The Dreaded Re write

[brainstorm77]

So its time to rewrite.... I feel like tossing the whole thing out the window, not that its a hard process but rather a boring one .. anyone else ever feel this way when rewriting?

[scarletpeaches]

I get like that on the first draft. I love editing.

But then, I'm weird, so you should probably ignore me. :D

[Bubastes]

You're no weirder than I am, SP. I like revising much more than writing the first draft. Editing is like playing with clay for me. I get to push words around and see what neat shapes they make.

[James81]

I'd just sooner take a flogging than have to edit one sentence, so I feel your pain.

[dwellerofthedeep]

I think that with a little experience editing gets better. I hated it just last year. Now I sort of long for it as I stare ahead at marketing and agents and all that jazz, not to mention the fact that I have to input all the edits I made on paper before I can move on (Boring).

[Birol]

At some point, writing becomes work. When it comes to novels, for some people -- many people -- that is the rewrite. You just have to determine if you're in this game all the way, for the work as well as the fun, or not.

[Telstar]

I always like to edit. But rewriting my entire novel? no way :)
Only some little parts that didnt work too well.

[donroc]

I enjoy doing second and third drafts, then editing and filling in gaps -- or taking out the bad stuff. It's the proofing of the (hopefully) final draft that is most painful for me.

[scarletpeaches]

At some point, writing becomes work. When it comes to novels, for some people -- many people -- that is the rewrite. You just have to determine if you're in this game all the way, for the work as well as the fun, or not.

The work for me is the first draft. Not that I'm saying it's not fun; it is. But if I can get to 'The End' on the initial run-through, after that, I'm laughing.

[50 Foot Ant]

I love rewrite time, it lets me look for places where I might have made a mistake, where I might have screwed up, and where I might have unintentionally meant to put down one thing but put down another. Plus, by that time, I've set the book aside for a long time, and the rewrite is like reading an old familiar book.

[kaitlin008]

I like rewriting, I find it very fun! Most of the time, anyway. I like making huge changes, and then realizing how much better I've made it than it originally was.

[Prawn]

"There are no great writers, there are only great rewriters."

[GirlWithPoisonPen]

You should not dread rewrites.

It's the opportunity to polish up what you've written and make it sparkle.

[NeuroFizz]

Any creative activity will have its exciting parts, its "boring" parts, and its fu**ing hard work parts. If you're only going to play when it is in the exciting phase, you might as well find something else to pass your time, because that's all you'll be doing.

[The "you" is the general y'all, not the original poster "you."]

[Nateskate]

Rewrites/editing- gag

[One Hour Empire]

I dreaded the rewrite for one of my works, but when it came to Wormwood, I actually had fun doing it. I cut quite a bit out, re worked quite a few things...and only lost seven pages from the original. lol But, it is work, and I went at it from someone else's POV, and that made the whole experience completely different.

It does help, the project was ONLY 270 pages. ;)

[DeleyanLee]

I don't dread rewrites. I just plain can't stand them. It's a different set of skills I haven't mastered yet and so it's just painful to do. And suddenly facing 100K words or so is just too daunting to tackle. I've walked away from the job every time.

Which is why I change hats and go back and rework things scene by scene, chapter by chapter. Every 100 pages or so, I go back and make sure the big things are working and fix it as I go. Thus, when I get done with the entire thing, I've basically got typos to fuss with. That, I can handle.

While it takes me longer to come up with a first draft, what I have doesn't need a lot of work and isn't daunting.

So far, I've been really happy with the results, even though I grumble a lot more throughout the entire process.

[NeuroFizz]

Rewriting is a breeze compared to going line-by-line through page proofs.

[Brindle Chase]

So its time to rewrite.... I feel like tossing the whole thing out the window, not that its a hard process but rather a boring one .. anyone else ever feel this way when rewriting?


Sometimes, but it goes both ways for me. Sometimes I'm re-writing because I had an epiphany and need to gut huge sections of a work in progress to integrate the new plot twist I thought of... and when that happens, I'm very excited about the re-write.. but if I'm re-writing because of feedback or I've discovered a plot hole or something just doesnt sound good... I usually lack enthusiasm about getting around to the re-write on it. *lol* Hang in there... its not so bad! =o)

[Gynn]

I like rewriting. It helps me find crap that seemed awesome when I wrote it.

My only fear is that when I'm all done with rewrites, no one will publish it!

[Horserider]

I don't like editing most of the time. Sometimes I enjoy it though, rereading what I wrote, fixing it all up. I'm just worried that once I'm done editing no one's going to like it.

