Elliot Kessler

Writing is a long process, and sometimes we as authors want to spend as much time as possible working on our projects, so they get done quickly. We write the first draft, and we begin the editing process the next day. We want to finish fast, see the results of our hard work, and move on. But, if you don’t look at your work with fresh eyes, your writing might not be as great as you think. See, we need to look at our work from a new perspective. We need to take a break and look at our work with fresh eyes.

I’ve found that editing right away is typically not a good idea. Many of my short stories and blog posts have suffered because I was too impatient to wait. (Although, when it comes to my blog posts, it’s typically not impatience. It’s time restraints since I want to write at least one post every weekday, which is a lot of work.) Being patient and having the self-control to wait a while before revising your work is critical and can be the difference between a good story, article, or blog post and a great one.

I’ve been working hard on my second novel, and this story is very special to me. I want to take very good care of it and make it the best I possibly can. After almost a year of hard work, I finally have the first draft of the outline finished. I have been working hard on the characters and writing their backstories in ways that fit the themes and messages that I want to convey through these stories. I have written a short story to get used to the characters, genre, and world. I’ve created a list of story ideas and pinned down the one I want to start with. (Also, yes. There is a list of stories. I’m hoping to do more than one novel with this guy.) I’ve outlined the novel, created new characters for it, figured out the plot, and poured my heart and soul into the emotions and themes of the story. It’s been a long ride, and I’m only getting started.

But, now that I have finished the first draft of the outline, I need to take a step back before I work on the revision. I need to work on other projects that need to be finished. I need to work on things around the house, do my job, write blog posts, and do school. Doing other things helps me to take my mind off my draft, and I’m sure it’ll help you too. Work on other projects. Write a short story. Do school. Start a blog. Read a book. There’s plenty you can do while waiting to revise your draft.

Then, when you look back at your draft, you’ll see things you haven’t seen before. You’ll notice mistakes you didn’t realize were there, whether grammatical or continuity or anything else. First drafts are supposed to be messy. Second drafts, as Neil Gaiman once said, are where you make it “look like you knew what you were doing all along.” Don’t be afraid to make a messy first draft. It’s not supposed to be perfect. Get through it as quick as you can, wait a while (for novel manuscripts, I would say at least a month), and then revise. Then, after you’ve done all the revising, you can hire an editor or have a friend edit it as well, making notes and showing you some things you might change to improve your draft. There’s always something to improve upon.

Thank you for reading! Have a wonderful day.