Revising

Back when you wrote the draft you now realize needs fixing, you thought you were ready—to send it out into the world, to get it published. Revision will be difficult but perhaps more accessible now that you have tools, standards, and targeted benchmarks to work with.

But to make sure you’re ready, let’s look at what all this really means.

NOBODY LIKES TO TALK ABOUT REVISION

But that’s why we’re here, and already we’re well down a contrarian path. But to fully embrace the revision process, we need to get your mind in the right place, myopically focusing on the formidable task of making your story better using a new and upgraded set of storytelling skills, tools, and principles.

Here’s a short list for you.

This one identifies criteria from the reader’s side of the page and defines the things readers are looking for in a story, grouped into three categories. Readers don’t care about plot