How to Reread Before You Revise
Photo by Blaz Photo on Unsplash
I’ve written before about how to do a deep revision, the kind that actually improves your manuscript instead of just doing line edits and proofreading (see Red Light issues, Yellow Light issues, and Green Light Issues).
I always say Step One is to reread your manuscript, but until today I’ve never mentioned how to do that effectively.
When I reread, I struggle not to get lost in the trees, when I should be looking over the whole forest, and worrying about individual trees later. I.e., I’m always fixing things as I go, or focusing on the details of particular scenes.
This is a waste of time.
For one thing, if you do this, you may be fixing things that will eventually be eliminated, or so changed that your current fixes won’t matter.
For another, you’re not accomplishing any of the real goals of the read-through.
The goal of the read-through is to get an overall sense of what is working and what is not in the story.
That’s it.
In the drafting stage, you’re deep in the forest (yes, I’m going to continue milking this metaphor) for a long time. You’ve been bushwhacking the path as you go, wandering in the dark, backtracking, lost, confused, occasionally confident you’re headed in the right direction…
And now you’ve reached The End. Congratulations. It really is a huge achievement, one that someone who has never written a novel will truly comprehend.
But.
You really have no idea how it all hangs together, unless you’ve been meticulously revising as you go. And even then, I’d argue, you are still too close to the story to see it properly.
So, here are some guidelines to help you with that first reread:
Do NOT do it immediately after finishing the draft. Give it a month or two, at least. I mean it. Don’t even look at it. You need to see it as freshly as possible.
When you do sit down to read it, print it out. If you’re not in the habit of looking at your work on an actual printed page, you will be amazed at how different it is from reading it on a screen. You will notice things you never would have if your eyes are skimming over a screen.
Read it in as few sittings as possible. In other words, read it like you would a novel you picked up for pleasure.
Top things to pay attention to at this stage:
How is the pace?Think about this overall, as well as for each section. Does the opening drag with too much backstory? Does the middle slow down and sag? Do scenes whip by so fast the reader has no chance to catch their breath?
Where would you stop reading? Where does your attention flag?
By the end of Chapter One, can you state the Inner and Outer Stakes clearly (from what’s on the page, not in your head)? This means: what is the external story problem the main character is trying to solve? What does this mean for them, and how will they need to change in order to achieve their goal? What is the essential Story Question?
At the Midpoint, does the story still hold your attention? Are the Stakes still clear? Have they changed?
In the final chapter, does the ending land? Does it answer the question posed at the beginning? Does it seem surprising but inevitable? (This can be tricky to ascertain, since you as the author already knew the ending. But if it’s dull, or rushed, or wildly different from the beginning, you know you have some work to do.)
These are the main questions you need to answer in your first read-through - and your last, before sending it to any agent or editor. Hopefully by the last read-through, all of these answers will point to a manuscript that has a cohesive narrative structure, where the ending feels earned.
Along the way, you can make some big-picture notes for revision. Places where the tension lags, characters or plot points disappear, stakes change, etc.
You will inevitably notice many other things that need attention. Try not to get bogged down in them. Remember: scenes, dialogue, characters, and plot points may all change. Your task here is to focus on the manuscript as a whole. How does it read as a book, if someone picked it up off the shelf?
If you are doing this reread after a draft, sit with it for a few days, mull it over, maybe make some notes.
THEN, you can begin the next reread. This is where deep revision begins. This is where you identify and hone in on the major things that need to be revised in the next draft.
If you are doing this reread before sending it to an agent or editor, you should still sit with it for a few days or a week, thinking about any changes that might still need to be made. The closer to the publishing process, the more you need to make sure your answers to the above questions are nailed down.
Honestly, it can be excruciating to reread your book, especially the closer you get to the end of the process, when you’re just… sick of it. It’s hard to really read it with close attention, and not skim over it because you know the story so well.
This is why you need to give yourself time between rereads and drafts, to give yourself the best possible chance to see it with fresh eyes. You might want to change the font, or the color, or find some other way to see it fresh on the page.
No matter what comes up, there are two traps to avoid:
Don’t get too cocky or impatient and think “this is almost ready” when it’s really not, just because you want to be done and on to the next thing.
Don’t get overwhelmed and discouraged by the amount of work still to do. The Stoplight Process for revision will help you make the revisions you need in a way that will make the manuscript much stronger.
Above all, enjoy the process of rereading! This is your opportunity to read it with a reader’s eyes, not a writer’s. Exciting!
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