Tag Archives: revision

Why Is It So Hard to Write Badly?

Posted on April 24, 2015 by J. Sevick

One of the most important tricks to actually start writing—perhaps the key to a finished first draft—is to learn how to write badly. This may seem counterintuitive; after all, isn’t the point of learning to write and wanting to write … Continue reading →

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In the Trenches: Tips for a First Draft

Posted on March 6, 2015 by J. Sevick

So I’m writing again, which is… awesome. Scary, always, but awesome. But, as always, it means I’m in my head too much, constantly analyzing and worrying and working to psych myself up. I won’t say that writing is more of … Continue reading →

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Micro-Editing, or Why Editing on a Computer is Easier

Posted on November 10, 2014 by J. Sevick

There comes a point, when you’ve read your work several times, and each sentence seems to work—that you feel like you’re done. And maybe you are. But there’s one other stage of editing that can really only be done on … Continue reading →

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The Read-Aloud

Posted on November 7, 2014 by J. Sevick

It’s a bit of common writing advice to read your work aloud as a part of the editing process. Sounds reasonable enough—it lets you hear your dialogue and whether or not it sounds natural; gives you a sense of clumsy … Continue reading →

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Receiving Feedback

Posted on November 3, 2014 by J. Sevick

When you finally send your work out into the world to be read, you have to be prepared for what will come back (if you ask for feedback). Depending on who reads it and what sort of reader they are, … Continue reading →

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Exposition from the Other Side

Posted on September 23, 2014 by J. Sevick

Approaching your story as the author, one of the most difficult things to figure out is what your story will look like from the outside—from a reader who has no knowledge of your world. No matter how objective you attempt … Continue reading →

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When Is It Ready to Be Read?

Posted on September 22, 2014 by J. Sevick

At some point, if your goal is to have other people read (and potentially even pay for) your work, you have to… actually let someone read it. Even though this was planned from the beginning of the project, it can … Continue reading →

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The Second Draft: The Stage of Doubt

Posted on September 18, 2014 by J. Sevick

So I finally got back on the revision track, with fits and starts as is my life. Why has revision been so much harder, mentally, than writing the first draft? I’d always thought that getting through the first draft was … Continue reading →

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Lacking Focus

Posted on September 2, 2014 by J. Sevick

There are a lot of reasons why I’m struggling so much to get invested in revision. I’ve spent a lot of time in the last couple of weeks talking about these potential reasons, so I won’t list them here. But … Continue reading →

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The Second Draft: The Initial Edits

Posted on August 29, 2014 by J. Sevick

For some reason, I have been completely unmotivated in revising my project. It’s not that I don’t want to get it ready for someone else to read it—I absolutely do. But whether it’s laziness, impatience, fear, intimidation, or simply not … Continue reading →

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