Right-Brained Revisers, Unite!
By Liz Michalski | May 28, 2021 |
When it comes to revising, I am team right-brain all the way. (That statement is pretty much true when it comes to life as well.)
I cannot do spreadsheets. They make me nervous and give me hives and I’m constantly forgetting what’s at the top of the column and inputting the wrong information. I love Scrivener for drafting, but its organizational properties are beyond me. I have been known to forget the name of the current draft I am working on and spend all morning tinkering with the wrong one.
In other words, I’m a revising failure.
And yet, in the past two years, I have revised my manuscript more times than I can count, bringing it from hot mess to passable to ready-to-send-out to agents to … sold. So, in the interests of assisting my fellow right-brainers, here is my method. (All my left-brained friends, please look away. You may get queasy.)
Write down one line that captures what your story is about on an index card and tape it above your computer. Every time you work on your manuscript, read it, and ask if the changes you are making serve that story. (Keep in mind that what’s on the card may change. When I started my current book, DARLING GIRL, my card read “What would happen if Peter Pan grew up and turned out to be a real son of a bench?” Over time, that evolved to “What lengths will a mother go to save her children, and what if she has to choose between them?”)
Make sure you have plot and tension. Once I have a story draft I’m relatively happy with, I print out the beat sheets I used as an outline, and check off or revise each step. (Not familiar with beat sheets? See here for more information. I also check to make sure that the beats are hitting around where I’d planned them.)
Examine your characters. I write down each character’s name in my notebook, and describe how they started and how they ended, and if their arc isn’t big enough or convincing enough, I revise them. I also keep a list of all the character’s full names and check to make sure the more complicated ones are consistent throughout. If I find a mistake in the spelling, I use the search function throughout the manuscript to make sure I haven’t repeated it.
Do the basics one more time. Listen to the manuscript using text-to-speech software, check spelling and grammar, and try to cut about ten percent off the manuscript to trim any fat. Once that’s done it’s time to …
Seek feedback. There comes a point when I’m incapable of making any more changes on my own. It feels as if every word is imprinted on my brain, and I can’t tell if they are good words or bad words. This is when I send my manuscript out.
Depending on the stage you’re at, you might be sending it to beta readers, agents, or editors, paid and unpaid. The rules are the same — send out a manuscript that’s as perfect as you can make it, treat the reader like gold, be humble, be appreciative.
Also, send your manuscript out in small batches. Don’t blast it to all your readers or to every agent on your list at once. I usually send my manuscript to one or two beta readers, and just a handful of agents.
Analyze feedback. But don’t do it as soon as you get comments back — let them sit for a bit. I read feedback immediately but don’t take any action for about a week, which gives my brain time to stop being defensive and start recognizing helpful advice. Once I’m ready, I go through my reader’s comments and make a list of each one, literally writing them into a document and printing it out. (And yes, I include the ones I disagree with.)
Next, I print out my own manuscript and read it over, keeping those comments and my index card describing what my story is about nearby. Sometimes, that close read with the comments buzzing in my head is enough to make me see that feedback I’d initially disagreed with — say, that my main character needs to be more likable, for example — is right. In that case, I’ll take a pad of sticky notes in a color I’ve assigned to that character, go through the manuscript and flag every spot where there’s an opportunity to soften her, and then go back in to the electronic version and do it.
Other times I may continue to disagree with a comment. I still keep it on my list though. And when my manuscript is ready for another round with readers — after I’ve repeated all the steps listed above — I’ll send it back out. If that same comment pops up again from a different reader, I know I need to address it.
This part can be tricky. I’ve learned to examine not just what my reader is saying I need to change, but the elements surrounding the comment. The key to figuring what exactly isn’t working is to stay open-minded and listen to what people are saying, then balance what you think is true in your story with how the reader perceives it. For example, when I was revising DARLING GIRL, I received feedback that a particular characteristic of one of my characters wasn’t working. The suggestion from more than one reader was to cut it.
