This week was both surprising and challenging. My daily writer’s meditation and novel writing habit almost got me through some very freezing weather and surprise snow, and my feeling of impending doom from world politics. My morning stretching and exercise followed by meditation has really changed my relationship with my body. I’m listening to my body, and feeling like a complete system, instead of an opposing duality of mind and body that I have been for years. However, my mind was eventually worn down by distraction and horrible thoughts of “What’s the point of creation when humans are bent on destruction?” So I took yesterday off.
Set-backs will happen. I feel like giving myself a break was a healthy set-back. But only one day off and I’m finding it hard to get back into my new system. Especially since I feel a need to write more, not less. I’ve had to remind myself to be patient a lot today. Patience is everything when trying to make lasting changes and create systems of positive habits. I just started reading Atomic Habits by James Clear–I enjoyed his email course that I got through the Best Year of Your Life Summit–and plan to talk more about habit systems in my next post.
A Cold Mountain Haibun Poem Interlude
Over at dVerse Poets Pub it is Haibun Monday and Frank has challenged us to contemplate both the work of a poet from the Tang Dynasty and a physical mountain. It’s pouring today, so the mountain is not out, but I know it’s collecting snow behind those clouds.
Cold Mountain Sky
My sky is a giant, cold mountain. Even in summer its glacier keeps it white-capped. It is easy to forget the volcano sleeping inside. Like me, its heat and pressure are hidden, tucked under a thick, calm crust, for now. But it is dormant, while I toss and turn.
You shared your blanket white covering the morning a fluffy surprise
Cold Mountain Sky by Maria L. Berg 2022
Assessment
Last week was challenging. Luckily, the work I’ve done to create a daily writing habit got me through (mostly).
My weekly check-in:
What went right last week? My morning habits are really going well. I added a ten minute vocal warm-up after the full writer’s meditation and before I sit down to write. The cat absolutely hates it. It’s pretty funny. I read a thriller novel from the rather large collection of e-books I’ve collected. I’m finally excited to read one thriller after another until I’ve cleared my kindle. I can already see how I can learn both what to do and what not to do from these books. I used to have trouble finishing e-books, I guess I finally got used to reading on my tablet. I also had one night of (mostly) good sleep without the laptop!! Victory. This week, I’ll hope for two in a row. That would be amazing. But, as I said last week, I can’t try to sleep; I have to let sleep happen.
What didn’t go well last week? Russia invaded Ukraine and I had trouble concentrating on much else. I finally took a day off yesterday, and I’m not upset about it. I’m kind of amazed I got anything done at all last week. A day of distraction watching movies and cuddling with the cat was what I needed. Now, I’m ready to get back to work. I also did not meet my submission goal, but reading thrillers took priority as a novelist.
What small steps will I add this week? This week I’m adding the poetry MFA eight week program. I’ve been reading The Portable MFA in Creative Writing from The New York Writers Workshop and the poetry section interested me. Rita Gabis lays out an eight week plan of writing and reading to emulate a semester of an MFA in poetry. She recommends dedicating forty-five minutes a day to writing poetry. She also recommends breaking those minutes up into small sessions at different times of the day to explore when the optimum time is for my poetic musings. April is National Poetry Month, so I think I’ll start now, fitting the MFA program into my system. Then the second half of the “semester” will coincide with the daily poetry writing challenge. I am also going to try the Sleep Smarter Sleep Makeover again. A lot of Shawn Stevenson’s ideas have stuck with me, and now that I’ve identified some of my deeper issues, and created some good sleep habits, I’m hoping the two week program will be the extra motivation I need to get my sleep habit to stick.
Is it time to increase one of my habits? 750 words each day felt challenging, but I want to get to 1,000, so this week I think I’ll split my writing session into two 500 word sessions and see what happens.
What else did I try? I made a collection of all the thriller e-books on my kindle. There are twenty-seven. I plan to read one after the other until I have read them all.
Accountability
One area that every resource talks about is social accountability. I have found many times in the past that if I share my goals here on Experience Writing, I am more likely to achieve them.
I would really enjoy if you would like to join me in an accountability club. Every week, type your goals in the comments, or leave a link to your post and we can check in with each other to see how we did with our goals.
