AJ Kormon’s Revision Process

The revision process is a mystery some people. Some hate it. Some love it. For me personally, I'm still finding my groove. Right now, I'm 28k words into a 50k novel, so before too long, I'll be in the revision stage again. Part of me is biting at the bit to get started on fixing some major problems with the story. Another part of me is dreading it because there is so much to fix with this story. I've talked to a lot of authors over the last 5 years or so. No two authors write or revise the same way. Some write very cleanly in their first draft and need very little revision and editing before publication. Some revise as they write. Some overwrite and some underwrite in their first draft. For some revision means just fixing some things, but for others it means completely rewriting the whole story from page one to the end. It can even change from story to story. Once I get through with the revision on my current novel, I'll share my current method. Meanwhile, AJ Korman shared with me her method of revising her novels. AJ is the author of The Halloway Hills Middle School Mysteries. She has a ton of great advice for revision! Here is what she wrote: