Revising Is Writing: With Christiana Langenberg

Here's another post from multiple award-winning author Christiana Langenberg. Also an honored short story writer, Christiana authored the compilation Half of What I Know.

AA: How you approach the revision process?

CL: Usually after I've fleshed out an entire story and it's undergone 10 or so revisions, I start paying attention to the language, the prose rhythm, sometimes even the placement of certain consonants and vowel sounds. I want to be allergic to deliberate alliteration or moments in the narrative where the language calls attention to itself in an "ooh this is pretty writing" kind of way. I figure the lyricism of the prose should feel UN-conscious to the reader. Put another way, the reader should be able to move through the story without overt YOU ARE HERE....DID YOU GET THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT?...places in the writing (language use) and should arrive at the end of the story with lots of reasons to remember both the characters and the prose used to evoke them. I guess I've just sort of outlined my personal philosophy there on the importance of crafting the prose itself and not simply focusing on revealing character and advancing plot.

For Christiana's Half of What I Know, visit Christiana Langenberg.