Revision: Hell or Hell
Will it be the first ring or the ninth ring this time?
You did it! You finished your book. Take a moment to bask in that success. Be it romantasy, romcom, monster romance, YA, or literally anything, take a moment to really appreciate that enormous achievement.
You feel it? Great.
Now let’s pop that bubble.
One thing said by every professor in the creative writing program I attended for my bachelor’s degree was that writing a book was only about 20% of the effort. Revision is the remaining 80%.
It’s a crushing truth. All that work mapping out your book, spending hours and countless playlists to complete it, is only one step in the long journey to publication. And then you’re left with one central question: how much revision do you actually need?
Personally, I think there’s no correct answer to this, and it’s mainly at the preference of the author. Just know that if you want to publish traditionally, you’ll still need an agent who will then read through your book to give you edits, even though you’ve recently finished making what you think are all of your edits. And if you are one of the chosen who gets picked up by a publishing company, then be forewarned that you can expect several more rounds of revisions. It’s a process that every author I’ve spoken to says feels never-ending, and that by the time you’ve seen your book to the finish line, it’s an entirely different beast compared to when you first started.
It's a terrifying truth, a daunting one in fact, but one that, if you accept it, will make the whole process easier. There is no right way to edit, but accepting that edits will happen and accepting them graciously is the pathway to avoid madness.
Who am I to say any of this?
I’m not a published author for fiction, but I am an author. Just as you are an author. If you write, you are an author.
What I do have is a bachelor’s in creative writing, a master’s in comparative literature, a successful podcast where my co-host and I deep dive into popular romantasy novels with a critical lens, several dozen interviews with best-selling authors where they have shared their experiences, and two unpublished works that are in the revision process.
As I’ve said, there is no one right way to approach revision, but I’ll share with you my way, and maybe it will inspire you to find your way.
(I’m about to name-drop here, so please forgive me.)
One of my favorite authors and dear friends, Kate Golden, has given me and her readers some incredible advice. The first is that when you’re writing, don’t look back. Write based on your notes and don’t look back at what you wrote yesterday or last week. Don’t make revisions as you go. Don’t get stuck on one chapter. She says that if you’re not feeling one chapter, why would you want to bring that energy to the next one you work on?
Kate’s advice spoke to me as a chronic start-and-never-finisher. It is with that approach that I was finally able to finish my first book. Something I had never done before. This is important to know for my method.
Another Kate Golden suggestion: Once you’ve finished your first draft, read the whole thing through without making any edits. From start to finish, read it for the first time and see how it flows.
I know myself and that I cannot be glued to my computer all the time. So, I went to FedEx, printed all 463 pages of my book front and back, and then had that bad boy spiral-bound. My baby was officially given form.
The first few chapters were filled with excitement. I did it, I wrote the next best Romantasy. SJM could never! Then my excitement quickly dwindled. A punctuation error here, a horribly worded sentence there, and suddenly my newborn, rose-tinted baby goggles rapidly fell away.
The hardest part of this point in the process is not editing. In my case, I would make the occasional note when it felt important, but for the most part, I didn’t touch it. At the end, I wrote out every question I had regarding plot holes, storylines, and how the hell I thought my magic system was good.
Then came the notes. However, these notes were specific. They had nothing to do with grammar or some poorly written sentences. There were many, many scribbles along the pages with my shorthand:
RW – Rewrite
FO – Figure out
T – Tense
M – More, add so much more here
Half of my marginalia was illegible. My general rule was that (i) if the note had to do with the scene, I would write my note on the page, or (ii) if the note were a larger question that had to do with the plot or a character’s arc, then I would write that on a color-coded note card. To be completely transparent, my color-coded system was an honorable attempt at organization that I gave up around chapter 30. Still, maybe it will inspire you to think about incorporating that particular element into your own process:
Pink – anything to do with romance
Blue – magic system
Green – larger plot
Yellow – character arcs
Orange – world building
I’m honestly proud of how far I made it with this method, but at a certain point, when my brain was overwhelmed with just how much work I had to do, I started writing bullet points and didn’t look back.
