(Originally published on Writer Unboxed)
What Color Is Your Revision Balloon?
I wrote, rewrote, proofread and edited my story. Three times. I typed ‘The End’ and then with a writerly sigh and a wink, emailed my fifteen-hundred-word short story to my best reader-friend.
“It’s really good, Ame” she said over the phone. “But I want, well, I really want more.”
Who did she think she was? Oliver Twist? I replied as eloquently as possible. I was, after all, a writer, wordsmith and lover of language.
“Huh?” I said.
Until that time, my published writing had ranged from six-hundred-fifty to one thousand words. I had never written anything longer. Had she missed those additional five hundred words? Perhaps her version of Word didn’t have a counter.
I printed out my story and stared at the first page. I turned it upside-down, read it with one eye closed and read it aloud. Then, I read it aloud with one eye closed. I knew what the story needed and was up for the challenge but didn’t know how to start. The thought overwhelmed me. Then, because when writing didn’t work, doodling did, I uncapped my favorite, fine-line blue marker and drew a circle around the first paragraph. (I’m that delicate balance of procrastinator meets visual-learner.)
And that’s when I saw a blue balloon.
That first paragraph separated from the rest of the page as deflated blue balloon needing enough air to make it round, but not so much that it would burst. So, with short, precise breaths I exhaled into that first blue balloon and then the ones that followed. I meticulously added detail, emotion and meaning, all the while holding tight to the story so it didn’t drift away.
Those fifteen hundred words became three thousand. And eventually the story was published.
At one time I did not believe I could write more than one thousand words. Then for a while I thought three thousand was my limit. I’m happy someone had the insight, faith and chutzpah to ask me for more.
I’m even happier that I had more to give.
It’s now four years*, many blue balloons, essays, stories and one seventy-seven-thousand-word, yet-to-be-published novel later. So, when writing friends and colleagues ask for advice (and sometimes when they don’t ask) I suggest looking at each paragraph as a deflated balloon. Just try it, I tell them. It doesn’t have to be blue. Go wild. Pick any color at all.
And it’s still my best advice to myself. When my writing needs a little (or a lot) of something, I automatically see each paragraph as a floppy, blue balloon. Then, I take a deep breath and huff and puff just enough of the right words to evoke the images and emotions I had truly hoped for.
And then not only is the page filled up, but so am I.
*Now it’s seven years!!
What color would your balloon be? And, what’s your favorite tip, trick or advice for trying something new or getting over a speed bump when writing?
It’s so fun to see how other people go about the revision process. I’m less visual – it’s more of a gut feeling for me. Either it sits right, or it doesn’t, and I tweak it until it does. Or until the editor takes it away from me.
I am 100% visual, Kerry. I have to see it on real paper too, then I go back to the computer. I know, I know, the trees. But I do use scraps and both sides. 🙂
This has been a great week of posts, ladies–We all face revisions differently and much, the writing process of a first draft, ie plotter or pantser, it always helps to hear how others confront the task.
*and much LIKE the writing process…*
Yeesch. Nothing like having to REVISE your two sentence comment to prove a point, right? 😉
Bring it on home, Erika!! 🙂
My trick for getting over a speed bump when writing is stepping away from the story for a bit to clear my head and then coming back to it. Sometimes it’s as simple as getting a snack or going for a walk; other times it involves a longer period of reflection. But distancing myself from the story definitely helps!
I walked away from my novel for six weeks at one point—and not when it was with my agent or editor. I don’t remember why, if it was the novel itself or life in general, but I know that I had a clearer vision when I got back to it.
What a great image! Unfortunately, when it comes time to edit my balloons, I usually have to let some of the air OUT instead.
I love hearing how you approach the editing process. It’s neat to see how we all look at things from such different angles.
It’s funny but I do tend to “write lite” and then fill in, and my editor has encouraged me to put IN as much as possible because it’s easier to cut than add. So I’m trying that with my second novel. Or I’m trying to remember to try that. (Makes note, sticks on head.)