Some days, I feel like falling asleep on my desk. Usually this happens right around the time I realize I need to do another edit of my book. And the time may have come once again.

As I start the eighth major revision of my novel (and keep in mind that eight is a number at which some writers might cringe and others might scoff–“Pff. Only the eighth? Wait till you’re labeling your twenty-fifth.”) I find myself wondering at the whole process of revision and how little most new writers think about it when starting out. I know that, for me, revision was an inevitable part of the process, one I figured I’d deal with when it came. I guessed I’d have to do a handful of revisions before sending it off to agents, another major revision when it got into the hands of an editor, and then be at peace with a finished copy of my first published book.

Ha. Hahaha. Ha. Ha.

And another HA just for good measure.

As I mentioned in a previous post Writing: Series Issues, writing is constant revision and nothing is finished until you’re dead. And even then I’m sure God negotiates. (10 cool points to anyone who can tell me off the top of their head what movie that came from.) This is a fact, but the reality of it doesn’t sink in until… well, until you’re labeling your eighth revision sometimes.

So, in honor of this occasion, I have a list of tips for the new writer. Read them. Digest them. Decide for yourself whether or not they work for you.

1. Take everything your readers/critiquers tell you into consideration, but don’t jump the gun. Carefully look at their suggestions and then decide if their ideas/criticisms are consistent with the direction you want to take the book. If you’re writing a fantasy epic and they’re wondering why the soldiers don’t have guns, that might not be a complaint you want to incorporate. However, if someone mentions that they don’t empathize with one of your characters, stop yourself from screaming that they’re just inconsiderate and don’t appreciate your art, take a step back, and listen to that nagging voice in the back of your head saying, “Well, we might be able to fix that.”

2. Invest in a laser printer or become incredibly familiar with Track Changes on Word.

3. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS (and, I don’t think I can stress this enough) ALWAYS save copies of previous drafts. You never know when that little scene that didn’t work in draft three will suddenly find a home in draft nine. You may not be able to replace it if you didn’t keep the old manuscript.

4. Keep your edits and your revised drafts. Sometimes you may want to look back and go, “Why exactly did I change that again?”

5. Don’t dive into revising immediately after you’ve finished the first draft or immediately after a revision. A month or so away from the book is crucial to both keep you from getting bored and to give you the distance you need to read it objectively and say, “Geez. That sucked. I can totally rewrite that part.”

6. Multiple colors of pens are your friends. I use one gel ink black pen, one red pen, and a pencil when I revise on paper. The black pen is for crossing out major sections, the red pen is for small editing marks I might miss if they weren’t a different color, and the pencil is for actual text I want to add. It’s a process that works for me.

There are thousands of possible revision techniques and hundreds of suggestions I could give you to help you out along the way, but what troubles have you run into while revising?