I am there. And can be a dark, dark, place.

But it doesn’t have to be!

Every time I go to revise a book, I employ different tactics. Usually, they involve the latest craft book I’ve read.

For example, for my current revisions I have used:

and

and

Each of them is excellent in their own way, and each has me thinking and rethinking what’s currently on paper.

So does reading other people’s work.

Need a cliffhanger? 

Hmm – I think I’ll reread The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands or Withering by the Sea by Judith Rossell, which are chock-a-block with them!

Need to remember how to go deep, emotionally?

I’m looking at you, The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw and The Someday Birds by Sally J. Pla

Need Humour?

How about the Adventurer’s Guide to Successful Escapes by Wade Albert White?

What I am learning is that there is no one way to revise a book, and so much depends on the book itself.

Oh, and here’s the most important thing:

Keep going to make it the best it can be, but remember to have fun! Because if you’re not having fun with your revisions, it means your reader likely isn’t going to enjoy themselves either…