Henry James (1843-1915), that influential writer and philosopher, distilled thinking about revision into one compelling statement that has echoed over and over again for writers. His words, "the act of revision, the act of seeing it again," take us down the rabbit path that mixes logic with intuition.
So many words have been written about how to revise. And yet, here I am, this early September morning, surrounded by printouts from my beta readers, ready to jump into my story once again -- to begin reading, with hopes to revise, and with no certain path ahead. My only hope and goal remains this month, while we're in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to perhaps finish this story and move to the next.
The clearest guidelines I've found are with Reedsy's "How to Revise a Novel: 6 Steps to a Smooth Revision." And I have next to me my favorite books on writing and revision.
This early morning is quiet. Truly, the time to begin is now.
"Morning" by Kim Dae Jung on Pixabay
I'm glad you found Reedsy's revision steps helped.
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