My Writing Process – Revisions

So someone asked me what my writing process is – especially as it relates to revisions. Here’s my answer:

I start every day of writing by re-reading and revising what I wrote the day before. I have my grammar critiquers review each chapter as they are written to keep the manuscript clean. I have my continuity critiquers start reading each chapter once I’m past the half-way mark to make sure that the book makes sense and that I didn’t stray too far off the mark as I was writing.

Once the manuscript is finished and all critiques are incorporated, I re-read the entire manuscript and make revisions as I see them, keeping notes of anything that could create a continuity issue later in the story. Then I turn the manuscript over to my editor. Once those revisions are made, I re-read the manuscript one more time and make additional revisions. Then I send the manuscript out to beta readers. Once their feedback has been incorporated, my editor and I go back through the manuscript together to look for grammar, continuity, plot, and any other issues.

Once those revisions are made, I re-read the manuscript one more time and make any final revisions needed. Then I send the manuscript to my publisher, and I make any revisions that the acquisition editor and the publisher want made.

That should be the end of it, right? Wrong! Even after the book is published, I re-read the manuscript periodically to see if anything slipped through the cracks (and there are always things that slip through). Once enough revisions have been made to the published manuscript, I release a second-edition of the book to correct the things that still bother me.

It’s never really over for me…