Revision is a bitch. I'm plugging away on Draft 7 of my WIP and it totally seems like a one-step-forward, two-steps-back endeavor. But there are tools that writers use to help during revision hell. Critique groups give valuable feedback. Outlining the plot chapter by chapter helps figure out pacing. Another tool writers use is to read their work out loud. It helps them catch clunky dialog and awkward phrasing. But I want to put a big ole caveat on the "reading your work out loud" advice. Don't get me wrong. I think reading your work out loud is great advice. But not always. I have a writer friend who was frustrated after a critique. Someone had slammed her dialog and suggested she read her work out loud. The thing is, my friend had read her work out loud. She felt insulted and hurt that she was already doing what she was "supposed" to be doing and it didn't seem to help with her dialog. I have a theory why reading out loud wasn't working f...
The writing life for librarians and other book lovers.