Revision & Self-Editing
Are you writing a novel? In the middle or nearing the end of a first draft? Facing yet another long and frustrating process of rewriting and revising your tenth manuscript, dreading it as you always do? Losing sleep and losing your nerve because you love your story but hate the grueling job of whipping it into shape before sending it off to your editor?
Not to worry. There's help. James Scott Bell, Christy Award winning novelist, contributing editor to Writer's Digest, conference instructor, and author of Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure, recently published a terrific handbook for all writers--novice and experienced novelist alike.
Beginning writers need to learn early in the process that there are certain essentials they must grasp and command if they ever hope to sell. Advanced writers already know they're never finished with mastering the craft: there's always more they need to learn.
Moreover, in today's crowded, competitive publishing world, there's an ever-increasing need for the serious writer also to be an accomplished self-editor. Editors don't have time and aren't paid to rewrite your manuscript--that's your job.
Plot & Structure makes the process easier and less painful, no matter where you are on the road to publication. The book is arranged in two parts, Part One covers self-editing, and Part Two covers the revision process. Here's a sampling of only a few chapters from both sections: Characters, Plot and Structure, Point of View, Scenes, Dialogue, Beginnings, Middles and Ends, Show vs. Tell, Voice and Style, Setting and Description, a Philosophy of Revision, and a Revision Checklist. The author also provides excellent writing exercises and questions to help you check your progress and comprehension.
I can't think of another author who could make the editing and revision process interesting and even fun, in addition to providing techniques that actually work--but James Scott Bell manages to do just that.
When I referred to Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing as a "handbook," I meant exactly that. It's a book for the writer to keep close at hand, because you're going to refer to it again and again. Just when you reach the point that you think you've covered all the secrets and richness it has to offer, you're almost certain to come up against a question or a problem you haven't anticipated ... and you're going to reach for this book. Trust me, it will not collect dust on your shelf.
So ... polish and publish, while enjoying the process.
BJ



