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Revising, publishing, blogging


Came across this quote by Naomi Shihab Nye

If a teacher told me to revise, I thought that meant my writing was a broken-down car that needed to go to the repair shop. I felt insulted. I didn’t realize the teacher was saying, “Make it shine. It’s worth it.” Now I see revision as a beautiful word of hope. It’s a new vision of something. It means you don’t have to be perfect the first time. What a relief!

Since am busy revising today, those are exactly the words I needed to hear. What about you, do you love or hate revising?
I find some stories exceptionally hard to revise: one of my short stories “Maya Niwas” took me two years to write and revise and is finally published in this anthology by Marshall and Cavendish.Another story found a home this new year at Muse India. The Mercedes went through an year of polishing from the 1st draft to the 10th. Revising, writing, and reading has taken over my life to the extent that I forget once in a while that I run blogs. Not very professional, that.
With the second anniversary of this blog approaching this week, I need to figure out a schedule for Amlokiblogs. Got some good suggestions on #blogchat on twitter. Would appreciate a few here as well.
PLEASE weigh in, ye experienced blogfriend/s of mine, who make me envious with thy blogging panache!
😀 I’ve been lousy with my blog-browsing as well, and the New year resolve is to visit more blogs as frequently as I can! Happy New Year and virtual hugs all around!

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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3 Comments

  • Damyanti says:

    Thanks, Summer, Scott.

    I have to be altogether more disciplined, that's what I have to do:)

    Scott, I'm happy revising some stories, not so happy when am doing others. Well, I suppose it is the final product that counts!

  • I have my personal blog, to which I post sporadically. I haven't really figured out what I want to do with that blog, and I've had it for a couple years now. I also write for a group blog and my posts are on Tuesdays and Fridays. Like Summer says, you can write them whenever and just schedule them to post on the days you like. I think that the key is to just post on a regular schedule. Even once a week is fine as long as your readers know you'll be there on that day.

    As for revisions: I love the process, even if it's harder than drafting. It is a "re-visioning" of the story, and in my opinion it's where the real writing and the true creativity come in. My first drafts are pretty sketchy, and my revisions turn those sketches into "real" stories. I become more pleased with the work as revisions progress, and that pleasure helps me build and maintain forward momentum.

  • Summer Ross says:

    Happy new year to you as well. Honestly I set up posts in advance, specially blogfests, that way they go up when they need to…maybe you could just do a three day or a once a week posting? You could set them up for a week ahead when you have time, then you will always be a week ahead of yourself. If i run out of something to talk about- I do another blogfest…:) that way I'm never too far behind.