Revising a Difficult Novel

Mar 17, 2024

Fresco painting | history, method, & examples | Britannica

Every novel is difficult, of course.

In last week’s newsletter, I mentioned that I’d tell the story of the difficult novel I just finished (or “finished,” rather), The Letters, which I spent about seven years writing, and which I thought was done numerous times. Only to discover it wasn’t. Of course.

The question for this week: what went into The Letters’ revision?

I revise methodically, but haphazardly.

I suppose that’s how I live my life as well. But my writing process and my life process are only haphazardly connected.

Here’s the methodical part:

After completing a draft, I put my novel away for a month or two or three.
Then I print out a bound copy and read through it to get an objective sense of it.
I mark the moments when the story slackens, when a character needs to be sharpened, etc. I notice how I feel as I read it.
Towards the middle of the novel, I start beating myself up.
I take a walk (I used to drink or smoke a cigar, but I drank too much and smoked too many cigars), and I wonder what the story needs, because it always needs something.
I read other books that are similar and jot down ideas and lines and words.
I drive around aimlessly and listen to sad songs.
Then I write another draft. And will likely repeat.

I suppose those who write and revise with a strict methodical discipline don’t spend seven years on a novel. I’ve heard of authors who have a method of outlining and rewriting that is as efficient as an assembly line.

But I like to think that the haphazard part of my process leads me to discover things I might not discover if I were more methodical. Wasting time is part of my process at all stages. Wasting time as in following the scent of a thought. Wasting time as in being haphazard and a little clumsy and enjoying the occasional bit of vertigo and getting very excited by any new idea.

Revision as a state of mind

I like Peter Ho Davies’ description of revision as a “state of mind” in his book, The Art of Revision. It’s my favorite writing state of mind to be in because I go deeper and deeper into my characters. I lose myself in the contours of the story.

“Revision is very much a process of close reading ourselves and our work,” Davies writes.

Yes, reading ourselves, because revision is a test of oneself, a test of mettle and judgment and commitment.

Revision is in some ways a misnomer, though. The first draft is often associated with inspiration and revision with perspiration—but revision holds much inspiration, much discovery, and drafting holds much perspiration.

Maybe we shouldn’t divide the two processes. Every draft is an exploration to me, even the last draft. I’m not tidying the room of my story to make it clean. I’m tidying my room to find the portal to my truth. And then I’ll mess it up again.

“A vision of revision, if you will, begins to emerge, of revision as an ongoing process of creativity, inspiration, and discovery, in which we continue to learn, to refine our intent, to come to understand what our own stories mean as we know them better,” said Davies.

For Davies, revision—or writing, rather—is a back-and-forth of expanding and contracting. It’s a lovely way to think of writing: as a rhythmic to-and-fro. Messying and tidying, you might say. Or “recalibration and range-finding” as Davies puts it.

You test new hypotheses with each draft. You cut and expand (and grapple with whether to cut and expand). You move this here and that there.

You ask all sorts of questions about what your story is really about and wny you’re writing it, and then you ask all sorts of questions about what you are really about and why you’re writing this story.

You’re writing to understand yourself, of course.

“We revise—which is to say we write—to understand our intent, to understand our own stories, to understand ourselves,” said Davies.

That’s the only revision tip you need: keep writing to understand yourself.

Because … I’m teaching an accountability class

“I think the hardest part about writing is writing.” -Nora Ephron

Writing is hard, right? Especially when you’re doing it alone. Or when you don’t have a goal. Or when you lack a routine that pushes your writing project forward.

I hope to make writing a little bit easier through a weekly accountability write-in I’m hosting with Left Margin Lit. The goal: to create a supportive space where writers can churn out words, meet their goals and deadlines, and build creative connections with others.

Our sessions occur on Zoom, so you can sign up no matter where you are.

Because this is all you need to know about revision

As Sage shows in this video, big endeavors are all about giving yourself a pep talk and getting up when you fall down—and remembering we all fall down!

@chasing.sage We mic’d up our 4 year old while snowboarding.🥰 #fatherdaughter #dadlife #snowboarding #micdup #cuteness #wholesome #familytime #raddad #fatherhood

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Because favorite quotes about revision

“I work hard, I work very hard. All the books at least 30 revisions.”

― Ha Jin

“If a teacher told me to revise, I thought that meant my writing was a broken-down car that needed to go to the repair shop. I felt insulted. I didn't realize the teacher was saying, ‘Make it shine. It's worth it.’ Now I see revision as a beautiful word of hope. It's a new vision of something. It means you don't have to be perfect the first time. What a relief!”

― Naomi Shihab Nye

“Revision is not going back and fussing around, but going forward into the process of creation.”

― May Sarton