Write and Revise for Publication: A 6-Month Plan for Crafting an Exceptional Novel and Other Works of Fiction

by Jack Smith

Your first draft is a work of imagination, but that doesn't mean it's a work of art--not yet. With Jack Smith's technical and inspirational guidance, you can turn your initial draft into a compelling story brimming with memorable characters and a page-turning plot.

As Jack states inside Write and Revise for Publication, writing is a complex act, one that calls upon all the powers of our creative resources, imagination, and intellect. Top-notch storytelling is not achieved the first time around, nor should it be expected so soon. But it is possible. Through Jack's detailed instruction and precise methods, you will learn the revision techniques and fine-tuning skills needed to create powerful, polished works ready to submit to magazines, agents, and publishers.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 11, 2013

About the author

Jack Smith’s novel Hog to Hog won the 2007 George Garrett Fiction Prize and was published by Texas Review Press in 2008. He has published stories in a number of literary magazines, including Southern Review, North American Review, Texas Review, X-Connect, Happy, In Posse Review, and Night Train. His reviews have appeared widely in such publications as Ploughshares, Georgia Review, American Book Review, Prairie Schooner, Iowa Review, Mid-American Review, Pleiades, the Missouri Review, and Environment magazine. He has contributed almost two dozen articles to Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market and a dozen to The Writer. His coauthored nonfiction environmental book entitled Killing Me Softly was published by Monthly Review Press in 2002. Besides his writing, Smith coedits the Green Hills Literary Lantern, an online literary magazine published by Truman State University.

Reviews

[Michele Amitrani · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Three and a half stars)

This was an enjoyable, useful reading that I found very well-articulated, although a bit generic on many elements. Jack Smith surely knows what he’s talking about. His style may be not original and his thoughts not ground-breaking, but the book itself is professionally wrote and clean. It gave me many interesting answer and, more importantly, started the right questions.

What worked

Write and Revise for Publication is everything a writer seeking suggestions on how to improve or refine his writing skills could hope for. It covers virtually every step from preparing your thoughts and ordering your ideas, writing your first draft, revising it and getting it ready to submit to an agent.

Its strength is exactly its breadth. It doesn’t focus on one stage of the writing process. It covers them all. If your dialogues are weak or your characters are opaque, Smith has useful suggestions to take them to the next level. Problems polishing your style or tone? He got the answer to that too.

His broad knowledge is also worth mentioning. You understand he did his homework by the share amount of material he comments, analyzes and discusses. The man is a little encyclopedia.

His style is maybe a bit dry, but the content is so solid and interesting that you’re pulled to read in more. Until you reach the quite frankly general and disappointing final part. The only real problem with this book.

What didn’t work

I consider myself not a particularly bright person, nor knowledgeable as I’d like to be. Plus, English is not my first language. I acknowledge that part of the reason why I found some faults on Smith’s book could derive from my personal experience and background.

That being said, there are some issues I believe the author should have addressed better. One of these is the meaning he gives to the word “Conflict,” probably one of the single most used words in the entire book and also the less understandable. He uses it in a very generic way but at the same time it’s more time than not the bulk of his analysis. The hub of his explanations. I still don’t understand what he meant with this word due to the lack of a proper definition. Is it the conflict between characters? Something only the antagonist should create with his actions (and reactions)? Something managed by multiple characters at the same time? The conflict readers should feel in order to be compelled to read more, or something else?

Also, as I previously said, Smith’s work may be too generic for someone seeking specifics advices on how to improve, say, his dialogue skills. It is surely useful to point out that dull dialogues are not a good thing, (not always, at least) but giving his particular thoughts, for example offering his own experience (not other’s experience), could have add something more to the reading experience.

Finally, the major flaw with this book was its ending. I understand this book is not focusing on publication, I do. It focuses on the stages before it. But if you decide to spend the last part of the book speaking about nowadays ways to get your work published out there how can you not even mention, along with the traditional way, the self-publishing option? This is a too important particular not to even spend a paragraph on, especially nowadays, when some indie authors are much more influent and known than others, “traditionally” published.

Conclusion

Smith’s work is a real blessing for writers stuck somewhere in the writing process or someone else who seek inspiration or material to work on. Although it is generic and not particularly original, the book does offer useful examples and addresses many issues that bother the average writer.

[Lara Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a few writing books and I think this is one of the better books out there. It is optimistic and encouraging. Rather than telling you all the things you shouldn't do when writing fiction, he focuses on all the options of what you can do. The book could be summarized as saying whatever you do, do it intentionally and with focus. I felt like this book took everything I learned about writing in high school and college and then enhanced it with purpose. Great book!

[Ted Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great learning tool. Insightful writing assignments.

[Elspeth Rushbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd like to have given this 4 1/2 stars, the lost half for being too brief, for giving advice at the end which is only useful to an American audience, and for his view of dialogue. Otherwise, this was excellent.

Jack covers a huge amount of details here (more than other books on the subject) but I often wished he'd spend longer in these interesting areas. His marketing chapter at the end felt token and not nearly enough - perhaps another book on that would have been more sensible if he feared this tome is already quite fat.

It's for short story writers as well as novelists, and it's only really the end of the book which requires an American reader, when he starts giving out names and places. Jack's own reading is very wide and he gives countless classic examples from a variety of authors. I quibbled his reading of Madame Bovary.

Basically, he gives no absolutes and puts it all down to judgement and context. Yes, that might not be fashionable, yes that might be against the rulebook of grammar - but if it's part of your character or has a particular effect on your story - then keep it. His key is awareness of what the effects of different styles do and to use them well.

I have an ongoing bugbear with dialogue, which is supposed to be understated, according to most writing teachers. I am concerned at a world where no one speaks their thoughts directly - isn't that part of self development: to be able to articulate and convey your true thoughts and feelings? It's also jarring here when he has been so wise and diverse in his advice on every other aspect of story writing.

I'm now intrigued by his own writing as he seems to have understood the craft and be able to explain it in a way that suggests a deep security and maturity of writing.

[Kristen-Paige Madonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Write and Revise is an excellent resource for writers of all levels... Smith begins with a succinct overview of the production stage and briefly describes the primary elements and techniques of fiction, including clear descriptions and tips for developing characters, choosing the best point of view, establishing conflict, managing plot and structure, and developing setting, style, tone and mood. The majority of the book, however, focuses on the revision process, one of the most crucial steps to crafting successful fiction. As he notes, "Solid revision transforms unfinished work by giving it levels or depths it didn't have before, smoothing it out, and producing a polished product." The remaining chapters are categorized by the element of fiction one may need to concentrate on during the revision stage, including openings and endings, developing themes, and fine tuning your manuscript. This book is concise but comprehensive, making it an excellent addition to any writers' shelf.

[Doug Farren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is packed with useful information - so much so that I will most likely take the time to read it again sometime. This is one of those books you can't just read, you should study this one. Take it slow and let the words sink into your brain. If you catch yourself just reading it, put it down and wait until you're in the mood to study it again.

[James Geddes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Write and Revise for Publication provides an excellent overview of the key components required to create a novel or other works of fiction. Smith's approach is simple, yet provides detailed analysis
I found very helpful.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is a blueprint on writing a novel and revising it within six months. The author gives many tips as well as short examples and exercises. This is a helpful book for the beginner or procrastinator.

[Nicholas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seen the basics of this done better elsewhere. It's okay. Just.

[Kimberly Renaud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book to read as a brush-up. It would be a really good book if you're just starting out in writing. He goes pretty much right through the whole process.