I was just telling the writers I coach in The Write Gym that revision surprises me every time. I suppose that’s one of the things I love about being a writer. There is no line in the sand. There are gray areas and this is a profession where you’ll be constantly learning because of said gray areas. I started on my seventh round of revisions roughly two and a half months ago. This time, there was more pressure than usual. What if I couldn’t figure out how to tackle the problems brought to my attention? What if my agent hated the manuscript and I disappointed her? What if I really had no idea what I was doing after all?
I wasted a lot of time worrying and agonizing like I suspect many of us writers often do. In the very tall pile of all that worry and agony though, were lessons—as there always are. I figured sharing these might be worthwhile and may even help other fellow writers out.
1. It’s okay if something takes longer than expected.
Confession: I missed three deadlines. While I was hard on myself about that, I took a step back and remembered that the important part was to keep moving forward. It would have been really easy to get stuck on the fact that I had missed those deadlines. I honestly wanted to give up many times. But at the end of the day, my current novel is so important to me that I had to finish. It would be one step closer to my goal, so there was no question at that point. The other thing I was reminded of was that sometimes, things take a little longer, and it’s okay. I prefer not to rush progress—the story is always better for it in the end.
2. Ask for help.
No seriously, ask for help. In my case, asking for help meant asking my agent for more time. I was killing myself trying to make this deadline. I worked on the novel every day, but there were parts of the revision that required more thinking than others. There were scenes that needed more attention than others. There were characters that needed more rounding out than others. My characters, including the supporting ones, are very complex people, and they did not want to be rushed.
Despite missing said deadlines, the extra time allowed for me to have enough time to think these characters and their actions through. I’m also co-writing a book with another writer and I realized I just couldn’t juggle the two projects along with work life. Again, I was afraid of disappointing her. But my fatigue was real. I emailed to tell my writing partner that I needed a couple weeks of pause so I could finish revisions. She was so understanding! And it took a lot of pressure off my shoulders. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
3. You don’t have to suffer.
One of the things I’ve learned is that I don’t like sitting at my desk to write. (Don’t judge me or @ me.) I like writing in my bed. So that’s what I did. I also decided to create my own writing ambience. I lit a lavender candle (my favorite and good for relaxation!), used my lamp instead of the harsh overhead light, and put on Hallmark Christmas movies. This made me feel so comfortable while I wrote. I had to write at night because I’m usually working during the day, so this made me look forward to writing time!
4. Remember the darn playlist and Pinterest board.
I realized I spend all that time procrastinating (er, I mean wisely using my time) at the beginning of a project by making playlists and Pinterest boards…and then I don’t use them. During this round of revision, I got stuck quite a bit and I’d go back to a song that reminded me of a particular scene or I’d review my Pinterest board in those moments. In almost every case, it helped unblock me in some way.
Writers can’t help but apply pressure when it comes to writing and sometimes, we unintentionally make things harder for ourselves. What I learned and shared about above are pretty simple lessons. They were all small adjustments that helped get me through another round of revision, and took some of the pressure off so I could concentrate on what was most important: the story.
If you’re struggling with revisions yourself, you might also try checking out the workbook we published last year, The Complete Revision Workbook for Writers by Arielle Haughee.
Racquel Henry is a Trinidadian writer, editor, and writing coach with an MFA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She is also a part-time English Professor and owns Writer’s Atelier. Racquel is also the co-founder and Editor at Black Fox Literary Magazine and the Editor-in-Chief at Voyage YA. She is the author of Holiday on Park and The Writer’s Atelier Little Book of Writing Affirmations. Her fiction, poetry, and nonfiction have appeared in various literary magazines and anthologies. When she’s not working, you can find her watching Hallmark Christmas movies.