But to me, it was really important that my character keep it — it’s a fundamental part of who he is. Later, my amazing editor also felt it didn’t work, but after discussing it at length, it turned out she felt the characteristic wasn’t grounded in the story. The easier path would have been to eliminate it, but she agreed to let me try to revise it and make it more a central part of the character. After much work, I think I accomplished exactly that.
So in summary, keep your printed manuscript and your old-fashioned index cards close and your sticky notes even closer. Right-brained revisers of the world, unite!
Your turn — are you a left-brained or right-brained reviser? Do spreadsheets make you break into a sweat, or are they your best friend? And what are your best revising tips? Please leave your answers below!
Liz Michalski’s (she/her) second novel, Darling Girl, was published in 2022 by Dutton. Her first novel, Evenfall, was published by Berkley Books (Penguin). Liz has been a reporter, an editor, and a freelance writer. In her previous life, she wrangled with ill-tempered horses and oversized show dogs. These days she’s downsized to one husband, two children and a medium-sized mutt.
I’m a right-brain reviser finishing a revision that I’m about to send out to a handful of agents. I’m printing out your post so I can refer to it as I move forward in this process. I began this novel some years back, and as I go round and round in the revisions, I find that I keep having to level up, which hopefully means that as I’ve built this story, maybe I’ve been getting a handle on my craft. The learning and growing never stops. Thanks also for talking about beats!! Will check out Greers class.
Susan, I hear you — every time I think I’m done with a revision, I learn a new way to improve it. Best of luck as you send yours out!
Love this, Liz, especially your advice about probing for full context re: critique that runs counter to what you need for a story or character.
Thanks, Teri! I struggle seeing the big picture sometimes but it is always worth it!
Hey Liz–As a right-brainer, I’m raising my (right) fist in solidarity. Great tips! Also, I cannot wait to read this story. The more I hear, the more anxious I become.
Thanks for always inspiring me. Happy Friday!
Thanks so much Vaughn! Enjoy the weekend!
Liz, I’m printing this out. This makes so much sense to me, especially the way you utilize notecards. I’m going to start taping an index card to my computer. I’ve found over time that one line does change and what a perfect way to stay focused rather than going through pages and pages of notes.
Thank you, thank you!
Hi Deb! I’m so glad it makes sense to you. Good luck with your writing journey!
I’m with you, Liz–a right-brainer at heart. I do have left-brain skills because my professional career demands a high degree of organizational and budgeting skills. In my writing career, I have evolved from a pantser to a plotter. I found myself going down too many rabbit holes as a pantser, so after much hand-wringing, I decided I would start each WIP with a broad outline. With my latest project, I broke down and created a spreadsheet with columns and cells for Scene/Character(s) Involved/Setting/What happens/Resolution. I tend to follow the Goal-Conflict-Disaster format when writing scenes, though for me, the disaster is often an unresolved conflict that deepens. I believe the bottom line is that every writer needs to create a system that works for that writer. I love your idea of writing down and posting the one line that captures the story. It’s a great way to maintain focus on the overall theme of the story. I wish I had done that with my last novel. I would have saved a lot of time. I hope you are well and best wishes to you and your family for a relaxing holiday weekend.
As a born pantser, my process has also evolved, Christopher, although I’m still not at the spreadsheet level! And I agree with you that each writer needs the system that works best for them, and also for the book they are working on at the time. Wishing you a wonderful weekend as well!
Thanks for your recommendation of the arc index card! I let my story write itself and the characters tell who they are and why. Now I am in the process of filling in action and and subplot to make a more well rounded murder mystery. But I haven’t considered the over all arc to the story line, other than the logical A-B-C. An obvious omission on my part, since logic doesn’t sell murder mysteries.
I”m glad the idea resonated with you, Charlotte! It definitely helps draw me back in to the bones of my story when I am revising.
So much wisdom in this piece! And oh yes, the complicated struggle to process feedback that you don’t “agree with.”
