We want to follow our muse, see where creativity leads us. Unfortunately, that darned muse can lead you down a primrose path, while your instincts may decide to head to the Bahamas for a month. Very often, this leads to rewrites. I hear you groaning, and I don t blame you. We ve all done rewrites for ourselves, our critique partners, our agents or editors.
Revisions are a fact of a writer s life.
However, forethought and planning may dramatically cut down on the number of revisions by helping you focus on character, theme and drama. Without an interesting but pertinent beginning, a dramatic and pivoting middle, as well as a gripping and satisfying end, your muse will only take you so far. That s all well and good, you say. First, let s start with beginnings, since that s the logical place to start. You may have heard that you need to start your story in the middle of the action.