Once you’re done with a physical manuscript that’s covered in your handwriting and a pile of cards that have tiny handwritten notes, you stare at it and wonder why you decided to be a writer and why you couldn’t have wanted to be an accountant.
That is a very important step of the writing process.
Afterwards, type out every single note from the note cards. Even if some of them are redundant, you’ll fix that later. Ignore the notes written in the margins; those are for in-the-moment scene editing. You should then have a document that has more pages than you thought possible.
Again, reflect on whether it’s too late to get into computer science.
Now go through your notes. Delete what’s redundant, combine what makes sense. From there, choose an organization system that works for you.
I personally divided my notes into categories: chapter-specific, character-specific, world-building, magic, plot, beats, and love.
This was how my brain was able to handle the information. Your method or organization may look different. And if the writing gods are kind, it’ll be a better system than mine.
From here, make your edits. It’s a slow and painful process, and sometimes I personally can’t hold back on rewriting some of the most cringeworthy descriptions, especially those that I can’t fathom why past me thought she really did something great there.
Done with that? Fantastic. Rinse. Wash. Repeat. As I go through the process, this is the point where I go back and add some Easter Eggs. The ones that make me feel clever, but honestly, I didn’t even think about or conceive of them until the fourth re-read.
As Thea Guanzon said in our interview with her in December 2024, “The talent comes later.”
Don’t worry about your revision being a masterpiece. Don’t even think about having prose that can pierce the soul. None of that will matter if you have a book that doesn’t make sense.
Make it make sense first. The talent can come later.
Once you’ve accomplished sense, now you can add talent. By now, you can make the simple edits, master your tenses, and get every detail right.
So, you’ve worked your ass off, your eyes are nearly bleeding because of your own words, and you feel like there is nothing left for you to do. That’s when it goes to your beta readers.
Betas aren’t for everyone, but frankly, they should be. Find people who won’t hype you up just to hype you up. Don’t have people who are there for the vibes or the opportunity to read what you’ve been working on. Find people who will kick the tires. Because if they find issues, then you best believe an agent or an editor will find issues. Maybe your betas’ notes will resonate, maybe they won’t. Not every note has to be taken as the absolute truth. But you do need to be honest with yourself when reviewing them.
This may be the part that hurts your feelings the most. What do you mean that this perfect baby you worked on for days, months, or maybe even years isn’t actually perfect? How do they not see the vision you are trying to achieve?
None of the work you’ve put into your book will matter if you do not find humility, especially if your goal is to make the best book you possibly can. And if Taylor Swift can collaborate with multiple producers to create the best album, then you can use betas to make the best book.
Kate Golden gave more fantastic suggestions when it comes to this next part. Divide your notes into three categories: low (easy wins), medium (scenes needing rework), and high (larger plot holes you wonder how you missed).
I’m not sure how long this process takes. In all honesty, as I write this, I haven’t gotten to the beta part of my editing. Your manuscript should only reach the betas when you personally have no other edits to make. It’s amazing how many edits I keep finding.
At some point, I’ll have to accept that it’s time to send it to betas, but as long as I’m still trying to make the plot make sense, it’s not ready.
Once you’re done with all of your edits and you’re excited to move forward with an agent, just know that it will inevitably lead to more edits. And if you’re lucky, even more once you find an editor.
Something Stacey McEwan told me and my co-host during an interview still sticks with me today: We have convinced ourselves that writing is a solitary sport, and maybe part of the process starts that way. But we only win with the right team.
Wherever you are in your journey, I hope you find the right team and endure the grueling process of revising. Perhaps you’ll find yourself among the authors who enjoy the revision process, and I sincerely hope that the Universe blesses you with that particular trait. Because She definitely passed me up when she was considering who to bestow it upon.
Have something to say? Or a burning thought you want to share with other readers?
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With an M.A. in Comparative Literature and a B.A. in Creative Writing, Jac Sahlin is a Californian with Chilean roots who once told her mom “my version is better”—and never stopped writing. Now she’s a Romantasy writer, podcaster, and unapologetic lover of smut.
Oh I feel this deeply. Editing, especially developmental editing, is my least favorite part. I’m great at giving that feedback to others though and helping brainstorm through plot holes so when you need betas I’ll be there 😂