Rewritten Content:
Woohoo! You've jotted down your masterpiece. But now you're probably wondering, "What's next, you ask?" The answer is simple: first pass revisions, baby!
Now, allow me to give you a fair warning. Everyone's writing journey is a unique beast, and each author's process is going to vary, so I'll be offering advice within the context of my own experience. Feel free to adjust it according to your needs.
My first brush with first pass edits left me flabbergasted. It was one big test of guesswork and learning curve, which led me to discover some fascinating lessons. One key takeaway was that these initial revisions and edits are an endurance test, tight deadlines don't work, beta readers should come later, and first pass revisions are essentially prep work for draft two.
When I first approached the revisions for my book Demon Fall, I took a month off, assuming I'd do a quick fix-up and polish the chapters for the beta readers. However, when I came back to the text, I quickly realized that there was much more work to be done than I anticipated, and no quick fixes were in sight.
I grappled with feelings of frustration. Despite being relatively quick at drafting, I discovered that I could only revise and edit at half the pace. My manuscript was a mess, and I found myself asking, "What on earth was I trying to say here?" and "Is there a better way to put this?" The answers to these questions weren't always obvious, and I had to accept that cleaning up my manuscript was going to take a lot more time than I had initially planned.
So, I learned that first pass revisions are a game of endurance. This gritty, slow-paced work requires dedication and a willingness to show up every day, even when you're stuck in a creative rut and are barely making progress. There's probably an elite crew of superheroes who can swallow this elephant whole, but I'd wager they're few and far between. You need to commit time, and you need to make it consistent, even when the work is tedious and you're not sure how to fix your "mountain of trash."
It's easy to abandon ship at this stage and move on to another project. Resist the urge, and ensure you understand why you're going through the slow and seemingly endless task of revising your manuscript. This realization motivated me to push forward.
Moving on to another important lesson, I initially thought I needed feedback from beta readers on my early draft, so I enlisted some for help. Unfortunately, that was far too early, leaving me with a swamp of worldbuilding issues and plot problems. If you require early feedback like this, consider reaching out to a critique partner instead. They're better equipped to provide targeted feedback to help you improve your writing and smooth out the kinks before you share it with a wider audience.
On the brighter side, getting feedback from my beta readers illustrated some of the worldbuilding and plot issues I needed to address. However, I could have caught those issues if I had taken the time to do a proper second draft instead of a shallow, quick revision. This setback taught me that I needed to handle obvious plot holes and worldbuilding gaps in my first pass revisions instead of making mental notes to address them later. I could have filled those gaps with some creative brainstorming and rewriting; I just chose to leave them for "Future" me instead.
A big misstep I made was not recognizing that my intended adult science fiction book read more like a YA dystopia novel. I realized this as I was painstakingly slogging through my revisions, and a flood of ideas came to mind on how to correct it. If I had taken the time to do a thorough second draft instead of a superficial edit, I would have been much happier with the final product and closer to my original vision.
Another glaring issue I uncovered was the need to expand several chapters. This is typically a draft two-level issue, folks, but I made this error during my initial revisions, causing delays and possibly losing the interest of my beta readers. I also left several loose plot points unaddressed, which I marked as first mentions for my beta readers, only to leave the problem for "Future" me again.
In short, first pass revisions are preparation for your second draft. When you do your initial read-throughs and edits, you're almost certainly going to come across giant, obvious mistakes that you can fix yourself, without needing feedback from anyone. As you're working through this process, be sure to jot down all the big-picture edits you can see and tackle them head-on. Invest the time now, and your future self (and your readers) will thank you.
I made so many errors while figuring out my first pass revision process, and if I hadn't made those mistakes, I wouldn't have learned that a first pass was going to be more than a surface-level edit. I wouldn't have realized that it was a game of endurance, that it was too early for beta readers, and that it is, in fact, preparation for my second draft. I would have put much more thought and effort into my edits and would have taken the time for a full revision before sharing it with anyone.
Embrace the grind of first pass revisions, take it one bite at a time, and chip away at the gargantuan task that is the second draft. Trust me; it's worth it. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to throw in the towel; but I persevered, and eventually, it was done! Keep pushing through, and you'll be able to take that well-deserved break soon.
What was the most challenging part of your first-time novel revision experience?
Preparing for the tedious and challenging task of first pass revisions was a difficult part of my first-time novel revision experience, as it required a significant amount of time, dedication, and effort.
To combat feelings of frustration and make the experience more manageable, I found it helpful to break the revision process into smaller, more manageable tasks and focus on improving one aspect of my manuscript at a time.
