How Book Revision Is Like Buying New Furniture

Every fiction writing coach knows this truth: the book revision process can feel as overwhelming as furnishing an empty home. You stare at your manuscript the way you stare at an online furniture catalog—paralyzed by possibilities, second-guessing every choice, and wondering if you’ll regret it immediately.

Recently, while wrestling with both a stubborn scene and a living room that desperately needed seating, I discovered something surprising. The parallels between buying furniture and revising a manuscript reveal essential truths about trusting your creative instincts—and knowing when to stop second-guessing yourself.

The Great Book Revision Visualization Struggle

One of my clients once explained how he and his wife furnished their home: they measured the spaces, bought pieces online that fit, and called it done. Quick, efficient, and logical.

But for me, furniture shopping reveals how difficult it is to visualize things before I see them. I’ve never been good at online shopping. When eBay was popular and people scored amazing deals, I could never commit. Even now, I agonize over each choice.

I’ll find a sofa, feel uncertain, buy it, and then regret it almost immediately. The size feels wrong, the texture doesn’t work, or the vibe in the room is off. Add in the fact that I’m picky, and decisions take forever. And yet, when I do find something that clicks, it happens fast—I know instantly and I stick with it.

That struggle is the same in writing. Sometimes our instincts know what’s right for a manuscript long before our overthinking brain catches up.

The Rinse Cycle Revelation: When Your Writing Process Knows Best

In revision, I’ve noticed a pattern. I’ll make a change to a scene on paper, then when I go to enter it into the document, I stop. Suddenly I realize: Actually, I prefer the original. Without even hitting “undo,” my instincts pull me back to the choice I already made.

Raymond Carver once described reaching a stage in revision where he was just shuffling commas and dashes around. That’s when he knew the edits had become busywork. I recognize that stage in myself, too. It’s not that the book is finished, but at some point my taste—the voice and rhythm I want—takes over. I don’t need to keep fighting it.

You chose a word, a sentence, a scene for a reason. Trust that the version that still feels right after several passes might, in fact, be right.

When Your Characters Go Furniture Shopping (What Every Fiction Writing Coach Knows)

Here’s the tricky part of revision: no one knows your story the way you do. Not your critique partners, not your editor, not even your writing coach.

An editor might ask, “Why isn’t this conflict coming to a head in this scene?” But you know the truth: these characters can’t talk to each other like that—not yet. That depth of knowledge lives only in your head, and revision is the process of translating it for the reader.

Fiction writing coaches can help you clarify, strengthen, and refine. But the real decisions—the ones that shape your book’s identity—will always come from you.

The Art of Getting to 'Done': A Novel Revision Reality Check

Many writers think the first draft is the finish line. They get through it, set down their pen, and say: I’m done!

My friend, you have only just begun.

The second draft comes. Then the third. Sometimes the seventh. And that’s normal. The books you see on a bookstore shelf have been through countless drafts and multiple hands—writers, agents, editors, proofreaders.

Your revision process might not look like anyone else’s. Some writers need to polish as they draft. Others barrel through and circle back later. Both are valid, as long as you reach the end. And let me tell you: finishing a draft, no matter how rough, is deeply satisfying.

Of course, for me, the satisfaction lasts about twenty minutes before I start thinking the whole thing is terrible. But in that window? Pure joy. And that joy is fuel for the next round.

Trust Your Taste (And Get the Support You Need)

If this furniture-shopping approach to novel revision resonates with you, you’re not alone. The process is overwhelming precisely because it matters so much.

At Hewes House, our fiction writing coaches believe the best book revision process honors both your creative instincts and your story’s needs. If you’re ready to trust your taste while also getting guidance from someone who can help you see the bigger picture, let’s talk about how manuscript development coaching can support your creative journey.