Pernell Rogers – Writer

Revisions, or re-reading what I’ve already written, is absolutely necessary. I find so many plot holes, grammatical errors, and just plain sentences/paragraphs I don’t like. For short stories, it’s not too bad, but for the longer ones, they can be a chore.

I think one reason I haven’t finished my novel is because of the revisions I’ll have to do. I’m nearing the end of the first draft, and I’ll celebrate once it’s done. Then I’ll have to let it sit for six months or so before starting the first revision. I would’ve forgotten the many details I placed in the first draft, so it will read like a new story to me. That’s when I’ll find out how good or bad the story is.

Performing revisions on this collection keeps me in practice and helps me become a better wordsmith. I’ve discovered the area of revision that slows me down the most is finding the right verb to use. I keep a tab on my browser set to thesaurus.com. I search for better words other than ‘walk’, or ‘see’, or ‘say’, etc. The appropriate word may pack a bigger punch than the ones they taught us when we first started reading.

Remember this?

“See spot run.“

How about this?

“Spot’s ears laid back against his neck right before he sprung into a full gallop.“

It’s the mind’s eye that should give you a better visual with the second sentence, and that, in a nutshell, is what I try to do when I revise. I already have the scene in my mind, and I want to transfer it to the reader. That’s why revisions are so hard. Pulling story images from my own head can be difficult, but placing them in the reader’s head is something that frightens the hell out of me. Did I do it right, or did I blow it? Did I grab the reader’s attention, or did I let them slip away?

Nevertheless, this is the journey I set out to do. Like Frodo Baggins, I’m on a quest to write the One Story.

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