Why Revisions are Harder than Sawing off your leg with a Butter Knife

I’m stealing Larissa’s butter knife analogy.

Last night I tried to immerse myself in the book, to really make sure each scene counted, that each bit of dialogue sparkled. After about two hours of work, I had revised exactly . . . a page and a half. Kinda makes you want to go saw off your leg with a butter knife.

Why is it revisions are so much harder than writing new pages? On a good day, I can write 12-15 pages in two hours. But when I have to analyze every sentence, every character thought, every verb, it’s excruciatingly slow. I found a scene that, while it was well-written, it served no purpose in the book. It had the OPPORTUNITY to be useful, but there wasn’t enough there. I had to decide–do I cut the scene out, or do I add what’s needed to make it advance the plot?

I made a printable (you print out a few chapters in landscape formatting, single spaced, and make it appear like a real book), which always helps me to see the bigger picture. But the more I get into these revisions, the more I see how much work there is to be done.

There is a bright side to this. It means that I’ve come a long way in my writing. I knew, when I wrote that book, that there were some serious flaws, but I didn’t have the skills to fix them. I also couldn’t quite tell what the problems were.

Makes me kind of wonder what flaws I’ll see in my recent books. :confused2:

In any case, this is one of those days when I remember why it’s so tough to be an author. In order to make it in this business, you have to be willing to find the right words, edit the wrong ones, and do whatever it takes to make the story real. ‘Scuse me while I go find a machete to hack away at some more chapters…

Which is harder for you? Revisions or new pages?:typing: