03 21 00

revision

I started a journal entry about how filthy my apartment is, but I didn't finish it because it was depressing me.

Gad! I feel so useless lately. Work has been really slow. We are totally caught up on data entry, so I really haven't had anything to do in the evenings. And when there's nothing to do, the day drags on and on.

I have a few things to do tomorrow. I need to go to Office Max (again), because I accidentally bought the wrong kind of dividers. I think I was in such a hurry to get out of there that I didn't look closely at what I was grabbing. I need the dividers with the colored tabs, not the clear ones. (Yes, I'm anal like that.) I haven't opened the package, so hopefully they'll just let me exchange it.

Another thing that I have to do is revise that story I sent to the online workshop. I printed out all the critiques people sent me, and now I just have to decide which revisions make sense and which would disturb me. grin The problem is doing it.

There are lots of different revision techniques I could use. Sometimes I just revise on the computer, making changes as I read the story. More often, though, I print out the story and make changes on paper, then enter the changes into the story.

One technique I'd like to try on this story is just deleting the file. Before computers, writers would make changes on paper, then have to retype their story. When you retype it, you'll make changes as you type and not just the changes you noted on the paper. Today, people are more apt to just make changes to the existing file, so the story never gets retyped.

I think retyping a story would be an interesting experiment. I know when I had to retype something because the file was lost or accidentally deleted, I change wordings here and there, making the prose more streamlined. Reading text when you're reviewing it is one thing. But you'll inevitably skip words or phrases. Retyping it makes you examine each and every word, and compare how it sounds against the surrounding text.

Another revision technique I use is reading the story out loud. Yeah, the first time you do it you feel really stupid. (Just don't do it in a library or something.) But like retyping, reading a story makes you look at every word, and you can hear how the prose sounds. Something that looks good on paper might sound really silly when you read it. Also, you hear words that you've used too often.

I've written a bunch of furry stories. My usual method of revising those was to write it, print it out, and wait a day or two. (The story will age, like a fine wine. grin) Then I make some changes, key the changes into the story, and send it off to someone to read. (Usually Dave.) Dave will make some suggestions (usually), spotting mistakes I missed. A few more fixes, and the story is posted to a newsgroup.

But this story, the one was that sent to the workshop, I intend to send to a magazine. A paying market. I want it to be as good as possible before I send it out. I'll admit that I'm a little sloppy when it comes to my furry stories. I care about the quality of the story, but I know it'll only get a very limited readership. So... Little readership equals little effort.

shrug I'm a little ashamed of that, actually. I pride myself on being a half-way descent writer, and when I put out a half-assed product I get upset with myself. But the readership just isn't there, so I don't care as much as I should. I write for myself first, and the readers second. If the story is complete in my mind, I leave it be. Revision is only done if there are major errors. However, for a paying market, I want to look as good as possible - which equals lots of effort.

Ah. And then there's this journal. I admit: my entries get little to no revision before they're posted. They're a different animal from my fiction stories, though. I write these as a tool, not as an end in itself. It I wanted to publish an entry, I'm sure I would go over it with a fine-toothed comb. But when the entry is done, it's done. I've finished my writing.

Like I've finished this entry. grin

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