This is one of those things I started saying A LOT when I became a parent. Right now, we’re dealing with some sleep regression issues with our toddler. And this is the phrase I’ve said to myself every night for the past week. At 1:00 AM. When she’s not sleeping. And neither am I. 
Again, it’s incredibly important to recognize all the things that are effecting the progress I’m making toward my goals. It helps keep me motivated when I’m feeling behind in the work I’m trying to accomplish. And it helps me focus on the progress I have been able to make toward my goals even with the sleep deprivation.
I’m continuing to make my way through revising the first act of the manuscript I’m working on. I’m doing this on a paper copy that I printed and had bound at Staples with a spiral bound coil. I’m finding that I’m LOVING doing this first complete revision on paper. I’m not revising the grammar, sentence structure, spelling, etc. this time around. I’m focusing on big story revisions: rounding out my characters, world building details, relationship crafting. I’m finding that doing this work on paper specifically is awesome because I can’t get distracted by being on the computer. When I revise on the computer, I tend to get lost on the internet when I decide to “take a minute” to research something I’m trying to craft in my writing. That quick minute to research winds up leading to an hour of chasing one thing after another and then I’ve lost all track of where I was in my story. Doing it on paper forces me to stay with my characters every step of the way.
I’m thinking about the fact that the end of this month marks the ends of my Quarter 3 for my writing goals as well. At the end of this month, I’ll be meeting with my peer critique group friend to swap our first round of manuscripts and then we will start on our second round which will happen during the month of March. I’ll be critiquing her second manuscript at the same time as revising the manuscript she’s critiquing for me now. I’m hoping to revise the first and second act of the story I’m working on right now before the end of this month when it will be time to hand it off. We shall see.
How do you like to revise a story? Do you print out a paper copy or revise on the computer? Or does it depend on whether you’re revising a chapter vs. a full manuscript?
Happy Writing!
Nikole Breault 
I usually revise on the computer, because way back when I started writing in high school, I still used a typewriter and I absolutely hated re-typing everything. Also, printer ink is really expensive – I like your idea of getting it printed and bound at Staples and having that record of hard copy drafts! It makes it so much more official!
I really like Scrivener for revising, because moving scenes around is so much easier and I can have all my info, characters, and timeline all in one place.
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I do love revising in Scrivener when I do it on the computer. It’s also easier in Scrivener if I decide to move one piece of a chapter to a different chapter, because I’ve got the chapters divided out in each novel project. It feels really awesome to have a printed copy of the first draft of the story! It’s an awesome artifact to look back on 🙂
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That’s neat that you’re revising on paper! There’s definitely something to be said for having the entire manuscript in hand and being able to flip back to the page you’re looking for. I’m not sure because I’ve never revised a novel before… well not in it’s entirety. I’m planning to begin in March so I will see if I do it on paper or at the computer!
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Having the whole story printed together makes it much easier to flip from one section to the next. It also makes me feel the way the chapters lead into each other differently than it does when I look at it on the computer. That was a weird thing I didn’t expect.
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Nice point, thanks for sharing. 🙂
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(I just tried posting a longcomment and I don’t think it worked☹️)
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