Comments on: Revising (a NaNoWriMo update)

By: Jennie Evans

Jennie Evans — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 18:30:24 +0000

I am making January my personal NanoWriMo. With my side business having taken off the past few months, the kids activity schedules, and my partially completed diy bathroom remodel, I decided to take the 6 weeks (started a couple of weeks ago) to really dedicate getting something’s out of my way. The kids schedules really settle down in January, and I am working extra diligently in getting the house completed so I don’t constantly get side tracked!

By: angela

angela — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 14:41:14 +0000

sounds like a great use of the NaNoWriMo challenge! I appreciate the peek into your writing/revision/rewrite process. I’ve always wanted to write a book, but somewhere and somehow I became scared to write. Literally I fear putting words on the page.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s book ‘Big Magic’ was a great read on quieting the self doubt and fear related to being creative, but I really love hearing exactly the steps a person takes to get their words out there. The idea that putting in hard work and time into writing is comforting in a way; now if I could only stop making false equivalency excuses for how I don’t have the time… hmmm

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 20:25:46 +0000

In reply to Meghan.

@Meghan – as I’ve made it through my draft once, I am now seeing that much has to be re-written… oh well. So it goes!

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 20:25:16 +0000

In reply to Gwen. @Gwen- good point. I love how a really good translation can re-create the same feel that the original language would have had.

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 20:24:10 +0000

In reply to Caroline Rose.

@Caroline – a good point for students to know. “Good” writers are people who do a lot of revisions. The more revisions you do, the better you get on first drafts…and then you know how to make them even better after that.

Thanks for the good wishes. I made it through the draft and unfortunately right now I think I need some space — which means I may not stick with my NaNo schedule. May have to resume it later…

By: Gwen

Gwen — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 19:06:02 +0000

One of my favorite kinds of cross-training for writing is literary translation, particularly poetry, as striving to convert the effects achieved in one language into another language where those same effects aren’t necessarily achieved by the same means forces you to focus on how language functions and take conscious control of this on a deeper level than one normally does in dealing only with one’s native language. So I’ve been learning a lot about how to use English more effectively by translating some French poetry this month.

By: Caroline Rose

Caroline Rose — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 19:00:18 +0000

I *just* turned in an article for Random House’s education blog that focuses on the aspects of writing I wish I’d known while teaching. “Revision is where the real writing happens” is something I’ve had to learn on my own, something I know would have benefitted my students if I’d fully understood it back then.

Good luck with your draft!

By: Meghan

Meghan — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 18:10:28 +0000

Great that you’re staying on track! It’s funny how true it is that characters speak for themselves. I’ve found this revising process has largely been a complete rewrite. I spent time at the beginning of this year breaking down my first draft and basically extracting an outline, completely rewriting most of the first third. I’m finally at the point where I’m copying and pasting more from the first draft, but this revision will really end up being the first revisable (vs. rewritable) draft. I like your running and cross-training metaphors, too. Very apt!