Last Practical Notes on Revision; Developmental Stages of Creative Work; Coffeehouse Prep

The last I'll say about revision. When we write, we generally go through the following steps (although not always in order...):

1. Initial generating stage: get an idea, write a draft
2. Creative revisioning stage (drafts 2 - ?): add and play with your draft
3. Constructive revisioning stage (drafts 2 - ?): cut and shape your draft; get feedback from others
4. Copyediting: correct your draft; have someone proofread your work and point out mistakes (or, eventually, you need to be able to do this yourself)

Workshopping:

• Look for "hotspots" or what is enjoyable in the draft - note it; everyone should say something they liked about the draft (a line, a character, an idea, a theme, some dialogue, a sentence, etc.)
• You don't have to try to satisfy everyone's comments/criticisms of your work; listen to your own artistic heart...
• Conduct an anti-workshop: take an aspect of the story and turn it on its head; complete an exercise; rewrite; see creative exercises below...

Analytical/Mechanical exercises:

• Retype the story; add or cut as you go
• Highlight all "--ing" words or highlight all your "verbs"
• Highlight all abstractions or generalities
• Highlight all sensory details or description (imagery)
• Highlight all literary devices (metaphors, similes, etc.)
• Read your work out loud and listen to where you stumble or run out of breath--highlight

Creative Exercises:

• Change the POV of the story
• Change the tense
• Have a minor character tell the same story from his/her perspective
• Write about your character's past or future
• Make a list about what might happen to your character if they make a decision--or what won't happen
• Describe the setting of a scene in careful detail
• Describe what is happening in a different setting with a different character at the same time an event is described in your draft (what's happening off-stage?)
• List or describe other events happening outside the control of your character(s)
• Write the same scene as if it were a diary entry from one of the characters
• Rewrite the scene from the perspective of an inanimate object, a child, an angel, or animal
• If the story is a tragedy or sad in tone, write the same story as a comedy or funny (change tone)
• Rewrite the story as a play or film script
• Rewrite the story as a newspaper article
• Make a "to do" list for your character or make a "not to do" list

Research-based Exercises:

• Find out 10 facts (or 5 or 3) about the setting that you didn't know before
• Interview a person who "acts" as the character; interview a person whose profession is used in the story about what you might not have known before about that person or profession
• Research recipes that the people in the story might make or eat
• Research current events that happen or are happening at the same time the story is set
• Interview a person and ask them what they would do in the same situation as one of your characters
• Research the kind of music that would be playing on the radio at the time the story is set
• Find out 5 new things about the character's religion that you did not know before

Chance-based Exercises:

• Make up games for yourself to add an element of chance or randomness to your story. 
• Roll a die. Whatever number you get, write that many scenes or paragraphs, or add that many characters to your story
• Turn to a random page of a book or newspaper or magazine and look for the 5th or 10th word. Collect the words in a word bank and use them in the story
• Flip a coin. If you get heads, go someplace you wouldn't normally go and write what you find there. If you get tails, go to a place you know well and describe what you find there at this time

These are just some of the things you can do to revise and shape your writing. Now get to it. 

Period 2: Practice for the coffeehouse. 

HOMEWORK: Read your selected novel. Aim to complete your novel by Friday this week.