Revision Question

I say finish it, then go back and revise, but you know the answer you'll get is going to be "whatever works best for you," which technically is my answer as well.

Whatever works for you. I tend to write really rough forst drafts too, but I do them a chapter at a time and polish up before I move on. It's not final draft, but it's probably a solid 2nd draft condition. If you want to jump back and flesh out, then do it. Everyone has their own way and they're all good. Whatever gets your muse going.

Depends. I've done both. For one WIP, I hit a point where I'd changed so much that it was easier to drop everything and start over again with the new concepts. For another, I wrote up notes about what the new beginning should look like and continued as if that beginning had already been written.

This is a first draft? I'd lean toward pushing forward until you hit some kind of ending. How solid an idea are your proposed changes to the beginning? What will you do if you come up with another epiphany which will force the beginning to change again?

Once you hit an ending, you can see the shape of the whole story.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

I ran into the same issue with my current manuscript, and I went back. All I could think about was how the storyline didn't flow right and I couldn't move ahead until I fixed it.

You can easily do a search and replace for Compost, but if it were me, I wouldn't mess with the opening yet. I always have to revise the opening. I accept that. I keep notes on what I want to do, but I don't usually do it until I'm done because what I want may change again.

ETA: OK. I thought about this some more and I take it back. I've done it both ways. With my first book, I got about half way through and finally worked out a much better outline of the rest of the book. Then I went back and edited the opening to fit, and just felt so much better. With the second one, I was struggling to get through the draft, but I knew if I finished it, I'd feel better because once I have a whole draft, my anxiety level drops tremendously. So that time I pushed through and finished. In both cases, I wound up revising the opening subtantially even then.

So I think it depends on what helps you write. Which way would help you get through your story more happily?

I'm the same way. I can't go forth if something needs fixed, even if I don't know what that something is. There has been times I fiddle with previous chapters until whatever needs to be changed or added or fixed pops into my head and then it all works out and I continue forward. But I'm also slightly OCD and a perfectionist which is possibly why I can't go an inch more if something isn't working. It's like a mental block.

I tend to fix things in the middle of the work, BUT, I think a big reason behind this is I write serials and I'm not sure where, when, or how they will end so it helps me to revise before they're done, otherwise I have no clue if things will work out the way it's currently going. Oh. That, and I post them to the Web, so it would be pretty embarrassing to mess up!

That's just me though, and for some reason, in your situation, my first reaction would be to say to finish the story and then revise because sure, you can revise the early chapters now, but by the time you're done doing that, you'll probably need to revise the other chapters up to 12, and then you'll just get stuck in this rut of revising everything that isn't even finished yet. (I revised earlier chapters of an ongoing serial of mine to better fit with the newer ones and now the revisions are outdated, *LOL.*)

Whatever works best for you, though. I don't think I could even get through 12 chapters without the character having a name.

It's different for each and every writer I suppose. Me, I just write and write and if I get a pause, like in the one you mentioned, about needing to revise something, I do so right away before I forget it.

I especially do my revisions and edits while I'm in a writer's block.

Depends on you though.

Keep going. Some writers get trapped in the revise-first-chapters circle. If all you're doing is adding in a snippet to explain or foreshadow something, go ahead, but don't be tempted to rewrite rather than getting the story written. You'll have lots of time to edit later.

You can always keep a separate file of things that occur to you as you write.

Renfaery said:

Let's say you are a writer who writes rough drafts that are VERY rough. As in, you have a character called Compost because, let's face it, the guy is doomed, and you don't feel like thinking up his name.

And let's say you get to chapter 12 and suddenly realize that chapters 1-4 need rewritten to work with 12, and you finally have a real name for Compost to boot.

Do you go back and do the rewrites, or do you finish the draft and do the whole thing at once?

Click to expand...

Good question.
Near chapter 8 I had a feeling I had to change my first chapter and also make a prologue. I couldnt really keep writing until i fixed it.

They all say to not go back to your work until you have finished it.
Screw them. I went back and wrote thre prologue then rewrote the first chapter.
I still have a couple scenes to add to the new chapter one, but they can wait til the end of my WIP.

What do you feel is the right thing to do? Do it.

PS: my first draft is very polished, but is far from perfect.

Yes.

Renfaery said:

Let's say you are a writer who writes rough drafts that are VERY rough. As in, you have a character called Compost because, let's face it, the guy is doomed, and you don't feel like thinking up his name.

And let's say you get to chapter 12 and suddenly realize that chapters 1-4 need rewritten to work with 12, and you finally have a real name for Compost to boot.

Do you go back and do the rewrites, or do you finish the draft and do the whole thing at once?

Click to expand...

Up to you how you edit it. If it were me, I might go back because it sounds like it could change the flow of the book and character development.

I used to never outline and just go with a really rough draft. Now after a few WIPs I suggest having at least a rough outline to know where you going. It's saved me a lot of time revising by having a more polished first rough draft, in terms of plot and flow.