I want to start off with a big accomplishment for me. I successfully completed another National Novel Writing Month draft.
Cheers to all my fellow writers who wrote during the month. Even if you didn’t make 50,000 words just getting into the chair, and writing is a grand achievement.
My efforts at NaNo were complicated by the fact that I was writing and revising my newest Write for Success book Revise Your Draft and Make It Shine.
This book and the first one, Fast Draft Your Manuscript and Get It Done, contains everything I have learned doing NaNoWri, plus what I have absorbed from my reading, workshops I have taken, and most importantly, my fellow authors.
Now there are two!
“The most useful and usable how-to writing workbook I have seen in a long time -maybe ever.” —Christa Bedwin, Professional Editor
Here are Three Revision Tips for You
Revision Tip 1: Let It Rest
One of the most important things I learned after NaNoWri is to put my fast drafts away and let them sit as long as possible before reading for revision. So right now my messy, sloppy, barely readable draft is tucked away in its folder, not to be seen again until January. Meanwhile, I am working on a Holiday short story for all my dedicated Zara’s Readers Club members.
Revision Tip 2: Use a Framework
Make sure you have a model or outline or beat sheet to structure your story around. This can be one you used to draft from, or if you didn’t use one or veered way off course, one that you find that closely matches your genre. So while your draft is resting, spend some time reading similar works or finding a plot template on the web.
Then select just one and stick with it. It is easy to get confused when you try to apply different templates over each other.
Having a structure to compare your draft to is a lifesaver. It will make the entire revision process less stressful and go much faster.
Revision Tip 3: Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
The structure is the most important part of your novel. You can have fascinating characters and an intriguing setting, but if the reader has no idea what is going on you will lose them. So don’t worry about fixing grammar or spelling or fancying up the language at first. Focus on getting the story structure in place with a strong opening, a well-paced middle, and a satisfying conclusion.
Once you have that, you can polish up your prose all you want.
Revision Workshop
In January I will be teaching the workshop 30 Days of Revision Tips. In this in workshop, you will receive a revision road map with a tip for revising your draft every day for thirty days. By the end of the month, you should be well on the way to having a more organized and polished draft.
Offered by From the Heart Romance Writers January 2021 REGISTER HERE
Revise Your Draft and Make It Shine
For more revision tips, tricks, and time savers, take a peek at my book. It is short and full of checklists designed to keep me and you on track. There are also oodles of links to useful tools and lists, and at the very back, a whole section of tools just for writers of fiction. Available at Amazon for $2.99 or free from Kindle Unlimited
ZARA WEST'S JOURNAL 
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Thank you so much. I so glad you found the post helpful.
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Congratulations on winning NaNo again. That is a fabulous achievement.
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Thank you. I have learned so much from the process of pushing myself to write fast. The last two NaNoWri years have been historical fiction works and I found them very challenging to write fast. Sometimes you just have to have a certain fact to write a scene. Doing extensive planning beforehand is essential. I am using One Note. I will do a post on that soon.
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