The Three Levels of Revision – and Why You Must Know Them

with Laura Backes, Executive Editor of Manuscript Magic and Founder of Children's Book Insider

The only revision system you will ever need. Once you have it, you will be able to revise any fiction manuscript at a very high level simply and easily.

You will never worry about revision again.

That's a promise.

What a gift this is to writers!

Emma D. Dryden, Children's Editorial & Publishing Consultant

This program takes the best writing tips and wisdom that I've seen during my 25-year career and distills them to the essentials.

Natasha Wing, author of the bestselling The Night Before picture book series.

Goodbye procrastination, and hello polished manuscript! I highly recommend this tool for writers of all genres and abilities.

Bailey Cates, New York Times Bestselling author of the Magical Bakery Mysteries.

Manuscript Magic takes the guesswork out of revision and puts the magic back into it. It really lives up to its name!

Jane Choate, author of 36 novels including High Risk Investigation

Bonnie Johnston, your Manuscript Magic Instructor:

More than two decades as a freelance writer and illustrator

Winner of multiple awards including Golden Gateway, On the Far Side & Preditors and Editors Readers Poll

Six novels and a fantasy series published under the name B.L. Johnson

Other books, under the pen name Lynn Johnston, include The 30 Day Novel Workbook, The 30 Day Romance Novel Workbook, Cultivate Willpower and Jumpstart Your Motivation, and The Writer's Guide to Getting Organized

Next Tuesday, February 13

THE MANUSCRIPT MAGIC LAUNCH EVENTWith Bonnie & Laura

Get a full tour of Manuscript Magic, receive high-level revision instruction and then....

We reveal the big bonus bundle!

And now, here's Laura Backes, Executive Editor of

Manuscript Magic & Co-Creator of Writing Blueprints

The Manuscript Magic Revision Concept

The lifetime system that uses three simple steps to fix any manuscript's problems.

Checkup. Diagnose. Fix.

Never worry about revision again!

Step 1: Checkup

Answer simple Yes or No questions about your manuscript on three different levels.

Step 2: Diagnose

Match your Yes answers from the checkup to problem spots in your manuscript and find specific solutions.

Step 3: Fix

Bonnie guides you through the revision technique that fixes the problem in your manuscript.

An accompanying PDF sums up key points from the video and acts as an easy reference you can use during the revision process.

What is revision?

Miranda heard tapping on her bedroom window. It woke her up. She sat up in bed startled. Her heart

pounded and she gasped. Her alarm clock said it wasn’t even six yet. Who would be tapping on her window at

this hour? she thought. She sighed. It was the only day she could afford to sleep in, and her bratty little brother

had to wake her up. What did he want anyway?

She raced to the window and looked outside. It wasn’t her brother. It was Becca.

Becca looked over her shoulder. Then she waved her hands in a gesture for Miranda to open the window.

Miranda unlatched the window and shoved it upward. Becca climbed in and fell forward, face-first, right into

her. When Becca grabbed Miranda's arm to climb inside, Miranda fell back into her room.

Miranda smelled beer and smoke and it made her feel sick. She was pretty sure the all smoke wasn't from

cigarettes. She felt afraid for her friend. She knew Seth had gotten Miranda to go out partying.

But Miranda felt responsible too. She had introduced Becca to Seth in the first place.

First Draft

Miranda bolted upright in bed. She glanced at her silent alarm clock. What had woken her up at 5:30 in the

morning? Then she heard tapping on her window. She groaned. Only her bratty little brother would pull a stunt

like this on a Sunday. She sighed and climbed out of bed. Sam, just wait till I get my hands on you.

Miranda yanked back the curtain. Becca stood in the shadows below her window. She glanced over her

shoulder, then frantically gestured for Miranda to let her in.

Miranda pushed open the window and staggered back as Becca lurched forward through the opening. She

grabbed Becca's arm and pulled her the rest of the way inside.

The smell of beer and smoke immediately filled Miranda's room. She fought the urge to gag as she studied

her friend's face. Becca's bloodshot eyes told Miranda the smoke was from more than cigarettes.

Miranda's heart sank. This was Seth’s fault.

No, it’s my fault. I made him fall in love with her.