I tried again to do a Sunday week in review post, and again my work wouldn’t load, so Monday is my Year of Finishing Novels posts day. I am not going to waste time fighting with my internet. My time is for writing novels and reaching my goals. And sharing my progress and what I’m learning with you, of course.
Rewards
As I mentioned in my last post, a habit cycle consists of a cue, a behavior, and a reward. As I began this process of identifying the habits I would like to create, and the habits I would like to change, I found it hard to identify my rewards.
I don’t like shopping. I have everything I want and need, and I don’t have money to spend on things as rewards. I also didn’t want food or beverages to be my rewards. I felt kind of stuck. I wanted to set up these systems to reward my new behaviors, but how?
Then I really looked at myself and thought about times in my past when I was really happy. I went through a period of time when I closely associated with Tigger because I love bouncing. I’m trying to increase movement and exercise, so jumping on my rebounder (small trampoline) became a reward.
That got me thinking that many of the behaviors I enjoy that are not writing could act as rewards for meeting my small goals. With fun activities as rewards I came up with:
Jump on the rebounder
Draw for 10 minutes
Dance Break!
Go take some pictures
Stretch on yoga ball
Put stickers on stuff
10 minute meditation
Play guitar for five minutes
I was also reading Jack Canfield’s Success Affirmations and was inspired to write some phrases to tell myself I am doing great.
I wrote my action rewards and my affirmations on colorful slips of card stock paper, folded them up and put them in a jar, so when I had done my desired action, I could open my reward jar (pictured above), and get a surprise reward.
At first, when I pulled an affirmation out of my word jar and said it aloud, it didn’t feel like much of a reward. Then one day, when I was cleaning out the closet for my meditation, I found an old toy megaphone (pictured above) that has five different voice-altering settings. When I said my affirmation (any of the affirmations out of my reward jar) using the megaphone on either the high pitch, low pitch, or monotone settings, it made me laugh. That felt like a reward.
Celebrations
In Tiny Habits, BJ Fogg takes a different stand on what reward really means. He says the idea of a large reward in the future for achieving your goal isn’t going to work. You need to reward yourself instantly after your behavior (Made me think of training a pet). To do this, he chooses to fist bump and say, “I’m awesome” (Even after he flosses one tooth, since that was his tiny habit that he started with to create a flossing habit).
It’s important to send yourself that little dose of dopamine (pleasure) to get the behavior to stick. Finding what works for you is important. Fist bump and “I’m awesome” didn’t work for me. After thinking about how I respond to happy news and practicing some things, I found clapping three times and saying, “Yeah!” or “Woohoo” in a certain way, gave me a smile and a good feeling of accomplishment.
With my rewards and celebrations in place, I have the tools I need to create and solidify the small changes that will make my large goals possible.
Like the squares of Himalayan Pink Salt I’ve pinched so sparingly for years from the squat jar sitting by the coffee in the cupboard, each word can pack a surprising punch, especially when the salty bite hides in the center of the sweetest treat.
Assessment
Last week was big for me. Some set-backs and disappointments on the sleep goal, but also some break-throughs.
My weekly check-in:
What went right last week? My morning writing habit is going so well. I have started thinking about my novel the moment I wake up. This morning I ran to the keyboard so I wouldn’t forget what I was thinking, and had my daily words before I started my routine. I’m now doing the full writer’s meditation (body, heart, and mind) and getting better at sitting every day. I find that when my mind wanders, it wanders to my novel which is fantastic! I’m moving more and more throughout the day. I have fuller range of motion, and I’m pain free!!
What didn’t go well last week? Sleep is still difficult. The week’s biggest disappointment was a day and night when I felt I had done absolutely everything right, then I got into bed and it was like I didn’t know how to go to sleep. I stared into the darkness for what felt like forever. I tossed and turned and tossed and turned. I gave up and read. It felt like torture. The next day I gave in and slept with the laptop. The next day I read three sleep books. Two of them: Restful Sleep by Deepak Chopra and The Sleep Solution by W. Chris Winter explained why I had been disappointed by my efforts, and they both said the same thing: Sleep is natural; you can’t try to sleep. You have to let sleep happen. I had tried so hard, worked so hard to sleep, I had created an entirely new anxiety keeping me awake. Sounds like something I would do. But no more! This week I will let sleep happen.
