For a quick, punchy guide, 'The 90-Day Novel' by Alan Watt has a great section on 'The Second Draft.' It frames revision as 'listening to what you've written' and deepening the conflict based on the discoveries of the first draft. It's less about mechanics and more about aligning your draft with its own inherent truth. It's a very intuitive, creative approach that works well if you're not a naturally analytical editor.
I lean toward the intuitive side, so 'The Artful Edit' by Susan Bell resonated. It uses the extensive editing process of 'The Great Gatsby' as a case study. The book argues that editing is an art that requires you to develop your own critical eye, not just follow rules. It discusses pacing, style, and pattern-making in a way that feels holistic. It taught me to 'listen' to the rhythm of my own manuscript, which was more valuable than any checklist.
A lot of these are about fiction, but what about non-fiction or memoir? 'The Memoir Project' by Marion Roach Smith has superb revision advice focused on truth, theme, and relevance. She teaches you to cut anything that doesn't serve your central argument, no matter how beautifully written. It’s a masterclass in narrative focus. The principles apply to any narrative non-fiction, ensuring every anecdote earns its place.
A book that changed my perspective is 'Several Short Sentences About Writing' by Verlyn Klinkenborg. It argues for paying attention to every single sentence. The revision method it implies is agonizing and slow—examining each sentence for clarity, rhythm, and purpose. It’s not efficient, but it produces incredibly potent prose. My writing became more deliberate. It’s the anti-binge-writing guide, perfect for the writer who wants to craft every line.
What's the book with the colored index cards method? I think it's in many plotting books, but using it for revision is brilliant. You write each scene on a card and lay them out to visualize pacing and plot holes. Seeing the physical structure reveals sagging middles or repetitive sequences instantly. No single book owns this technique, but any resource that teaches you to externalize your story's skeleton is a powerful revision aid.
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Sinners & Saints: A Collection Of Dark Romance Stories
Mary Samantha
10
518
This author once failed as a heroine… and returned as something entirely different.
Not as a savior.
But as the villain.
And she didn’t come back empty-handed.
She brought secrets.
She brought sins.
She brought a story that was never meant to be read.
Sinners & Saints is not just a collection of dark romance stories—
It is a confession.
A warning.
And a door best left unopened.
Within these pages lie twisted love stories where desire and destruction walk hand in hand, and every choice comes with a cost.
So the question is simple:
Will you turn away…
or step inside anyway?
When the apocalypse came, she lost everything. Starving, hunted, and desperate, she trusted the one man she loved… only for him to betray her in the cruelest way possible. He stole her last supplies to please another woman and left her to die in a sea of the undead.
But death wasn’t the end.
She woke up days before the world collapsed.
After cutting ties with her ungrateful ex and his parasitic family, a mysterious voice awakens in her mind, LUS, a Level-Up System designed to help her survive the coming end.
With knowledge of the future and a system guiding her every move, she begins to prepare. She stockpiles resources, builds a base, and learns how to fight back against the horrors that once destroyed her.
And when the apocalypse arrives again… she’s ready. But survival isn’t the only thing waiting for her in this new life.
A silent killer who watches her like prey.
A manipulative genius who wants to unravel her secrets.
A gentle protector who sees the girl she hides.
And a dangerous man who thrives in chaos.
As the world burns and power shifts, they’re all drawn to her, each with their own motives, each with their own darkness. Even her past refuses to stay buried.
Because now, the man who once abandoned her is back, broken, desperate, and begging for a second chance. Too bad she has no time for regrets.
Not when she’s busy rising to power… and building a kingdom in the ruins of the world.
He is my nemesis, the one who tormented me without cause. It wasn't always this way; there was a time when things were different. But then, one day, everything shifted. What do I do when he becomes my mate? The mark I left on him during our clash signifies that he belongs to me forever. Yet, he harbors a secret—one he desperately wants to conceal from me. This secret, rooted in guilt, is tied to a past event that changed everything.What will happen when she uncovers her mate's hidden truth? He has kept her in the dark, and now she must confront the possibility that this revelation could either shatter their bond or pave the way for reconciliation.
Thanks for reading! If you didn’t find the answer to your question here, contact your editor who sent you the contract offer and tell him/her to improve this guidebook.
Also, don't forget to take the small quiz in the last chapter and share your score with us in the comment!
We love reading novels, fall in love with the characters, sometimes envy the main girl for getting the perfect male lead... but what happens when you get inside your own novel and get to meet your perfect main lead and bonus...get treated like the female lead?! As the clock struck 12, Arielle Taylor is pulled inside her own novel. This cinderella is over the moon as her Prince Charming showers her with his attention but what would happen when she finds herself falling for her fairy godmother instead?
Please read my interview with Goodnovel at: https://tinyurl.com/y5zb3tug
Cover pic: pixabay
I combine a hard copy and audiobook. I print the draft, read it aloud with a pen, and make notes. Then, I listen to the audiobook version (using text-to-speech) while on a walk. The different mediums highlight different flaws. The print edit catches typos and awkward phrasing; the audio edit reveals pacing, dialogue rhythm, and repetitive sentence structures. This dual-sense approach, which I picked up from an author interview, surfaces issues a silent screen read would never reveal. It's my essential first pass before any craft book techniques come into play.
I see a lot of love for the big, complex apps, but for sheer speed and ease during revisions, I swear by simple text expander tools paired with a basic editor. I use TextExpander (or even the free AutoHotkey). I create snippets for things I consistently misspell, for my character's full names, for common phrases I overuse, and for placeholder tags like [DESCRIBE ROOM].
During revision, instead of manually fixing 'teh' to 'the' a hundred times, it's done instantly. If I decide to change a side character's name from 'Mark' to 'Marcus,' I update one snippet and it changes everywhere. It turns repetitive, mechanical fixes from a hours-long chore into a seconds-long task. This lets me dedicate my mental energy and time to the actual creative work of revising prose and plot, not acting as a slow, error-prone search-and-replace function.
A lot of writers use reverse outlining. After the first draft is done, you create a new outline from what you actually wrote. This shows you the real structure, pacing, and where subplots appear and disappear. Comparing this 'as-built' outline to your original plan (or to a model structure) highlights exactly where the revision needs to focus.
I've been diving deep into biblical studies lately, and yes, there are fantastic study guides for the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). One of my favorites is 'The HarperCollins Study Bible,' which provides detailed commentary, historical context, and maps to help readers understand the text better. Another great option is 'The New Oxford Annotated Bible,' which includes essays and annotations by scholars. These guides are perfect for anyone looking to explore the NRSV in depth, whether for personal study or academic purposes. I also recommend 'The Jewish Study Bible' for those interested in the Hebrew Scriptures, as it offers a unique perspective on the Old Testament. The NRSV is known for its accuracy and readability, and these study guides enhance the experience by providing valuable insights and interpretations.