Polished First Draft

Polishing is the FINAL part of the revision process. But for many authors, it's the ONLY part of the

process they do.

Why do I need to revise at all? Isn't that the editor's job?

Should I revise as I write, or wait until I'm done with my first draft?

The Three Levels of Revision

Level 1: Story

You're looking at the big-picture elements of your book, such as plot and character arcs, theme, the character's main story conflict, and where the book begins and ends. These are some of the elements that create the foundation of your story.

You can't revise on the story level until you've finished a complete draft.

The Three Levels of Revision

Level 2: Scene

Scenes are the building blocks of your plot. Once you know that the foundation of your story is solid, you can then turn your attention to the individual scenes, and determine if each one is doing what it's supposed to do to move your story forward.

You can't revise on the scene level until you've finished your story-level revisions.

What is a scene?

All fiction is written in scenes.

A picture book may consist of several scenes (often the scene changes with the page-turn), or it could be one scene that spans the entire story.

Chapter books for ages 5-8 or 7-10 average about 3 scenes per chapter.

Middle grade and young adult books average 3-5 scenes per chapter, but that varies greatly with the genre and plot.

Adult fiction might have 3-7 scenes per chapter on average, varying with genre.

A scene is a unit of change in a story.

It starts with a problem, has rising action (escalation of conflict) and ends with a climax that may or may not resolve the conflict of the rising action.

In other words, scenes are miniature stories, with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

A scene usually takes place in one time and place, and if you’re writing in limited third or in first person, through one person’s point of view.

Miranda bolted upright in bed. She glanced at her silent alarm clock. What had woken her up at 5:30 in the

morning? Then she heard tapping on her window. She groaned. Only her bratty little brother would pull a stunt

like this on a Sunday. She sighed and climbed out of bed. Sam, just wait till I get my hands on you.

Miranda yanked back the curtain. Becca stood in the shadows below her window. She glanced over her

shoulder, then frantically gestured to Miranda to let her in.

Miranda pushed open the window and staggered backward as Becca lurched forward through the opening.

She grabbed Becca's arm and pulled her the rest of the way inside.

The smell of beer and smoke immediately filled Miranda's room. She fought the urge to gag as she studied

her friend's face. Becca's bloodshot eyes told Miranda the smoke was from more than cigarettes.

Miranda's heart sank. This was Seth’s fault.

No, it’s my fault. I made him fall in love with her.

Polished First Draft

The Three Levels of RevisionLevel 3: Sentence

When you revise on the sentence level, you polish the individual sentences in each scene. You don't substantially alter the meaning of the sentences, but you make them better. You eliminate extra words, strengthen verbs, turn passive sentences into active sentences, take out unnecessary dialogue tags, and clarify confusing pronouns or point-of-view violations. You also check for grammar and spelling errors.

You can't revise on the sentence level until you've finished your scene-level revisions.

Sentence-level revisions are what most Sentence-level revisions are what most beginning authors think of as revision. And beginning authors think of as revision. And

even then, they often skip some crucial even then, they often skip some crucial sentence-level edits.sentence-level edits.

Is revising a picture book dramatically different from

revising a novel?

How can I revise my manuscript on the story, scene and sentence levels if I don't know how to identify problems

and fix them?

What I learned while working on

Manuscript Magic.

Scenes are units of change in your story

There are two things that every scene must do:

1. Advance the plot 2. Reveal character

What does it mean to “advance the plot”?

• Information is revealed...

• An action is taken...

• Something is said...

• A conflict occurs......

that changes things meaningfully for one or more characters (and thus, for the reader).

We're putting the link to a PDF of a rough draft of a picture book called Jake and the Monster in the Closet in the chat box now.

Before the Manuscript Magic VIP Launch Webinar on February 13, read through this manuscript, circle and identify each problem.

You must be able to identify exactly what the problem is if you circle it.

If you sense something is wrong with a sentence or paragraph but can't identify the exact problem, don't circle it.

Bring your marked-up manuscript to the VIP Launch and we'll see how you did!

Now's the time to ask your questions.

As a thank-you for attending tonight's webinar, Jon's putting the link to the video

What is a Scene? by Manuscript Magic instructor Bonnie Johnston in the chat box now.