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?
The Dreaded Re write
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I get like that on the first draft. I love editing.
But then, I'm weird, so you should probably ignore me.
But then, I'm weird, so you should probably ignore me.
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.
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).
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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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.
You should not dread rewrites.
It's the opportunity to polish up what you've written and make it sparkle.
It's the opportunity to polish up what you've written and make it sparkle.
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."]
[The "you" is the general y'all, not the original poster "you."]
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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.
It does help, the project was ONLY 270 pages.
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.
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.
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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)
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.
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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.
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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.
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