[brainstorm77]

Sometimes, but it goes both ways for me. Sometimes I'm re-writing because I had an epiphany and need to gut huge sections of a work in progress to integrate the new plot twist I thought of... and when that happens, I'm very excited about the re-write.. but if I'm re-writing because of feedback or I've discovered a plot hole or something just doesnt sound good... I usually lack enthusiasm about getting around to the re-write on it. *lol* Hang in there... its not so bad! =o)

Thanks, I am mucking through it slowly :)

[donroc]

I forgot to add one thing that gives me the most difficulty during subsequent drafts is choice. Often times, as we also face in life, our characters must choose or we choose for them specific courses of action from a menu. That can deternine if the novel will be saleable or not.

[scribbler1382]

"The first draft of anything is shit."

-- Earnest Hemingway

[The Rav]

I hate that first read through. I know there is so much to do to make the work much better that it seems like a daunting task. After that first read through, though, it's not so bad. It means I've made a few marks with my red pen and I have it in my head what really needs to get done. So after that first read through, the process gets fun again.

[dwellerofthedeep]

I hate that first read through. I know there is so much to do to make the work much better that it seems like a daunting task. After that first read through, though, it's not so bad. It means I've made a few marks with my red pen and I have it in my head what really needs to get done. So after that first read through, the process gets fun again.

That is true for me as well.

[Hillgate]

So its time to rewrite.... I feel like tossing the whole thing out the window, not that its a hard process but rather a boring one .. anyone else ever feel this way when rewriting?

If you've got a good first draft you won't feel like tossing it. If you suspect you've glossed over a few plot problems then you'll definitely feel like tossing it.

[50 Foot Ant]

I'm lucky, I have an editor that knows first rewrite is really just that. A rewrite. Smoothing up the dialogue, fixing action scenes, adding small details here and there and taking away "Well duh!" stuff that gets in there when I'm working.

Rough Draft ReWrite is really fun, because you can go back and make smoothing adjustments to characters, add small plot foreshadowing bits you overlooked the chance at, change appearances, adjust places slightly. I absolutely love that ReWrite.

Second Round ReWrite is a little tougher, we sit down and take a look at the stuff that is "Definitely Cut" and the stuff that is "Tighten or Cut" and the "Expand On" and don't really make changes to the book, just start working on the book to fix it.

Final Rewrite, to me, is kind of sad. The story is told, this is just cleaning up little bits and pieces.

It's kind of like construction work.

Concept Draft is the blueprint.
Rough Draft Rewrite is looking at the foundation and the frame and going "Hmmm... maybe the kitchen door would be better about 3 feet to the left."
Second Round Rewrite is laying down the tile, putting up the drywall, and the rest of it. The kitchen tile doesn't look as good as you thought it would, the frontroom carpet doesn't fit good and needs swapped out from a different distributor, and the fixtures need hooking up to the pipes and wires.
Final Rewrite is doing the last of the landscaping, checking the paint job and trim, putting the numbers on the mailbox, polishing the fixtures, and handing the keys to the owner.

The final rewrite is sweet sorrow.

[Hillgate]

...and handing the keys to the owner.

.

Who pays you!!:)

[50 Foot Ant]

Who pays you!!:)
Bingo!

[shtrum]

The rewrite is more important than the rough draft, IMO. Just another part of the creative process, whether it's writing, designing, sculpture, music, photography, etc..

[MetalDog]

Sweet and sour for me. By the time I haul a draft out for rewriting I've lost all interest in it, so it's hard to force myself back to work on it. It gets better, rediscovering the fire that made me write it in the first place and getting to like my characters again.

I keep finding rude notes that I left myself the first time through. Came across a line yesterday telling me: 'It's night, you idiot' right in the middle of a sentence about beams of sunlight filtering through holes in a roof.

[vfury]

I just started on Draft 2 last Sunday and I definitely feel your pain. I just grit my teeth and keep on going...

[DMarie84]

I'm not there yet but I know I'll hate it. Especially when it comes to all the research I have to do. :e2drown:

[Deccydiva]

I hope that all necessary research is completed before the first draft so as much is done as possible. Re-writes are great fun when you shift chapters around and have to keep up with the time continuity! :scared:For the second novel, I managed to avoid it.

[sleepsheep]

I hate editing, and I used to think that the first rewrite was the worst. That is until my agent gave me a second set of edits. That was the worst. Until I had to do it yet a third time. Sigh! Totally feel your pain.

[Straka]

I like rewriting. As a given its much much better than the first draft and dare I say, I feel more like a... "writer"

[FOTSGreg]

Print out a copy of the whole Gods-bedamned thing - one-sdied, double-spaced, no matter how many sheets of paper or cartridges of ink it might take.

