While drafting your novel is a monumental task, revising your novel is an even more daunting prospect and one that often takes longer to do than the writing itself. And that\u2019s as it should be. But while on my writing journey, I found four books that teach you how to revise your novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One question you may be asking yourself is why should I revise my work when I can just hire someone to do that? And the answer is simple: Only you truly know your novel backwards and forwards, and revision is much like a conversation you have with your novel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is a saying: Genius is perseverance. While genius does not consist entirely of editing, without editing it\u2019s pretty useless.\u201d<\/p>\u2014Susan Bell, The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n As you read your work, questions may come up. Instantly, you\u2019re brain may more easily supply that answer than an editor who\u2019s looking at your work for the first time, puzzling out what you’re saying when you wrote that<\/em> particular<\/em> phrase<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, an editor is there to cut out the chaff. In fact, they are not there to rewrite your words. They are only there to finetune them. Undoubtedly, editors will always be needed. As Bell states: when you learn to revise your novel, an editor\u2019s job \u201cwill be less an act of excavation than one of refinement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of my revisions were inspired by my amazing critique group\u2014thank you, ladies!!! And the feedback they offered me month after month. Other revisions came from information gleaned from numerous writing workshops, conferences, and residencies I attended, as well as from the four amazing books I present to you here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And, yes, much like you, I am still learning and growing my craft. These four recommendations will strengthen your work and make it the best it can possibly be\u2014your readers and your novel(s) deserve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, you can create a tight, polished, publishable novel and it starts with intuition\u2014that instinctive feeling that all writers have and need to learn how to tap in to instead of conscious reasoning. <\/p>\n\n\n\nReady to revise your novel?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Use your intuition to revise your novel<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n