How to Revise a Work of Fiction

I’m preparing notes for a workshop this afternoon, so I thought I’d share them as a blog post. If you’ve written a first draft of a novel, here are some ideas on how to revise.

After writing a first draft, the challenge is how to polish your good idea until it sparkles irresistibly, attracting the attention of an editor at a publishing company.

It’s not enough to have a good idea. It’s not even enough to write well. A piece of writing that you want to submit for publication needs to be the very best you could ever possibly write – then you need to find a way to make it even better.

How do you do that?

  • Take a break from a story. It easier to “re-envision” a story when you can read it the way a first-time reader would.
  • Get feedback. Writing workshops and writing groups offer a way to get constructive and positive feedback on how to develop your craft.
  • Edit yourself. Analyze problems in your story then rewrite in the same intuitive, instinctive way that you wrote your first draft.

Expect to revise a story multiple times. The revision process is a series of rewrites that brings the work closer and closer to a polished piece.

Here are some ways to revise a work-in-progress:

  1. Show, don’t tell. Dramatize key moments through action, dialogue, inner monologue, and body language, rather than telling through exposition and summary.
  1. Reveal character with every word. The reader is looking for clues about each character; so cut any text that isn’t revealing character.
  1. Trim the fat. If you can convey meaning in ten words instead of twenty, do it.
  1. Avoid bulky description. Don’t pause a scene to interject lengthy description, explanation, or back-story. Instead, weave short descriptive phrases or sentences into the action and dialogue.
  1. Avoid “yo-yo” emotions. A character’s emotions need to build in a steady and realistic way. Watch for places where a character’s emotions are inconsistent.
  1. Determine your character’s “dramatic need.” Dramatic need is defined as what your main character wants to achieve by the end of the story. This need drives the forward thrust of the action. It can change throughout the story, but it should be clear to readers at all times.
  1. Understand your characters. When you find a place in your story where a character’s actions are not believable, analyze your character’s motivations by asking “why,” then rewrite to clarify.
  1. Ask yourself: what is the story? Answer this question in one sentence or one paragraph to bring focus and clarity to your story.

Bog Wins SCBWI Crystal Kite Award

I’m thrilled to announce that Bog has won the 2015 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award in the Canada division! In case you’re not familiar with it, this is a peer-given award, voted on by members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. You can check out the past winners here, but let me just say that Bog is in stellar company!

Thanks so much to the SCBWI members who chose to vote for Bog, and the SCBWI staff for implementing the award back in 2011 and organizing the annual voting. Bog is a shy cave troll, and not fond of humans, but he’s eager to add the sparkling Crystal Kite trophy to his horde of gems and stones. (If you haven’t read Bog, just let me say that trolls are fond of collecting silver, amethysts and even polished bone.)

There were plenty of excellent titles in the running for the Crystal Kite Award this year, and I’d particularly like to mention the shortlisted books: If: A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers, written by David J. Smith and illustrated by Steve Adams, and Mama and Little Gray, written by Aimee Reid and illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Congrats on being finalists!

crystalkite SCBWI logo

It’s a Girl!

Happy book birthday to Punch Like a Girl! My new YA novel is officially available today.

Punch Like a Girl e-postcard

To celebrate the book, I’m hosting a Goodreads giveaway for one of ten copies of the book. Good luck!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Punch Like a Girl by Karen Krossing

Punch Like a Girl

by Karen Krossing

Giveaway ends May 01, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

In Punch Like a Girl, a teen girl with a hero complex tries to rescue others, whether they want it or not, in order to avoid facing her own fears of assault. To watch the book trailer, click here.

An Interview on Punch Like a Girl

This week, I was interviewed by BC author Robin Stevenson on her blog! Robin has published eighteen novels for kids and teens, including her latest, The World Without Us. You can read my recent interview with Robin about her novel here.

To read Robin’s interview of me, click on the image below. You can read about why I wrote Punch Like a Girl, why there’s a butterfly on the cover, what I’m writing now, and more. Thanks, Robin, for the great questions.

Screen Shot