Revision Tricks

This is a short post that I hope will help other writers during the revision process.  I am almost done with THE VENGEANCE OF THE VAMPIRE BRIDE and after a week or two I will plunge back into that world to do the first big revision on the novel.  I always make sure to take some time off before revising so I have fresh eyes when I read over the first draft of my work.

Writers will always struggle to revise or self-edit their work simply because we are far too close to the story.  We live and breathe the story for so long we can easily miss simple things.  I have noted that I tend to "see" what I think I have written, not what is really there.  My husband once had me read a sentence three times and each time I read it incorrectly.  Finally, he read it to me and I realized I had left out two words.  Yet, I had "seen" them when reading the sentence aloud.

So how do I try to avoid misreading my own work when I revise?

This is a little trick I learned when revising PRETTY WHEN SHE DIES.  At that time, I found a free nifty text to speech program that allows you to load up text into the reader, pick a voice, and listen.  It's a great way to hear your work as you read along.  It lets you hear where you have unwieldy sentences or wonky structure.

I lost the original program I used when my old desktop computer crashed, so I may invest some money in a better version with better voices.  I personally find it worth my while to listen to my novel out loud.