I’ve spent the last two episodes talking about writing challenges. If you’re thinking about Novel November or any of the other NaNoWriMo replacements out there, you’re probably excited to start writing the book. But what happens when you’re done and it’s time to revise that messy first draft?

I talk about revision a lot, and I definitely have suggestions for how to manage the revision process when you get there, but this episode isn’t about revision. It’s about setting yourself up for success while you’re still drafting.

In this episode, I’m sharing five things you can do while writing the draft to make your life easier in revision.

They are:

1. Write down revision ideas as they come to you during the drafting process.
2. Keep those future revision notes in a single, designated revision OR consolidate every week or so if you tend to take notes in multiple places.
3. Document all big decisions about your world or character backstories so you have the beginnings of a story/series bible when you’re done.
4. Reverse outline as you draft by summarizing each day’s new writing when you’re done.
5. Use TK/FCK or another marking system to designate missing information or decisions that you want to make later (e.g., character names, worldbuilding decisions, etc.).

Listen to the full episode for my explanation of each technique and how you can implement it in your writing process!

Happy novel writing!

P.S. Still looking for a new November writing challenge? Here are some options gathered by ProWritingAid!

I’m not sponsoring or affiliated with any of these challenges. I’m just a book coach who may or may not be joining a challenge as well this week!

For a full transcript of the episode, please visit https://oliviahelpswriters.com/bwp/47