MY REVISION PROCESS | first draft to ready for publication

[@aidenignition]

I know it's like a parasocial relationship, but I literally feel like I've learned to write with you. I finally opened my novel project after FOREVER. I'm dedicated to finishing this damn book. Your hair looks amazing btw.

[@aidenignition]

MY book's problem is that the first half was discovery written, and I was so excited to finish it, that I plotted the second half and I shifted from a character driven story to a plot driven story that was supposed to give all these emotional payoffs. It doesn't work. I love the first half of the book, and I want to polish it and make it even more beautiful, but I have been focused on fixing the second half. I think I may need to completely scrap the second half, but I've been avoiding that for about 3 years now.

[@annlillyjose356]

OMG the timing of this video! I am so so close to finishing my first draft (excited and nervous about it), and I’ve been really scared about developmental edits. I know it’s crucial for this book because I discovery wrote it and have a few things I already know I need to fix. Thank you so much for this video. I’m going to take a vacation after I finish the book and then just let it be for a month or two before going back into it.

[@y-m-x]

I love your perspective on this, how the parts that need most edits are the best most ambitious parts. I think that mindset will help me be less intimidated by editing.

[@KrisMF]

revision scares the crap out of me but your videos have actually made me really excited about it this time! :) I feel like your approach fits my writing style so well and the way you break up the whole process into chunks makes so much sense !!

[@ShaelinWrites]

ahh I'm glad, my whole revision process was literally the result of me being terrified of revision haha so it's basically the 'how to edit, for people who are overwhelmed' process

[@luisaah5707]

Me too! I am so happy about them.

[@EmbraceTerror]

Mind-blowing: "Oftentimes the things needing to be revised the most were the most ambitious undertaking. So, I don't like to think that the problems necessarily mean that this aspect of the book is bad, but probably that this is the most ambitious part of the storytelling." I'm writing non-fiction and have stumbled down very important rabbit holes wherein I found information counter to alleged conventional wisdom, or information we should have but is missing from societal dialogue and understanding. So, prior versions in various stages of editing had to include those newly discovered threads in rock solid logic written in easy-to-understand language before presenting it to the world for harsh scrutiny (but hopefully great enlightenment).

[@thelvey1]

BEST takeaway for me: Edit in the least overwhelming way possible. YES. I'd stalled out on my novel during editing this past many months and just recently realized that it was because my attack plan/process was overwhelming to me. I'm now focusing on the path of least resistance as I proceed. 😃

[@ShaelinWrites]

Focusing on making the process the least overwhelming as possible (rather than editing the 'right' way) was the most helpful thing when I first started doing substantive edits!

[@RiaxaraCo]

As someone who’s currently having a lot of trouble revising a novel, your videos are super helpful! :)

[@donkyoofficial]

I have yet to get one of my books to the revision stage, but so far I am on draft 3 of a book I've been working on for the last two years. Usually I catch some huge developmental issue and instead of pushing on, I decide to restart the book LOL. But this third draft should now hopefully be developmental issue free.

[@VideoGameRoom32]

Great video. Every Author has a different way of editing. I like to finish my book and have a cool off period before I edit. I think I come in with a different perspective. When I'm reading and editing it, I pretend I've never read this book before.

[@ShaelinWrites]

Cool off periods are SO helpful, I feel like I start to memorize the words if I don't take time off haha and that makes it very hard to edit.

[@andreaburton7836]

I look forward to your videos so much! They always leave me so inspire to write :)

[@Lara_Ameen]

You have a really thorough process! I’m really impressed! Still learning myself. I definitely find revisions more manageable for short stories and novellas rather than novels. I also agree about your rest break! I’m taking a break from my PhD dissertation novel before I revise and add 30K, lol.

[@AdamFishkin]

Thank you for pointing out the need for flexibility in revisions. I've found that the producers of plays and board members of theatre companies don't grasp the fact that a story will face obstacles before it's polished enough to see the light of day, and some obstacles are a messier puzzle that takes longer to solve. They will either set impossible deadlines and become overly dismissive of plays in their 1st or 2nd draft, or make their programming approach a free-for-all and put scripts into production that are flaming goddam garbage ... trusting the actors to rescue a story from its flaws. Meanwhile, the publishers of books seem to understand. The amount of revision passes you went through before you queried is consistent from what I've seen most new authors (at least here in the 2020s) doing. It looks like it works, because you're *expected* to take your time.