What small steps will I add this week? This week I’m adding my voice to the mix. I’m going to do vocal exercises in the morning and sing and play guitar at night after I put the laptop away and before I go to bed.
Is it time to increase one of my habits? I’m happy to say I feel ready to increase my daily writing goal again. This week I’m writing 750 words or more every day. I always said I wasn’t one of those people who writes every day, but that is exactly who I am, and it’s making such a difference in every aspect of my life.
What else did I try? One of the little things I tried last week that turned out to make a huge difference, was a simple Youtube video called Vagus Nerve Reset. The sleep issues and constant state of fight or flight that my poor body has been in both stem from surviving Hurricane Katrina and the the piles of stressors after that. I never stopped being in that survival mode, until now. Since I started these small new habits of motion in the morning and meditation and paying attention to my body, I’ve noticed my range of motion improving and the knots in my back loosening up, but I also had a horrible pain in my right shoulder. I knew it was all that stress not wanting to let go; I’ve held stress in my shoulders since high school, but this was an acute pain that wouldn’t loosen up and was hurting when I tried to sleep. I was almost crying by the time I went ahead and tried the Vagus Nerve video. And I noticed a difference. That same day I did the Full body scan meditation from Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Masterclass and though my shoulder was still bothering me, by the end of the meditation, it wasn’t screaming at me. I did the Vagus Nerve Reset and the Vagus Nerve Exercises again the next day and then yesterday was my first pain free day. I was so happy I was dancing and singing around the house all day. It might be a placebo. I don’t care. I’m going to keep doing it and being so very happy.
Accountability
One area that every resource talks about is social accountability. I have found many times in the past that if I share my goals here on Experience Writing, I am more likely to achieve them.
I would really enjoy if you would like to join me in an accountability club. Every week, type your goals in the comments, or leave a link to your post and we can check in with each other to see how we did with our goals.
My goals this week are to:
Write at least 750 words of my novel every day
Add vocal warm-ups in the morning and guitar playing before bed
One story submission and one poetry submission this week
I wanted to get this post out yesterday for my new habit of Sunday Assessment and Accountability, but my internet was ridiculously slow and not loading the site, then not loading this page, so I stopped trying to force it. There was no point in fighting and making myself miserable when the information is just as relevant today. One of the important lessons I’m learning about sticking with my new habits to reach my large goals is to be flexible.
Goals
When I started breaking my dream goal of finishing my novels into its smaller goals, I came up with:
Finish First Draft
Read and Revise
Get Feedback
Revise
Edit
Polish
Each of those goals can be broken into smaller goals with steps and deadlines. At first, I tried creating some S.M.A.R.T. goals. This mnemonic stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Then I read about S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goals which added that the goal has to be Exciting and have Risk.
After breaking some of my goals into SMART and SMARTER goals, I realized there was a fatal flaw in the system for me: Time-bound goals set me up for failure. If I defined my goal around doing things at certain times and then something came up that made me late: I’ve already failed before I started.
Then I read Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg, PhD and his ideas clicked for me. Instead of using a specific time to cue a habit, create a system using the cue of “After.” Such a simple change, but it makes all the difference.
Habits
In The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, he identifies the habit cycle as:
A cue or trigger
the behavior
reward
To understand and change a habit, you need to identify you triggers, and rewards. This was hard for me at first, and I will talk more about the steps I took in my next post. To get started creating tiny habits, it helps to identify an anchor habit, something you already do on a regular basis. For BJ Fogg, it was going to the bathroom.
Tiny Habits
The idea of tiny habits is to break your goal into the tiniest, easiest thing you can do toward your bigger goal. BJ Fogg wanted to get in shape. The easiest, smallest thing he thought of was doing two push-ups. Every time he went to the bathroom, he would do two push-ups.
For my goal of finishing novels, the smallest thing I knew I could do every day toward my goal was write 500 words. I already had a habit of writing morning pages, but I wasn’t always consistent, so I lowered my morning pages to two pages instead of three, and created this habit: “After I write my morning pages, I will do my writer’s meditation. After I do my writer’s meditation, I will type 500 words of my novel.”
A Tiny Habit System
As you can see, using the word “After” instead of “At 9 am every morning” creates a system of small successes instead of setting you up to fail if your schedule changes for some reason.
Once I knew how my writing habit fit together, then I worked backwards to attach it to the one thing I know I will do every morning which is–Wake up.
