How to Revise with Feedback
Five Steps for Processing and Implementing Feedback in Revision
Learning Objective: By the end of this post, you will know how to process and implement feedback on your writing using five concrete steps.
Last week, we broke down a three-step process for writing a second draft. In this lesson, we discussed the importance of establishing a trusted reader as the audience for this draft. As a video game writer, my trusted reader is typically my manager, and as a novelist, my trusted reader is either a critique partner or my agent. Regardless of our chosen genre, feedback from a trusted reader is a crucial step in the writing process, but what do we do once we receive feedback? How do we process feedback and determine which suggestions we should follow and which suggestions we should set aside in our next draft? What is a writer actually doing on the page or chapter level when they’re revising to address feedback?
Whether your feedback is from a beta reader, agent, or editor, these five concrete steps will help you process and implement feedback in revision. As always, take what’s useful (if anything at all) and leave what’s not behind.
Atlas Obscura Podcast
An essay I wrote for Off Assignment was featured on the Atlas Obscura podcast.
As you probably know, I lived in Korea for several years, and this essay is about my first year in Seoul, the challenges of operating in a second language, and the joys of being Black in Korea. Huge thank you to Off Assignment and Anya Tchoupakov for thinking of me for this, to Aube Rey Lescure for her brilliant editorial eye, and to Johanna Mayer for guiding me through my first record.
You can download the episode wherever you get your podcasts. If you listen on Spotify, you can check out the episode here.
How to Revise with Feedback
1. Meet and Listen
In general, feedback for your work will typically come in two forms:
Written Feedback: Critique letters, line notes, etc.
Verbal Feedback: Formal workshops, calls with beta readers or agents
A lot of the time, you will receive feedback in both forms for the same pages you share. For example, in my MFA program, our class would discuss each other's work during our workshop and then pass line notes and critique letters back to the writer. My agent also sends me her written feedback a few days before our next meeting.
In my experience, I find that the less I talk during these meetings, the more I learn about my own editorial vision for the story. I process verbal feedback best when I'm an active listener and write down the comments and questions that resonate with me. If I do speak during these meetings, I only ask questions. Asking questions keeps me curious about my own editorial vision. For me, the most effective questions focus on specific craft issues. Here’s an example:
Ineffective Question: Do you like this chapter?
Effective Question: Where is the pacing most effective in this chapter? Where does your attention start to wane?
I can’t revise to make a beta reader like a chapter more, but I can revise to make the pacing more effective.
Before Simon & Schuster acquired my debut novel, Good People, I had a few calls with my editor to discuss a revise and resubmit request. Writers often receive a revise and resubmit request when an editor wants to acquire a book, but their acquisitions department has reservations about the manuscript. On the call, my editor gave me feedback on what changes would quell any in-house reservations and create more enthusiasm for acquiring the book. As I took notes, I asked questions about how those changes might be realized on a craft level. In addition to outlining our conversation in my notes, I also wrote down guiding questions for myself in a distinct color. When I was ready to actually start my revision, I returned to these questions as a jumping off point for my next draft.
2. Take a Break
After receiving verbal or written feedback, I take a much-needed break. I won’t read written feedback, my meeting notes, or even open my story’s Word document again for a week. I need this time to make space for my feelings. For me, my revisions are never productive when I’m revising as a reaction rather than revising with intention that’s aligned with my editorial vision. Reactive feelings often fade within a week. If I have any ideas during that week, I’ll quickly jot them down in my journal app, but my priority for the week is to simply live my life.
3. Outline Your Feedback Letter
Feedback letters from my agent are often ten pages single spaced. A letter like this can be overwhelming to process. Whether your feedback letter is one page or eight, I recommend creating a reverse outline of the letter.
In your outline, write down all of the feedback that resonates with you. Below each piece of feedback, write down the following:
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