IngramElliott Publishing
  • Welcome
    • About
  • Film & TV
  • Titles
    • A Call to China
    • Benny Moon: Racing the Medicine Wheel
    • Benny Moon Eats Dirt
    • Benny Moon Saves the Standing People
    • Between the Ocean and the Stars
    • The Button Collector
    • Clown William
    • Clown William and the Lincoln County War
    • Clown William and the Wind of Vengeance
    • The Cornbread Letters
    • Crooked Lines
    • First Line of Defense
    • Highlights of Palmistry
    • Hungry
    • Indian Country
    • Island Whispers
    • JuJu Justice
    • Medicine Hat Moments
    • Ms. Mulligan and the Enchanted Ice Cream
    • Mystery Muffin & Soda Pop Slooth: The Legend of Mr. Creepy
    • Mystery Muffin & Soda Pop Slooth: The Ghost of Crippler's Creek
    • Path of the Half Moon
    • Courses of the Cursed
    • Merging Paths
    • Surrender
    • TimeLock
    • TimeLock 2: The Kyoto Conspiracy
    • The Timestream Verdict
    • Whispers on the Wind
    • WWCC Heroes: Pablo's Adventure
    • WWCC Heroes
  • Submissions
  • News & Updates
  • Shop
    • IE Merch Mall
    • Amazon
    • Barnes and Noble
  • Contact

Revisionist? History.

4/13/2016

0 Comments

 
Jerome Stern wrote in his time-honored tome on creative writing, Making Shapely Fiction, that, "a story that appears full-blown, finished, and completely realized in its first draft is rarer than the ninety-yard pass, the hole-in-one, or the sixty-foot basket....for writers the general rule is revision."

​In today's world of flash fiction, six-second videos, and 140 character limitations, revisions can seem outdated. Got a cell phone? You're a writer. Have 100 followers reading about your love for corn-based foods? You're a blogger. It seems in today's world of quick hits, the lost art of editing can be, well, lost.

Revisions are the heart and soul of a story. Yes, the first blush of inspiration can be intoxicating. But even Mozart had lots of dark, inky blobs on his parchment. Because even geniuses don’t get it right on the first try. In fact, we believe that honing the manuscript, digging into the details, removing unneeded adverbs, and adding that essential detail to your character’s backstory… are what will make your writing fall into melodic perfection.

​Mr. Stern goes on to encourage writers not to get hung up on first-draft ideas, but also not to mercilessly cut passages that may be their freshest just because they are weird. Revisions can take a story sideways, or up, down, or forward. You may end up with a completely different story than you started with. This can sometimes freak writers out, but we say revisions are the layers on your cake, the cherry on your sundae, and the gravy for your biscuits.  
​
Allow revising your manuscript to be progressive, but know when to call it quits. Once you’ve taken the story as far as it can go at this moment in time – it could be one revision or six – it is time to let your creation live on its own. Pull the plug and let it sing. Like Mozart, you’ll eventually hit all the right notes.  
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

      Join our mailing list

    Subscribe

    Archives

    March 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    June 2024
    March 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    November 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016

    Categories

    All
    10 Years
    Adobe
    Advertising
    Amazon
    Austin Film Festival
    Author Interview
    Author Platform
    Authors
    Awards
    Barnes & Noble
    Bestseller
    Blog Tours
    Blog Writing
    CIBA
    Contests
    Editing
    Events
    Gift Guide
    Gifts
    Goodreads
    Holidays
    IBPA
    Independent Publishers
    IndieBound
    IngramElliott
    IPPY
    Marketing Books
    Merchandise
    New Releases
    NIEA
    Podcast
    Publishing
    Reading For Kids
    Reviews
    Social Media
    Uncommon Publishing
    Virtual Assistant
    Writing Tips

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture
©2015-2025 IngramElliott, Inc.
  • Welcome
    • About
  • Film & TV
  • Titles
    • A Call to China
    • Benny Moon: Racing the Medicine Wheel
    • Benny Moon Eats Dirt
    • Benny Moon Saves the Standing People
    • Between the Ocean and the Stars
    • The Button Collector
    • Clown William
    • Clown William and the Lincoln County War
    • Clown William and the Wind of Vengeance
    • The Cornbread Letters
    • Crooked Lines
    • First Line of Defense
    • Highlights of Palmistry
    • Hungry
    • Indian Country
    • Island Whispers
    • JuJu Justice
    • Medicine Hat Moments
    • Ms. Mulligan and the Enchanted Ice Cream
    • Mystery Muffin & Soda Pop Slooth: The Legend of Mr. Creepy
    • Mystery Muffin & Soda Pop Slooth: The Ghost of Crippler's Creek
    • Path of the Half Moon
    • Courses of the Cursed
    • Merging Paths
    • Surrender
    • TimeLock
    • TimeLock 2: The Kyoto Conspiracy
    • The Timestream Verdict
    • Whispers on the Wind
    • WWCC Heroes: Pablo's Adventure
    • WWCC Heroes
  • Submissions
  • News & Updates
  • Shop
    • IE Merch Mall
    • Amazon
    • Barnes and Noble
  • Contact