What Is The Third Step Of The Writing Process

The Third Step in the Writing Process is Revising

That's the magic of revisions — every cut is necessary, and every cut hurts, but something new always grows. — Kelly Barnhill

Revising is the third step of the writing process. This step, unlike editing and proofreading, is where you rework the story. By this I mean you, the writer, make drastic changes to the plot, characters, etc. Here is where you find and cut the unnecessary scenes, characters, and plotlines for the sake of the story.

Here are some questions I ask myself/to ask yourself when revising:

Does this move the story forward?
Did we affect the readers? Did *insert text* affect the readers? Why or why not?
Is it believable?
Does it have value, meaning?
Is the main character well-rounded?
Is the dialogue believable?
What areas are strong? What areas need to be worked on?
Is the point of view strong? Does it need to be written in a different point of view?

Extra tricks I use/you can use:

Create a color code and highlight sections of your work. This will point out your strengths, weaknesses, and overused techniques. Example: Dialogue is highlighted blue. Physical descriptions are highlighted green.
Print out your wip. Make sure you have a pair of scissors and tape nearby. Cut and paste as you choose. If a certain area was written too soon, move it to a later chapter. The same thing applies to a scene or chapter was written latter but needs to be shared earlier. This activity will allow you to experiment with scenes.
Take notes. Whether you use a notebook or track changes/comments in your word processor, do not skip this. This will allow you to see things clearer. This will help those who either struggle to remember or were sleep deprived during this stage. Taking notes on a printed version of your wip is good for those who want to do it by hand, but want to make marks in specific places.

Conclusion

If you answered "yes" to the above questions, look again. If the answers remain the same use the extra tips to see if there is anything that could be strengthened, moved, or removed. After you tried all of these, and are certain you are ready, then move on to the next step — editing.