What really makes my brain spin is when I get contradictory feedback. For my WIP, the beta reading service I hired told me that the pace in the first quarter of the MS was too slow—but my developmental editor (also paid) told me they were nuts and it was just right! Of course, I liked her answer better LOL but I tried to take the critique seriously. What I discovered was that people may feel, experientially, that something is off, but don’t always know what words to use to describe or identify it. In this case, when I sat with the MS , what I came to was that the problem wasn’t that more stuff needed to happen, more quickly, but that the reader needed to understand what the events meant to the protagonist, emotionally. The takeaway for me is not to reject any feedback, but to ponder it more deeply to see what it may actually be pointing to.
That’s the hardest kind of revision, for me. Not the tweaking of the language, but the journey below the surface … Thanks for making me think about this today!
Writing is so subjective, and that is part of the charm and the struggle for me, particularly when receiving feedback. I think for me the best approach is what you detailed — sit with the feedback for a bit and see what part of it really resonates, and then dig a little deeper to see why.
Thanks for reading!
I revise in a similar way, but instead of print outs, I send my drafts to my Kindle and use the Notes feature to mark each place that needs a change. When I revise I’ll delete each Note as it’s fixed.
I also list the changes to make from beta readers into a doc. I write out (for my eyes only) my reasoning to not make a suggested change. Sometimes I don’t make a good enough argument to convince myself. I agree it’s best to wait a while, to let go of the defensive blind spot. I’ll go back over that list after what I think is the final draft and may see a reason to make more changes. But like your example, it often requires some detective work to figure the real problem.
Thanks for the post. I love to hear the solutions others have discovered for themselves.
Ada, I love the idea of writing out why you don’t agree with feedback — I’m going to add that to my arsenal. And your way is definitely more environmentally friendly, but I just can’t get my brain to work as well with feedback on screens.
Loved this article. Curious to know—at what point in your process did your index card change from “Peter Pan” to “What lengths…mother go?”
Thanks, Janee! It was actually feedback from a reader, believe it or not. They handed the manuscript back to me and suggested I take a closer look at what my subject matter truly was. Sometimes, what I THINK I’m writing about isn’t what my brain is ACTUALLY struggling with, which I find fascinating. Writing is kind of like therapy, no?
I love this! Thanks! I hate spreadsheets and the thought of keeping one would turn me off writing the book. Give me a printed ms, colored pens and sticky notes any day.
Carri, my brain just works better and retains information better when I can handle something tangible. (Also, I may have a colored pen addiction,)
By the time I get to this stage I’m usually a ‘no-brain’ reviser, though once I’m into it, it’s a relief to be doing something less demanding than creating something out of nothing.
Lynn, I go back and forth on which is more difficult for me, drafting or revising — I suppose it depends on which one I’m doing at the time!
Great piece, Liz – and very actionable!
But am I cray-cray for thinking this is actually kind of a “left brain in disguise” approach? Maybe there’s no spreadsheet involved, but to me this seems to be a very methodical (and very GOOD) way to 1) make sure nothing falls through the cracks while revising, and 2) stay true to the overall thing(s) you’re trying to accomplish with your story.
Perhaps the individual components of this list are right-brain in nature, but by taking the time to list them out, with clear objectives for what to do about each item, I think you’ve created a wonderful righty-lefty hybrid!
While I don’t totally buy into the whole right brain/left brain thing, I definitely lean more toward the left, at least in terms of how most people define those terms. But that being said, this right-brain approach makes all the sense in the world, and is something I’m going to hang onto.
Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by and reading, Keith! And shhhhhh, don’t let my brain hear that I’ve tricked it into doing something organized and rational! That said, it really is difficult for me to hold onto all those loose threads of a story without some sort of plan, and this is the best I’ve come up with so far.
Keith, I’m with you! I read this and thought, That’s an awful lot of organization compared to what I usually can manage! Lol.
How I keep track of which version I am supposed to be working on is to have the font in a different colour – not black. You can imagine I learned this trick by sad experience.
OH JULIA! I FEEL YOU! That’s a great idea! I’ve started saving that day’s work with the date in the title, and also emailing it to myself as a backup, which seems to be working so far.