Reflection with Diving Birds by Maria L. Berg 2022
Assessment
My weekly check-in:
What went right last week? Last week my morning writing habit continued solidly. The increase to 600 words worked every day. Another group of small habits paid off. I started looking at myself in my tablet camera (back on January 26th) every time I turned it on to do my writing meditation. And over time, I fixed the lighting in the room and where I placed the camera, etc. until I thought it looked like me. Then, on Tuesday, I showed my face to my Zoom writing group for the first time. It was a big step for me. And I did it again on Thursday.
What didn’t go well last week? Though I did sleep two nights without the laptop, my nightly habit attempts are still not going well. My morning pages habit was a good anchor habit to build from for my daily novel writing, but I don’t have a strong night time anchor that leads to my sleep goals–yet.
What small steps will I add this week? This week I’m adding a revision goal. I’ve found that I enjoy printing out my stories as booklets then reading and revising them as separate little books, kind of my own version of the journal “One Story.” I would like to read, revise, and type up the changes of two stories this week. Since the reading and making notes part of that goal doesn’t include the computer, I will add reading a page of my story a tiny habit as part of my night time system.
Is it time to increase one of my habits? Not this week. Last week’s increase to 600 words was good, but was challenging on a couple of days when I was tired. I’ll stay at 600 for now. My daily walk goal last week didn’t stick. I walked four days. And since it’s supposed to rain for the next week, I have changed this goal to using my cardioglide while I watch a Masterclass lesson.
What else did I try? I moved my gratitude journal and my morning movement out of the bedroom and into the office because they are part of my waking up system and I want my bedroom to be only for sleep. I was going to give up on the topical magnesium spray because it felt greasy and sticky, but then I saw Jessica Baumgardner’s article about massaging it into her feet before bed and though it still makes my hands feel icky (I can always wash my hands), I’m going to try to make it a habit.
Accountability
One area that every resource talks about is social accountability. I have found many times in the past that if I share my goals here on Experience Writing, I am more likely to achieve them.
I would really enjoy if you would like to join me in an accountability club. Every week, type your goals in the comments, or leave a link to your post and we can check in with each other to see how we did with our goals.
My goals this week are to:
Write at least 600 words of my novel every day
Increase movement by using my cardioglide while watching a Masterclass
For my year of finishing novels, my first step was identifying where I became derailed in the past. I identified three areas where I would like to make changes: 1. Sleep 2. Hormonal Imbalance 3. Priorities. I read books in these three areas and looked for simple steps I could implement right away.
Mindset Matches Identity
To make lasting changes, I needed to identify why I want to make these changes, and part of exploring my whys is also redefining my identity to match my goals.
When I started this writing journey, I self-published my photo-illustrated picture book Gator McBumpypants Hears a Scary Noise, I also had a short story published in Five on the Fifth. At this point I identified as an author and set my goals and measured my successes as an author.
This, however, is too broad an identity for my main goal of finishing novels. As an author, I submit short stories and poems; I write novel drafts, screenplays, and blog posts. I get excited by every opportunity and find myself writing constantly, spreading myself thin, and finishing the shorter projects, because I need to have pieces to submit for publication.
This year I have defined my identity more precisely to fit my goal: I am a novelist. What do novelists do? They write novels. They revise, polish, and sell novels. They eat, sleep, dream, and breathe novels. They read novels, discuss novels, plan novels.
How did that help me change my behavior? It helped me focus my priorities.
Priorities
In the past, I often found myself overwhelmed. I had a list a page long of all the things I wanted to do in a day and never could find enough time. I often felt like I was failing because I wasn’t revising my novel, or stories and though I was working all the time, I didn’t appear to have much to show for it. My problem was focus. I have so many interests, I would pursue whatever caught my eye, work for a while, and then move to the next shiny project.
Many friends said to choose three things each day, but that made me feel like I was letting important things slide, and I couldn’t choose. Then I landed on Six Rolling Priorities and it started working right away. Each morning, I list what I, the novelist, need to do.
