When I was writing the first draft of my current work-in-progress (a middle-grade novel), I kept going by telling myself, “Just get the story out—you can revise it later.”
Now the draft is finished and I’m in the revising stage…now it’s “later.”
And now I need something else to tell myself, to keep me going.
It turns out that finishing a novel feels like a moment of mountaintop glory followed by a long, tired, and still-difficult hike back down to the bottom. Or like an elaborate, expensive party, and now the bill has come due—and the cleanup work, too. Or an exciting ocean voyage, followed by a boggy quagmire.
Revising is not as much fun as drafting, at least for me. I find it hard to keep motivated, even though I really do want to polish my work and get it out there in the world, and I want it to be the best it can be.
But in the everyday grind of life—in which it’s already hard for me to get writing time— I tend to not want to spend those precious moments on revising. I want to just write.
So the revising work keeps stalling out; I’ll go for days without working on it at all. It’s apparently not interesting/stimulating/rewarding enough for my ADHD brain, even though it’s something I do care about doing in a values sense.
I’m definitely open to any and all suggestions!
Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
Make a structured revising plan. This was/is my plan…sensible, I think, but maybe too much in practice:
First, fix obvious problems and major plot/character changes needed. (Done)
Second, go through page by page and revise for stronger, clearer writing overall. (Done, for now, anyway)
Third, go through and add more sensory/concrete details for even better writing. (working on it now)
Fourth, go through and revise to check for genre appropriateness (in this case, word choices that correspond to a middle-grade reading level).
Fifth, send it to trusted friends/beta-readers; then make any changes based on their feedback.
Using a timer for the work each day. This does help…but not really enough.
Printing out the manuscript to mark up with colorful pens. This is much more fun than doing revising/editing work on a screen…but still, not enough.
Go ahead and start querying. I’ve just begun this idea of going ahead with querying even though the manuscript doesn’t feel perfected, in order to feel like there’s real action happening on the work. I have queried one agent so far (!!!) and haven’t heard back yet; I have the next one picked out for when the stated response time-window expires.
Here’s what I’m thinking about doing next:
(sheepish cringe) I might just stop revising for now and send it to my beta readers as it is, then move on to drafting the next book in the series.
At least that way I would be moving forward with my “Project Writing Practice” (PWP, as I call it) instead of just basically treading water.
Advice?
If you have some advice for me on how to keep myself moving with revising my manuscript to make it better and stronger, please do share!
I think trying to engage with the work at least once a day can be helpful, but the trick is to give yourself the grace not to take any tangible action. This could look like picking up the ms, holding it for a moment, and putting it back down--an acknowledgement that it's meaningful even if you don't have energy to work on it that day. Or reading the next page just to get wheels turning in your brain without forcing yourself to make any changes.
One thing you could gain from sending it to beta readers is identifying places that actually need revision. Some parts you might be worried about may read just fine to others. I think the key is to be clear to your betas what kind of feedback you want. Do you want line editing or wording suggestions? Or just point out places where things were confusing. Or even just tell me the good stuff--point out what you like, positive feedback only. All are valid.
This is a long, slow process, so make sure to practice patience and self-compassion. You're not on anybody else's clock. You're right that the draft was a lot of work too, so while you might not be *done* you've still come a long way and that's something to celebrate! I know you'll get there, one step at a time. ✨