit, checking for areas where I pasted something together and got a stray word in there, and for minor inconsistencies with the new storyline. My goal is to have it polished enough for #faithpitch, #pitmad, and querying in general. 

I’m actually pretty thrilled with myself, as I’ve never done major revisions—or book surgery, as the gals at Go Teen Writers like to call it. Editing, yes. I’ve gone through a novel and tightened up prose and fixed major plot holes. But never have I taken the bare bones of a story and taken it in a totally new direction. Quite frankly, the idea was absolutely terrifying up until last week when I finished it. 

I learned a couple things along the way that made it easier for me, and might be of value to you guys with your own writing. 

I’m no master, obviously. I’ve only accomplished this with one novel, and the jury is still out on beta readers how successful I was. But finishing that first round is the first step. So if you’re terrified to take the first step, like I was, these tips might be just the boost you need. 

1. Get feedback. It’s hard to know what to revise in a full length novel—especially a messy one—if you don’t have some outside eyes on it. Over the course of Blood and Dust’s life, it has been through several rounds of beta readers, I hired two editors to go through my first couple chapters, as well as hiring Kara Swanson to do some coaching sessions where we tore my plot apart. Due to my pregnancy causing exhaustion and lack of funds, I wasn’t able to continue those sessions as long as I would have liked, but the time spent with Kara was invaluable. She was such a help to this story, and in general a sweet soul all the way around. If you are in need of some one on one help with your writing, I would highly suggest her coaching services. I also entered the first two chapters of Blood and Dust in a contest, not because I thought it would win, but because I knew all entries got extensive feedback from multiple judges. I also had some feedback from an agent I had queried. 
2. Assemble and prioritize the feedback. Now that you’ve got all the feedback, start going through it. I wrote my list out on paper, but you could do it on the computer too. Any issues that came up from more than one person I paid special attention to and set as a priority to resolve. Things that came up occasionally but were valid points got jotted down to try and resolve as well, and some critiques that just didn’t fit got discarded. Having the revisions prioritized gave me a clear vision of what needed to be done, on a full story scale or simply clarifying one scene. 
3. Brainstorm and outline. I’m not a major plotter for first drafts, but Kara helped me realize that it’s kind of necessary for major revisions. We’ve got these major problems that need logical and exciting solutions. It takes some forethought. Kara and I brainstormed a whole bunch of ideas. I bounced them off of what I knew about my characters, as well as some of my beta readers that had read the full story and knew it well, then decided which ones I’d like to pursue. One thing I did that was super helpful was write a basic chapter by chapter outline of what happened in the current story. Then write a chapter by chapter outline of what I wanted to happen, noting old scenes that should be kept or discarded. Seeing what I had to work with helped me come up with good alternatives that stayed in character. It also helped me see unnecessary subplots and scenes, since one major issue agents had with the story was the length (123k). 
4. Save the darlings. Before starting out slashing the story, I created a duplicate version of Blood and Dust and named it Revisions. I’ve got the full original in case there is a scene that got cut that I decide I want back. I also created a scrap file for scenes I was cutting out of their current place, but knew for sure I could use in a different place. That way they were all right there and I wouldn’t have to dig through the original story to find them. 
5. Kill the darlings. Start writing. Or chopping. Whatever it takes. I kept my list of critiques handy, as well as my two outlines, and tried to weave in the new themes and plot lines string from the beginning. There were a lot of scenes and plot lines that I was fond of, but  that just honestly didn’t benefit the story. So I cried, said a few words, and hit delete. And told myself I still had the original version safe and sound. 
6. Don’t worry. I set out to trim the story down and in the first few chapters it gained 25k words. That frightened me and I was hesitant to write the new material that needed to be included. But trust me. I’d you’re really honest about each scene, you’ll be able to chop it down to proper size as the story progresses. Currently Blood and Dust is sitting at just over 90K—over a 30k drop. Whatever issue you might be worried about, don’t. You’ve got yourself covered. You saved the original. No change is permanent. You can go over it again. Just keep writing. 
7. Make notes. A couple times later in the story I realized there were some things I forgot to foreshadow earlier, so I made myself a note to go back and do so. Or to check the description of a character who is present in the beginning, but then doesn’t return until the end, to make sure I’m consistent. I won’t remember. You probably won’t either. Make the note. 
8. Talk to people. I sent chunks of the revised story out every so often so the people I knew liked the original story could give me feedback on if this was staying true to the heart but improving the issues. You don’t have to send out chapters yet, but keep open dialogue with writer friends you trust to give solid advice as you encounter issues with plot and character. 
9. Ta-da! That’s it! That’s what I did. Like I said, it’s not done, I’m still going through minor tweaks, but the major word chopping revisions are done, and I’m so happy. 

What about you? Have you undergone major book revisions? Any great tips that helped you through? (Coffee. Coffee helped me through.)