Once I have my list, I spend some time evaluating the importance of these activities toward reaching my goal of finishing novels. Keep in mind that balancing my hormones, and getting enough sleep work toward getting words on the page, too. So my first day of Six Rolling Priorities I wanted to finish the things that already had deadlines, to clear my plate as it was, and my list was:
Watch Today’s “The Best Year of Your Life Summit” presentations
Make The Answer Books and send them
Finish my PAD Chapbook and email it
Work on fairy tale found poetry
Novel
Revise Short Stories
As you can see, that first day, I hadn’t quite stepped into my identity as a novelist, but patience is the key ingredient when making these small changes.
The next step is to break each of these priorities into their smallest steps. Let’s use my third priority as an example. I wanted to finish the Chapbook of the poems I wrote during the Poem-a-Day Challenge and submit them before the deadline. Here is how I broke down that goal:
Revise opening poem
Revise ending poem
Revise re-mix poem
Make word document (it was in Scrivener before)
Create Title page and Index
Print
Read aloud
Make final changes
Submit email entry to Writer’s Digest
Breaking each goal down like this really worked for me. It helped me see very manageable actions instead of one overwhelming demand.
That first day I was able to check off the top three priorities for that day.
So how is that different than just picking three things like my friends said? Because it feeds my imagination of thinking I can do more while being realistic at the same time. It also plans for future success by breaking down the necessary steps of the priorities that will be at the top of the list soon.
The next day’s priorities were:
Watch Summit Videos
Create found poetry
Novel
Revise Short Story
Sew
Read
Look how quickly my novel was rising in the priority list. Now it is priority one, every day.
Easy Wins
Once I started enjoying my six rolling priorities, I turned my attention to simple changes I could make to increase my chances of success. The very first thing I did was clean my room to make it more conducive to a good night’s sleep. That lead to cleaning my office, making it more inviting and conducive to my work as a novelist. Then I cleaned my closet that I use for meditation.
Once I cleaned my environment, I found some simple suggestions that I could implement right away.
For sleep: I put a couple plants in my room. I started a gratitude journal. I changed my breakfast to include a healthy oil, a protein, & leafy greens. I added movement (stretching, push-ups, and sit-ups) first thing in the morning.
For hormonal balance: I color-coded a calendar specifically for charting my cycle.
Look for overlap
I quickly noticed that a lot of the things I was reading for improved sleep, hormonal balance, and goal setting had significant overlap. To make changes, I needed to create small habits, and replace the ones that weren’t helping me toward my goal. There were also similarities in dietary changes, morning exercise, morning sun, increased magnesium, and self-care.
Tools
I discovered that I already had almost everything I needed to work toward my goals. One important change I’m making every day is asking myself, How can I make this habit easier? For example. I want to increase my movement and exercise. I have a small rebounder (trampoline) and like to jump on it, so I put it in the office next to my desk. Now, when I get up I jump on it for a little while, I’m working on using it in my reward system for creating my habits.
I like using Microsoft OneNote for my daily priorities and planning. I created a 2022 calendar in Publisher and copied it into each of my categories, so I have a copy that is my novel planning calendar for my deadlines; I have my Sleep calendar to mark my successes and evaluate what’s working and not working; I have my hormonal cycle calendar which I color-coded for the phases of my cycle. I really like the notebook-like interface for organizing all of the things I’m learning, along with the small steps I’m taking.
Each Small Step by Maria L. Berg 2022
Assessment
An important aspect of successful change is evaluating what is working and what is not working. Every little change I am making is its own experiment in the search for what is pushing me toward my goal of finishing novels, and what is pulling me from my goal. Every Sunday I will set aside time to hold myself accountable, honestly evaluate my progress, and plan the coming week’s course of action.
For this first assessment, I wanted to evaluate my original assumptions before setting up a weekly assessment. So I asked myself:
Was my identification of my three main areas for change correct?
Answer: They appear to be. Focusing my priorities has shown the fastest and most rewarding changes. My focus on getting derailed by my cycle paid off today when I was surprised by cramps a week early. I was able to work through it and adjust to the realities of my body. My focus on sleep is my most challenging, but acknowledging my fear of nightmares and the origins of my bad habits is a good start.
Do I need to change the definitions of my three main change areas?
Answer: I think I will refine my focus of my hormonal imbalance to Perimenopause. I will focus my sleep issues on PTSD and fear of nightmares. I think honing in on the underlying causes will help me with identifying the small, easy steps that I can turn into positive change. The Priorities area is defined by my identity as a novelist.
