How many revisions does it take for your MS to lose its spark?
“Let’s find out.
One…
tWoo…
thhhhreee”
*CRUNCH*
I wish I only had to do three revisions. Three, and I might still be gushing about it for launch. But I find when I’m reading my novel for the twentieth time my MS loses its spark.
Finish the MS—Wow, this is the best thing I’ve ever written! Perfect!
First revision after letting it sit—Wow, this needs work but what great scenes and dialog! I love it!
Second revision—Wow, I can’t believe how many mistakes I missed after that last edit, but it’s still awesome!
Fifth revision—Wow, still so much work. I’ve got to rewrite a few scenes, but it’s pretty good stuff.
Tenth revision—Wow, I think I need glasses since I’m still finding mistakes! Eh. It’s okay.
Fifteenth revision—Wow, another revision, I don’t think I can read it again. I hope I’m going in the right direction.
Nineteenth revision—Wow, this has to be the last revision! I’m so sick of it! That’s it. I’m done.
Twentieth revision—Wow, is this even any good anymore?
I’m sure this happens to every author, but I imagine it must be harder for the self-published author since you have to feel confident about the piece you’re about to release to the world—on your own. You don’t have team cheering you on from behind. A team that has thought so highly of your project that they have invested in it.
Of course, even LOTR and Pride and Prejudice would lose its spark after twenty reads within a short amount of time. So what do you do when you start to question if your MS is still good when you have worn it out like a pair of comfortable sneakers?
You must have rounds of beta readers. You need someone at every stage of processing to tell you that you’ve got something there. You need someone to see your twentieth revision with fresh eyes. You need them to tell you it’s amazing and which parts they laughed and cried at. Then they tell you two or three small things that they would change and you’re back to revision twenty-one:
Wow, they loved it, so this must be good. I just have to fix a few things and it’s off to the editor who will be so impressed with how much work I’ve done this time.
After the editor—Wow, I can’t believe I missed all these mistakes. Am I ever going to learn comma placement? *bangs head*
So what about you guys? How many revisions does it take before your eyes bleed and doubt sets in?
laurenwaters 
This is funny, because it`s true!
With By the Sword I literally edited it 20 times as well – before sending it to the editor. I almost thought I was going to snap by the last edit, but what helped me was pretending to be different people reading it. I know that probably sounds odd, but it helped me pick out things more. I’d cringe at certain parts thinking “oh man this person would find it so cheesy”. Or, “This would have so much more punch if the sentece read like this instead.”
Beta readers and reader buddies definitely help reassure you that you still have an exciting story when editing has taken its toll.
What a great idea to pretend to be someone else reading it! And by that time I’m so crazy it would be easy to split personalities! I’m going to try that on my next read 🙂
Haha you’re too funny! 🙂 I hope it works well for you during the next read.
It makes me feel better to realize other people go through this as well. Soooo much better!
On my 10th revision, I started to get a little sick of it. But I knew I wanted to cut the word count even further, so I’m on my 11th revision now. The one good thing of being oh-so-over my MS? It’s much easier to cut words. I’m like a literary doctor with a sharp scalpel that’s not afraid to use it.
That is so true! The first revision you can’t think of cutting out much, but on the last read you’re just like, “I hate this sentence—bye bye!”
I guess that is what makes the twentieth revision the best, you’re so sick of it that the sentimentality is gone. They’re not your babies anymore, they’re the cursing, problematic, whining teenagers you can’t wait to ship off to college 🙂
“Bye-bye!”
My problem is I can’t STOP going back to edit, so I never get started on the next chapter. It is frustrating. 😦
I’m also having this problem, Diane. When I say I’m on my twentieth revision, um, I haven’t even finished the book yet! I know, that’s terrible, but I’m so wrapped up in what I’ve finished that I haven’t sat down and made myself write the rest. All in good time right? We’ll all get there 🙂
Great reading your ppost