[@jackhaggerty1066]

A dual narrative, and an intricate series of causal connections between the real story and the myth ... The dynamic of Honey Vinegar sounds very compelling. A puzzle box of a novel. The structure sounds as mysterious as your characters and story.

[@deathbybuttons]

I edit chronologically, too. Great video, as always. I can't wait to read Honey Vinegar.

[@PhoenixCrown]

This was so helpful! I wrote my first draft with very little knowledge of the craft of creative writing. My editing has been absurdly disorganized. But I've gotten really good at the "rinse and repeat" part =P

[@jakecassar6554]

I finished drafting a novel for the first time last NaNoWriMo but I haven't opened it since. You're so right about it being overwhelming! I am looking forward to line editing though, mostly thanks to your videos about it in the past. That part seems fun! I just don't have a plan for the rest yet. This definitely helps.

[@kengause9259]

My writing process is similar to yours. I cannot not revise/edit while I'm drafting. It is part of my routine to review the previous day's work before I start writing. I also write full first drafts. It would drive me crazy to leave placeholders and keep drafting. By the end of he first draft, I want to be looking at a fairly formed novel. Then subsequent drafts are for polishing and occasional redrafting sections or adding additional connective tissue.

[@luisaah5707]

This is a great video 🤗😍. Your video makes me so enthusiastic about my revision. In the second draft. I am currently in that 2nd draft and I understand you so well.

[@booksvsmovies]

What a fascinating video. Is your process similar for short stories or do you approach revision differently for shorter work?

[@ShaelinWrites]

The process is similar but just MUCH simpler haha, but I do the same process of editing linearly, then addressing specific remaining issues, then a few rounds of line edits! Some short stories need a lot more work than others though, so for some the edits are really simple whereas for others very complicated

[@pianoismyeverything]

I love your earings so much

[@user-cu1ss2ew3w]

Is it possible to be both set at ease and quake with fear by this video?

[@L_Train]

If only I met you 4 years ago I could have changed the course of history. Ormst least delayed the inevitable.

[@ShaelinWrites]

what does this mean lmao

[@L_Train]

@@ShaelinWrites I probably shouldn't say much more. I don't want to interfere with this timeline any more than I already have. Have a great day.

[@ShaelinWrites]

@@L_Train this is so cryptic I must know

[@nitinnavale]

Any thoughts on ChatGpt? :)

[@tyler4797]

So when Im writing. And I think of something I left out or need change in a previous chapter. I’ve been going back like right then and making the change. Is that a bad habit? Should I just make a list and do one big edit at the end? In your opinion?

[@ShaelinWrites]

Either is totally fine! Some writers prefer to make edits right then, some prefer to keep them until the end. I do a combination of both honestly!

[@tyler4797]

@@ShaelinWrites ok thank you for the advice. Ya I feel like if I don’t go back an change it right then. It’ll bug me. An I won’t be able to focus on the rest lol Love your content you’re awesome:) So helpful!:)

[@tyler4797]

@@ShaelinWrites also, another thing I do in my editing. while I’m writing. I have a list of notes of ideas to go back and change things and if I think of something I wanna do later on the book. But the most helpful thing I’ve started doing is when I have an idea of something I need to change or just for something to happen in the future, I make a video to myself explaining it. As soon as I think of it, and when I watch the video later on I can better understand what the idea was exactly. Instead of just a note.

[@gao1812]

So I'm not the only one whose editing method is a long woolly mess 😂

[@mikegoddard5203]

Have you ever edited or revised from the ending to the beginning?

[@ShaelinWrites]

Personally no, just because I think that would confuse me too much! I see why that might work for someone who has a very ending-focused writing process (say they write leading up to a huge final plot twist) but I prefer to start at the beginning and work forward.

[@mikegoddard5203]

@@alpha1solace I always print out 😆

[@e-t-y237]

By chronological edits do you mean sequential edits? Gotcha! You're doing that southpaw gesturing again ... might have to do with a left brain/right brain issue of la grand mademoiselle artiste de la litterature.

[@humanwarnings1]

I have a ton of art theories. I created a whole theory about how art is beauty communicated. Anyhow, reply if you would like to read one of my books.

[@Idkwhat56]

Thank you for this, I just finished writing a novel and didn’t know where to start 🫶✨