Thread by @WmGermano

#MLA2023 @UChicagoPress

1/12 Some ideas about revising a book, all of which I promise you know you know but will be happier if you face:

2/12 Your manuscript isn’t really done yet, but it’s filled with good things. Another round will make the shapes, the continuity, the colors in language all sharper, clearer.

3/12 Which means sharper and clearer for your reader. Everything is for your reader. A good revision fixes typos and repetitions. A great revision sees the need for the changes you’re making and can name the benefits of the changes you’re making.

4/12 Analyze! Talk to yourself. “By cutting this paragraph, the idea moves faster and is stronger. By leaving it in I’m insisting that the reader enjoy being distracted as much as I was when I drafted this the first time.”

5/12 By the way, it’s OK to be distracted. OK to chase something that pops up in the course of your research. Sometimes that gives you a great side project (think: essay, lecture) or even the seed corn of your next big thing.

6/12 But you don’t want to include everything in what you’re putting in front of your reader. And shape portions. Be merciful with chapter length. Paragraph length, too. Oh, and semi-colons have specific and limited functions. Bad writing uses semi-colons like Crazy Glue.

7/12 Have an argument. An argument is a claim, but a claim that has consequences. Those consequences aren’t simply important enough to fill a book. They’re important enough to need a book.

8/12 And that’s the book you’re writing. Write to fill the needs of a reader. Of a reading community. (It’s OK to fill your own needs, too, but just be sure your reader comes first.)

9/12 So in revising you’re looking for your argument’s consequences and taking your reader with you. Make it easy – even irresistible – for your reader to move from chapter to chapter.

10/12 If your revision is much longer than the first version, you may have accidentally discovered that you have two great subjects. That can be a gift. Can you revise the new version into two projects, each of which will need revision attention?

11/12 Most revisions are shorter than the first working version. Some are just about as long, but with crucially different emphases, highlights, guideposts. You set aside what you don’t need. You lay out trails for your reader to follow. You promise, and then you deliver.

12/12 Whatever else you may be, you’re a writer. What better task for a new year than to spend your writing time on revision?