Now for the Assessment I will be developing for my weekly check-in:
What went right last week? Here’s my exciting news! My morning routine is working. Even through stressful situations, I worked on my novel every day this week. I’ll talk about tiny habits, and my tiny habit system so far in my next post, but the exciting news is it is working! This week, not only did an unexpected computer breakdown make two days worth of work disappear, I also got my period a week early–cramps, fatigue, the works–and yet, I did my morning writing routine every day. So exciting.
What didn’t go well last week? My night time routines. So far, all my good intentions and plans and steps lead to me just saying No, I don’t want to. However, I believe that many of my techniques aren’t working due to the weather–gray days, early sunset, cold, etc.–which will change soon-ish. If I keep working on every aspect I can, and try to concentrate on the root cause and the why for now, it’s possible the systems may fall into place as spring arrives.
What small steps will I add this week? This week I am going to take a short walk after my first writing session.
Is it time to increase one of my habits? I chose the goal of 500 words per day to create my writing habit. I almost always write more than that. So this week I will test 600 words and see how that feels.
What else did I try? I wanted to review what is in my novel draft so far. Really look at my characters, props, clues, etc. and brainstorm an outline for the rest of the draft. I set a goal of “After lunch I will spend one hour reviewing my novel.” It only worked one time. Even though I enjoyed it, I haven’t done it again. So I will try it again this week as “After lunch I will review my novel for fifteen minutes.” That’s something I can definitely do.
Collecting and Organizing
Another priority that I’m adding to my Sunday is a period of time set aside for organizing all my notes and thoughts. I saw this in Welcome to the Writer’s Life by Paulette Perhach. As writers, we make notes. I have so many notebooks all over the house and yet make most of my notes in notepad on my laptop, or on random pieces of paper all over the house. I like the idea of creating a time and a place to organize all the week’s notes and thoughts. They aren’t doing me any good wandering all over the place.
Starting this week, I will create a system for organizing my notes and ideas into ways they can be useful for my novels, and toward meeting my goals as a novelist.
Next Sunday I will set aside an hour (or so, flexibility is important as you experiment), to organize my notes into useful categories and think about how they fit together.
Accountability
I know this has been a lot. I felt overwhelmed trying to figure out where to even begin to talk about everything I’m exploring having to do with finishing novels and motivation. This is a quick overview to share the main areas of my experience so far, and the first steps I took that were successful right away.
One area that every resource talks about is social accountability. I have found many times in the past that if I share my goals here on Experience Writing, I am more likely to achieve them.
I would really enjoy if you would like to join me in an accountability club. Every Sunday, type your goals in the comments, or leave a link to your post and we can check in with each other to see how we did with our goals.
My goals this week are to:
Write at least 600 words of my novel every day
Take a short walk each day
Review my novel for 15 minutes every day
That’s it. I hope you will hold me accountable.
Can you help me with one other goal? I’m trying to create a consistent blogging habit. How often would you like to read these posts about finishing goals? Which day or days are your favorite to read Experience Writing? Thank you so much for taking a moment to type your answers in the comments.
So, you’ve finished the first draft of your current work in progress. The hard work is done now, right? Not quite. Just because you’ve typed “The End” doesn’t mean your work is ready for the world to see. There are sure to be typos, missed punctuation, and (gasp) even plot holes that need to be found and fixed.
If that sounds daunting, it can be. Too many potential authors get stuck down the “rabbit hole of revisions” and never find their way out. It’s tempting to read our work and rewrite and revise. Then, we go back and read it again, rewriting and revising as we go. The cycle continues over and over. Somehow, we never feel our work is quite ready for anyone else to see. It’s not perfect. That’s the rabbit hole. Like Alice in Wonderland, we get lost in our own words, constantly finding that one last mistake, one misplaced word. Eventually, we may decide that it will never be perfect and thus does not deserve to enter the esteemed world of literature.
My advice: don’t go there. It’s a trap!
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t correct and improve our work. We definitely should. But we should have a plan (a map, so to speak) so we don’t get lost along the way.
Here’s the revision map I use. Perhaps it will help you as you devise a plan that works for you.
