How to REVISE a Novel (My Step-By-Step Revision Guide) ✏️

All writing needs revisions. Mine, yours, everyones. And that's why today I'm showing you what my revision process looks like. I would HIGHLY recommend it to every writer out there — especially if you feel overwhelmed by the idea of revising a hot mess of a manuscript and wish you had an organized, step-by-step process you could follow. HERE IT IS.

Comment below and tell me: what does YOUR revision process look like?

Here are the questions for your revision guide:
- What do I LOVE about this story?
- What scenes am I most looking forward to revisiting?
- What exactly are the problems I’m afraid I will encounter in this story?
- How do I want my reader to feel when they finish this story?
- What is the VERY CLEAR message I want to teach the reader?
- Protagonist at the beginning VS protagonist at the end

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✨R E S O U R C E S✨

MORE VIDEOS YOU WOULD LIKE:

→ HOW TO ROCK YOUR CHARACTER VOICE

→ HOW TO SELF PUBLISH A NOVEL

→ HOW TO FIND BETA READERS (AND WHAT TO ASK THEM)

→ HOW TO WRITE THEME INTO YOUR STORY

✨F O L L O W ✨

✨ A B O U T ✨
My name is Abbie Emmons I teach writers how to make their stories matter by harnessing the power and psychology of storytelling, transforming their ideas into a masterpiece, and creating a lifestyle that makes their author dreams come true.

Story isn’t about “what happens” — it’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters. I believe that there is an exact science (a recipe, if you will) behind a perfect story. And if you know what ingredients you need, you can create your own perfect story with ease and confidence. That’s what we talk about every week on this channel – and if it’s something you’re into, be sure to subscribe and join this community!

[sadiemcc]

I pantsed a 100, 000 word novel last year, largely during NaNoWriMo, before realizing I was the biggest plotter ever, and I've been putting off reading through it again because the manuscript is not just any old hot mess.

It is Pompeii.

[TorchwoodPandP]

And Step Zero: during writing, make a separate note of things you have changed, inconsistencies you are writing into your script, or ideas for previously written parts, to act as a secondary revision guide.

[stickman]

My revision process is fun. Let me give you an idea

First Chapter: Third-person
Final chapter: First-person

[katnissgrace]

Honestly my novels are always too long when I finish the first draft, so firstly I try to focus on cutting word count. That way I can do line by line editing to show and not tell, and taking a break from looking at the book does help. I also like to think about what I was “trying” to say with characters, plot points and scenes, and then how things actually came across. So I like what you said about what we want our readers to feel-because if it didn’t come across right I try to go back into the book and see what I can alter to ensure my book has the impact I want.
Reflecting on my favorite and least favorite scenes, as well as the reason behind my opinion of those scenes (why did I like them, and why did others not impress me as much as I wanted?) helps me to know what I want to change. I also really like why you said about making a note of what you love in your story, we need that to make sure we don’t forget why we wrote it in the first place.

[naeka]

This honestly feels like a writing class that you'd pay for. This is fantastic, thank you for the guidance! I am now subscribed! Wow!

[Lili-zvbo]

Me: have not finished my book (despite having written 58K), have never finished a book
Also me : *watch this video as if it is concerning me*

[alexbrett]

As a writer, this series is honestly so helpful! Thank you for making these :)

[mikeljones]

Awesome! I'm at the revision stage of my novel right now. I've been going back and forth about how to do it. Everything from throwing the whole thing away and starting over from scratch with just my outline, to just doing an edit where I add some details and descriptions and world building. (That is, all that highbrow "literary" stuff) that I failed to put in before. This video cleared up a lot for me. Thanks so much! Love your videos. I do watch writing videos by other authors. But I am hooked on yours.

[EmilyNolsAuteur]

Thank you for this great guide Abbie ! 😀 I tried to revise my first draft this year and... it was a mess ! I started on the right path, by just revising but then I ended up doing a line and copy editing at the same time 😱 I thought it would go faster that way but, you guessed it, it was the opposite ! It took me 4 months just to read and revise my manuscript... Then I send it to beta-readers (which turned out to be more like critique partners 😅) and their comments showed me that it was still a first, incomplete, draft 😩 So I ended up adding so many things that it actually looks like a whole new and different novel... I worked on that second draft during Nano but I'm still not done 😅 I'll be sure to use your guide to revise the novel once I'm done writing that second draft...

[HellsMirror]

I'm so happy I found your channel! I follow so many authortubers who rewrite their stories over and over again and it really helps to get some input from someone who works more like me: sticking pretty much to an outline and not rewriting the whole thing

[galaxylucia]

Just watched the line edit video and both of these are super helpful. revision and editing are by far my favorite part of the writing process!

[iamluyu]

Ok but how can it be so easy to you to step aside of the characters you LOVE for three months?!!?? I can't even be a day without thinking about mines!

[tomasestrada]

Wow, this video was extremely helpful and actually got me motivated to revise (a step which, let’s face it, usually feels daunting and not as fun as creating that initial draft). I love the idea of actually writing out the answers to the questions you point out in the revision guide. I find I often tacitly ask myself those things, but had never really made it explicit. Having these guiding principles clearly spelled out makes the next steps so much more manageable.

So thank you for sharing this!

[kz]

Very helpful! I have SEVEN completed stories that need editing. Seriously. And everytime I try I'm just so freaked out that I put them away and write something new. So yeah. This makes it seem almost possible. Many thanks.

[paulapoetry]

I love the idea about listing what you love about your novel, before you begin the revision process. It's important to remember that we wrote our stories for a reason - because revising and editing are liable to make us hate our own work otherwise. 💝

[myownstory]

Ur hair is amazing thanks and I luv u so aaaahh I’m so happy u were kind of close to winning nanowrimo u are an amazing person and u are my inspiration ♥️♥️♥️♥️👏👏👏👏👏💛💛💛💛💛

[Hikari]

Aww ur hair grew out Abbie it looks so cute. Keep up the great advice and music videos. I love ur videos ^_^

[patrickriley]

I’m glad I saw this. I’ve been revising my book for almost a year...😱

[RoseShojo]

Never clicked so fast on a video <3

[thatgirlrandi]

This is my first ever revision process. In addition to watching this video, I went to a local writer's workshop on revision. Their big advice was to read your story at least once before you begin revising. I printed mine out, like you, but I can't just read it one time through. I *must* make notes while I write!