re-vise (ri viz) to change or amend the content of. 

This week we revised our surroundings. We moved to a new ship, and embarked on our journey with a view from a new deck. Sometimes it is important to look at your surroundings and evaluate a need for change. Maybe you need a larger home, for added space, or a new wardrobe because the spring clothes from last year shrank in the drawer during the winter. *g* That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

In all aspects of our lives at one time or another, we face a need for change.

How many times in your writing do you revise your journey? Some writers set out to write their stories and never revise until the story is complete. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. I feel if I revise as I go, it will be less work in the end. This is a total cop out. My thoughts about revisions turn into thoughts of procrastination, and I have a word count that is lower than my IQ.

I encounter a multitude of people during a workday. I have conversations and interactions with people that fit specific scenes in my WIP. I can never turn off my writer’s mind. If my body is idle, I am writing in my mind.

I’m a revisionholic.

Just when I think I’ve hammered out the best plot since sliced bread, I think of another twist. If I’m not thinking of a twist, I’m thinking about conflict and emotion. When I think I’m satisfied, I study the plot for follow through, never wanting to leave a lose end. I cannot get beyond planning my outline.

Author Ken Follett, spent a year writing the outline for The Pillars of the Earth. He is the epitome of a planster. Mr. Follett is a pirate who depends on a specific map to coordinate his direction. He wants to know his destiny before the ship leaves port. I’m failing before I ever attempt to leave port. I’ve tried to revise myself into a planster when I’ve always been a panster. I need to write as I have in the past, by the seat of my pants.

I still find it interesting how writers use different methods to reach the same result. We all start with an idea. We create characters to act out the story, and we develop conflict to keep the characters apart. We throw in a couple of hair pulling moments, a big awe moment, and end with a scene that pulls a sigh from the reader. In the process, we hope we created something that stays with them long after they place the book on the shelf.

Revisions are difficult at best, but they can make the difference between a forgotten manuscript and a book deal. Each bead of sweat on our brow, every minute of lost sleep, every liter of ingested caffeine is worthwhile if the changes we make turn 100,000 words into the best story we have ever written.

We should view revisions as a means to a deserved end, and compare them to a way of life. We exercise to improve our physical well-being. We do home improvements to increase the value and enjoyment in our homes. We make revisions in our WIP in order to make it presentable; overall, it’s an investment in words.

Maybe we didn’t need a new ship, but we wanted one. Maybe your WIP needs revisions, and maybe it stands corrected. Maybe one day the only revisions you’ll need to make are to your Keynote Speech at the RWA conference.

Maybe the aroma of linseed oil on the new ship is getting to me, but nothing else has changed.

I’m still trying to make the best of what I have in hopes of writing something worth noticing.