Revising Together: Let’s form a Writing Group!
I love returning to Chenery to touch base with you, my CFG peeps. I see from the blog how much you’ve written since we last met. Bravo! You inspire me. I can’t wait to celebrate you and your work soon! Meanwhile, keep writing those stories!
Now that you have started writing your stories, it is time we talk and learn about another side of the writing process...REVISION!
I hope you learn that you can enjoy revision. People tend to find writing fun but revision un-fun. Not so! To take a piece, spot its weak parts, cut them out, and improve what’s left can be really satisfying. Some people find they love that part of the process more, and for them, editing might make a great future career. The world needs editors just as much as it needs writers.
Follow these revision suggestions and use them every time you clean up a first draft. If you do, you will grow to be strong, confident writers.
Let’s review those suggestions:
1. Find and fix confusing parts. Ask yourself: does this make sense? Will the reader understand what’s happening, or who’s doing what? Restate it clearly.
2. De-fluff your manuscript. Cut out the wordy, repetitive, or unimportant parts. Condense and simplify what’s left. Cut and fix, cut and fix your way to a rock-solid, non-fluffy draft.
3. Focus on your verbs. Make them strong (this means avoiding forms of the verb “to be” and “to have”) and keep them short (use verb forms with fewer words and fewer –ing endings). Remember, “I ate a sandwich” sounds strong, confident, and short, but “I was eating a sandwich” sounds weaker, clunkier, and less sure of itself.
4. Remember Mark Twain’s quote about word choice, and look for lightning words, not lightning bug words. Make the thesaurus and the dictionary your best friends. But remember also that as you choose more colorful and interesting words, you don’t want to get carried away too far and choose fancy-pants words.
5. Control time in your story. Make important moments pop, and less important moments hurry by, by controlling the flow of description. Focus your reader’s attention on the moments that matter by pouring in sensory (hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching) and emotional (thoughts, feelings, fears) details.
Even the best revisers need help from other smart readers to polish their stories. We can’t always see every flaw in our work. We need smart readers and editors to help us. That’s why writers form critique groups and writing clubs. If you love writing and you want your skills to grow, see Ms. Duff about joining a writing club. She plans to start one. Lucky you, CFG! I wish my school offered a writing club when I attended fifth grade.
When you revise in groups, whether with your teacher or with classmates and friends, choose kindness. Point out the things that can be improved, the confusing parts, but sandwich them in between big slabs of kindness. Even pieces with many problems have strengths you can praise. Make the effort to find what is working, and praise it up. Too much criticism can crush a developing writer’s confidence. Praise is the magic that fosters belief in a hopeful writer’s mind. When I was your age, I showed my sister Sally an essay I’d written for school. She read it and told me, very seriously, “This is very good, Julie. Maybe you’ll be a writer someday.”
Sally’s encouragement kindled belief and hope in my heart. I never forgot it. The encouragement, excitement, and belief others show for my words still keeps me writing. I mean others like you, CFG! Did you realize that your belief in me keeps me writing, too?
So remember this. Always, even when it’s hard to do, find things to praise when you review someone’s work. Was there a funny joke? A strong description? Snappy dialogue? A clever idea? A spooky scene, a scary villain, a likable character, a vivid image? Be generous and kind. Make your critique sandwich look like this:
PRAISE LOVE ENCOURAGEMENT PRAISE
[here are things to maybe fix]
PRAISE LOVE ENCOURAGEMENT PRAISE
Have fun, write lots, revise lots, and give kind and thoughtful critiques so you can receive them in return. You can do it, CFG. I see your writing. Your talent, skill, and style keeps growing. Strong readers, creative writers, smart learners, and good listeners like you can grow to be writers and editors someday. I hope so, because I want to read your books. And I want you to edit my manuscripts someday. It could happen! Wouldn’t we get a kick out of that?
Your revision prompts:
1. Eat a sandwich.
2. Join a writing group.
3. Always be kind.
4. Look for ways to encourage a friend to keep on writing, drawing, dancing, creating, singing.
5. Try to apply the techniques we practiced to your stories. After you’ve done so, comment on this post and tell me, how do you feel about your manuscript now? Does it feel stronger? Compare your excitement about your piece now to your excitement before your revised it.
