Revisions on Paper, Revisions on Computer

I’ve made the notes for where chapters/scenes are missing in the manuscript and I’m ready to start the rewrites. The question now is whether or not I print the manuscript and do it on paper or do it all digitally.

I’ve done it both ways in the past and honestly I get two different things depending on which way I go. I always catch more of the atmosphere and read the story a different way when I’m reading the paper version. But I know that when I go to my computer to transfer the revisions and do the work of changing the manuscript in Scrivener, I don’t necessarily follow the paper revisions that I’ve done. I start off going with what I’ve written down, but then I get swept up in whatever is happening in the moment in the chapter and I just let myself write. Do I write the revisions on the computer the way that I do because I’ve done it on paper first, even if I don’t follow exactly what I’ve written when I’m revising online? My gut says yes. I do believe in following that instinct that tells me something is right even when I can’t put it into words. Also, there is a powerful magic in printing out chapters of a story that I’ve written and seeing those words on paper. It’s a feeling that catches me every time I see my words printed. After some time debating this last week, I decided to print the first act of MS:D and start there. I’ve got it punched and ready to go in my BIG Happy Planner notebook with some notes I wrote while making my chapter place holders.

This week I am ready to start the rewrites and revisions to MS:D. I wanted to jump into it last week, but between some pretty extensive dental work and my girls being on vacation, the writing just didn’t happen. May is going to be wickedly busy with three of the four of us having birthdays plus both of our mother’s birthdays plus Mother’s Day plus getting ready to close out the school year. 😳 I am determined to get some writing in and hopefully a lot if I can help it. I know I say and feel this way about all of my stories, but MS:D has got something special to it. It’s a gritty, raw story that pulls at me in intense ways. The characters remind me to be brave when times are tough and inspire me when I doubt that I can do hard things. Their world is one that I could only hope to survive and I really hope to do their story justice as I work my way through these revisions.

In case you haven’t been told today, you are more than enough.

Happy Writing!