Revision Tools and Techniques

I'm weaving a new subplot into an existing story, and an organized approach for a revision like this is a must. The new subplot may be short, but it touches a lot of the existing work.

What follows are the tools and techniques I use to make fast, coherent, and successful revisions.

Tools

Outline

While "pantsing" (writing by the seat of your pants) is tempting, if you're taking writing seriously, you need to take outlining seriously. Start sketching out your story beats by bullet-pointing in a text editor or a note-taking app like my favorite, Obsidian.

Timeline

Use a spreadsheet or a purpose-built tool like Aeon Timeline for the actual timeline. Aeon can sync your changes into an associated Scrivener or Ulysses project. Be extremely careful when you do this, and double-check that you have appropriate backups.

Backups

Backups are essential, especially for a wide-ranging revision. You have backups of your work, right? I don't mean just "it's up in Dropbox," but separate, dated copies of your work. Right?

Techniques

Create a Full Backup

Before you do anything else, make a full backup. Note in the file name that it is from before you began this revision.

Iterate on Your Outline Relentlessly

You will thank your past self for all that work, trust me. Using a text editor for this step is great. You can scratch-pad loose ideas, move things around, and try different approaches with a tool you can use just by reflex.

Check your new outline against your existing outline and timeline to avoid inconsistencies. Keep track of any "back-patching" you need to do and how you'll handle it—you want to work fast later, so now is the time to write future-you directives on how to handle the conflicts.

Break Outline into Scenes

However you do it, break your outline into scenes. An estimated length is okay, but pair that with a good story beat and you’re cooking with fusion.

Insert Scenes into Your Timeline

You've already done the hard work. Insert the scenes into the timeline and use a working tag on new scenes so you can find them later. Check your back-patching notes for anything that needs to be done. You can even add a "scene" that's just your patching instructions. Tag any deleted scenes so you can find them and remove them later.

Revise

With your timeline as a guide, you can begin revisions. Ideally, your timeline is in narrative order—this makes it easier to know what the reader knows at any given point. Starting from the top, work through your timeline and add, edit, or delete as the items indicate. Don't remove any of the items until the revision is complete—sometimes we need to revise our revisions!

Final Thoughts

Following these steps has saved me countless hours and headaches. Happy writing!