Take a break
Let your story rest. Don’t jump right into revisions. Your original ideas are still too fresh and will cloud your objectivity as you look for problems that should be fixed. The amount of rest time will depend on you. Some authors need only a day or two. Others need a few weeks to let the original ideas fade a bit so they can look at it with fresh eyes. Experiment and see what works best for you.
Read as a Reader
When you’re ready, think about your target audience and read it as they would. You’re not looking for every mistake. In this round, you want to see if the story engages you. Does the plot flow? Do your characters develop through the story? Do they stay “in character” or do some of their actions and words feel out of place? If any of those things need fixing, rewrite as needed.
Let Your Baby Crawl
When you like what you’ve written, let a few people read it. Often, these are called beta readers. Family and friends may be your first go-to for this, but many times, they are like the Cheshire Cat. They will grin and tell you what they think you want to hear, sometimes in gibberish that doesn’t make any sense to your story. That’s great for the ego, but it isn’t as helpful as constructive feedback would be.
You don’t want overly critical beta readers, either. They may seem like the Red Queen. If it’s not written her way, it’s wrong.
“The roses must be red. This is rubbish. Off with her head!”
I recommend finding a group of authors and/or readers in your genre who are not connected with you emotionally. There are many groups on Facebook and other online venues. You might find a local book club or author group, as well.
When considering anyone’s feedback, remember that they are only making suggestions, not issuing commands. Read them carefully, apply those that feel right, and let the rest go. Generally, if I have several people commenting on the same thing, I’m more likely to make changes than if there’s only one passing comment. When that’s finished, let it rest again.
Tackle the Typos
Do a proofread for correct punctuation, typos, etc. This time around, focus on the technical aspects of your writing. Do all your dialogues have matching quotation marks? Are there words that should be capitalized, or not? Are your teacups placed just so for your perpetual unbirthday tea party? (Hm. Maybe I carried that analogy a bit too far.) Time to let it rest again.
Turn It Upside Down
At this point, I recommend an inverse read. There are several ways to do this.
Change the colors (white type on black background, for example). The change in appearance can really draw your attention to the mistakes.
Read it backwards, the last paragraph first. That way you don’t get so caught up in the story that you overlook the errors.
Read it aloud, or have the computer read it to you. Hearing the words can bring weak word choices and other overlooked defects to your attention.
Personally, I like to combine two or all three of these methods. It’s amazing how many tiny mistakes would have slipped by if I didn’t stand on my head at this point. (Not physically, mind you.)
Let a Professional Take a Look
Now it’s time to send it to your editor.
“What? Why do I need an editor if I’ve done all this revision work?”
Basically, for the same reason you use beta readers. More eyes on your work can bring flaws to light. I put a lot of stock in my editor’s suggestions, but at the end of the day, they are only suggestions. If they feel right, I incorporate them, if they don’t, I won’t.
Almost Finished
Many authors skip this step. I find it important for me to do a final read-through. I will generally do this one away from my computer. That keeps me from rewriting what doesn’t really need to be rewritten. I download the digital manuscript to my tablet and read with a paper and pencil by my side. If I find a really bad spot, I’ll jot it down, but this last time through is for my own peace of mind. When this is done, I’m confident that we’ve rooted out most of the errors.
Let your baby fly!
That’s it. Once I implemented this revision plan, I didn’t feel so overwhelmed with the amount of work still to be done on my first drafts. Step by step, I was able to rewrite, revise, improve, and prepare my books for the world.
This isn’t to say it’s the only way to revise your work. Each author must find their own path to publication. Keep in mind, I have yet to find a published work that has zero flaws, so don’t let that stop you from moving forward. If you have a plan, a map, you’re less likely to join so many others who never publish because they got lost down the rabbit hole of revisions.
An inspirational story about a man’s journey through multiple sclerosis, and how he learns to serve others again. (Based on my husband’s real-life experiences.)
Ferrell Hornsby has been writing stories and poetry since she could hold a pencil in her chubby little hand. Encouraged by her grandmother, she continued writing, even after receiving her first rejection letter at age twelve. Since then, she’s explored many genres, children’s literature, historical fiction, and most recently, inspirational fiction. Her own life experiences add a depth and emotional connection to her characters that is both rare and fulfilling.
Ferrell married her soul mate in 2011, and her life hasn’t been the same since! Together, they enjoy music, movies, eating out, and ice cream (the more chocolate, the better).
Experience Writing 