Monday, June 3, 2013

The Second Revision

This is a sort of sequel to the post on your first draft. If you read it, you'll know that in your first draft you want to concentrate mostly on the major details, the ones that make or break a book.

On the second revision however, which you probably want to do as it's hard for someone to get things perfect on the first draft. A third revision will probably be required as well, for the matter.

But anyway, as you probably have most of the plot kinks worked out on the first revision, and if you find that you're working on major plot points on your second revision, it means that your first one wasn't very effective, or you're going way too crazy with the revision thing.

So anyway, what you probably want to look for are typos, grammatical errors, and also some mistakes you might find in dialogue. (Not grammatical mistakes, mistakes that show a character talking as they usually wouldn't.) You might find a plot hole or two that needs filling, but otherwise you shouldn't be concentrating too much on the plot by that point. It should also be shorter than your first revision.

Now, after that, you might find that you want to do the following things as well:

1. Read the book to yourself. You might find quite a few mistakes when you read your book out loud. Most computers come with a microphone and voice recording programs, so you can also hear yourself reading your book. It'll definitely be long, but illuminating.

2. Read the book backwards. Read your book backwards sentence by sentence. This will help you focus on grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, because then you're not concentrating on plot details.

3. Get a beta reader. This is self-explanatory, and you want someone to read it. Even if it is someone you know, you need someone who will read it from a reader's angle.

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