Get a few red pencils or pens.

Carefully, go through the work, sentence-by-sentence, page-by-page, chapter-by-chapter and correct EVERYTHING you see that could possibly be worded better. Red pencil every single instance of a misplaced comma, a quotation mark, erase every exclamation point (every one!), every "he/she thought". Hunt down and slay anything after the word "said" and start a new sentence.

Punch every correction back into the computer in a new file (NEVER delete or save over old files - each edit is alwas a new draft). Complete it.

Start all over again with a new printed draft.

I'm currently 75% of the way through #6 (no agent, no publisher, first book). Where are you?

[Stephanie_Gunn]

I love rewriting - for me, it's like connecting the dots and making sense of the jisgaw puzzle of my first (or second, of third) draft.

I'm weird, in that I totally retype my rewrites. It works for me.

[Jack_Roberts]

Yup. All the time. Just keep swimming and remember why you're doing it.

[Layla Nahar]

[The "you" is the general y'all, not the original poster "you."]


in new england we say "youse"
nice to have a 2nd person plural, isn't it?

[Ms.Write]

I'm with scarletpeaches - the first draft is hell for me, letting story and characters out and not knowing what's there. My second draft is a total rewrite. I feel that I'm slowing down and taking it chapter by chapter, scene by scene.

The first draft was very badly written, with huge areas left out entirely, but it brought me to THIS draft which feels like heaven. Everything's fleshed out, the characters are living and breathing and telling me what to write.

I haven't lost interest because there's so much new stuff going in.

But we all have our favorite parts of the writing process... unfortunately they ALL count.

[Proach]

Yes, I had to rewrite the first chapter of my historic fiction numerous times. It took almost two months to rework it to near profession.

www.deannasworks.synthasite.com
http://medievalhistory.suite101.com

[BAY]

Editing requires a certain mindset. I'm more serious and not as distracted. I think of each sentence as having to lose some calories. It's slow and tedious, and I'm always praying I'm not cutting out the voice.

[Snowstorm]

I enjoyed the editing process until I got to the 15th-ish time. Then I got tired of the process. I kept going though since the thought of perfection was still enticing. Paid off though. I gave the manuscript to a writers group member to check it over for editing. Most of the comments were like: "Ohh, the plot thickens!" Well worth the extra effort to stoke the ego!

[tehuti88]

I never really feel like throwing something out but I do get that "tedious" feeling...like, "I wish I'd done this right the FIRST time!"

That being said, I try to do my best the first time and don't tend to rewrite until at least a few years have passed and my style has changed so much that it's almost like writing a whole new story. So the tedium isn't so bad. But I realize most people don't have that luxury. :o

[ragefaith]

It sounds like I'm in good company! I love to edit my stories - but re-writing makes me want to scream. It's so fustrating! :rant:

[Feathers]

I enjoy the act of rewriting and revision; to me there's a cleansing feel about it, and I love taking my stories to the next level, and the next. But it seems to take me more and more work. My problem is that I come up with this neat premises, and I struggle with how to execute them. So I usually go through four or five MAJOR rewrites. That's a buttload of discouragement. During the whole thing, I never know if I will ever be able to keep this novel or not.

If I can get past that, I do another four or five revisions. Plus a couple minor-major revisions based on beta feedback. I do countless minor drafts editing and polishing, and then suddenly, I've edited too much, it's stark. So I have to go back and smooth everything out. Again. And again.

Usually, I do two or three "final" polishes. I'm not an obsessive...once my changes make the story worse instead of better, I stop editing. I just know it's not right. If I'm making it worse, fine; I'll wait until I know how to make it better. But I'm not going to stop stop until it's right.

So. Bottom line. I think I would enjoy the revision process, If I didn't hate it so much.

-Feathers

[brainstorm77]

I'm into the second rewrite and well its going good so far.

[Lady Cat]

My problem with re-writes is that I don't know when to stop. I spiral down into some kind of re-write hell of my own making.

As soon as I get one of my four current WIPs finished I'm going to give this a try: http://hollylisle.com/fm/Workshops/one-pass-revision.html

I know a couple of people that have tried it and it worked well for them.

[Barpaio]

I dread re-writes. Until I begin. Then it actually becomes quite exciting. I enjoy reading the first few pages and realizing ways to make them much better, help flesh out the characters with ideas I had several pages down the road. It seems the more I re-write the more I enjoy it. Sometimes I have to think long and hard when to stop rewriting the story and just let it be complete.