How many times did you rewrite the ms?

Roly · Mar 27, 2010

Time for a little questionnaire! How many times did you rewrite your ms:

a) Before submitting it to agents?
b) Before finally snagging an agent (if you have one)?
c) Before submitting it to publishers?
d) Before getting it published?
or simply
e) So far?

When I mean rewrite I mean major reshaping, cutting/adding, rearranging of scenes etc. Not necessarily just going through to take out redundant words.

Right now I think I'm facing the prospect of having to rewrite too and I'm not necessarily looking forward to it. So I'd love to know how other people got through it (and how many times, and how long it took etc).

Marzipan · Mar 27, 2010

Rewrite. The story will be better for it.

vfury · Mar 27, 2010

What I'm querying right now is the fourth draft that was reread one last time.

History_Chick · Mar 27, 2010

I'm almost done with my 3rd draft and was wondering how many drafts are too many. I mean lets face it you can always change stuff.

One author told me she only rewrites 2 to 3 times and then sends it off. If it needs more rewrites its probably not that good of a story anyway.

TrixieLox · Mar 27, 2010

I got an agent after about 2 re-writes - I was naive and lucky, I'd actually recommend 3-4. Then before my novel got subbed to publishers, there were 2 more re-writes with some more tweaks, which got me a European deal, still waiting to hear from US / UK publishers.

I'd always recommend 3-4 re-writes (with at least a month away from your book before tackling at least one of those re-writes, and, of course, someone else's eyes to cast over it). BUT I always say, don't re-write the soul out of your book. Some of that initial first draft magic still needs to remain.

Good luck!

Shady Lane · Mar 27, 2010

a) 3
b) 3
c) 3
d) 4

Roly · Mar 27, 2010

Shady Lane said:
a) 3
b) 3
c) 3
d) 4

lol damn gurl

bobcat22 · Mar 27, 2010

I revised my book lots and lots until I'd get sick of it. When I would forget how sick of it I was, I'd start revising again!

A) 2
B) 3
C) 2
D) I'm on sub right now!

Momento Mori · Mar 28, 2010

Roly:
How many times did you rewrite your ms:

a) Before submitting it to agents?

I was offered representation on my partial, but I must have rewritten and edited those opening 3 chapters 10 or 12 times before they went out.

Roly:
b) Before finally snagging an agent (if you have one)?

See answer to (a).

Roly:
c) Before submitting it to publishers?

I'm still rewriting what was the last 4 chapters (and has not become the last 6 chapters) of the manuscript in line with agent comments. If my agent doesn't like the rewrite (and God, I hope she does because these rewrites are killing me and have taken months) then I'll have to do it again.

Roly:
d) Before getting it published?

N/A. (For now)

Roly:
or simply
e) So far?

My process is one of constant editing and re-editing as I go along anyway, which is why it takes me so long to finish a manuscript.

MM

Shady Lane · Mar 28, 2010

Roly said:
lol damn gurl

this isn't technically "how many times did I revise" but "what revision was I on." so it should be

a) 3
b) 0
c) 0
d) 1

sharpierae · Mar 28, 2010

a) six times before submitting to agents (two of those "page one rewrites").
b) snagged an agent with that.
c) two quick revisions with agent before submission.
d) four revisions with editor (focusing mainly on the second half).

i just my ARCs the other day, so all the work seemed to have paid off in the end

Lindzy1954 · Mar 28, 2010

I have rewritten probably 3 times but it seems like the revisions are neverending. I can pick up the ms at any time and find things to tweak. . . does it seem like this to everyone else? I don't have an agent yet, but have only queried a handful and gotten back 2 rejections on the full (big bummer) and still have 1 full and 1 partial out. I'm really hoping to get some feedback from one of those agents before I make more revisions so even know what to focus on. . . does anyone else work that way?

ejwriter · Mar 28, 2010

i have to confess i get confused about the references to "rewriting" vs. "revising"

before i queried, i did one revision pass for copy-editing, one for tweaking scenes and dialog and one to make a few changes suggested by beta readers.

i am about to do a major revision that involves deepening the development of a few characters, probably adding and subtracting some scenes and definitely rewriting the ending.
does that count as a revision or a rewrite?

SanStormin · Mar 28, 2010

I did one major plot change, and about twelve revisions for organization, character arc, time sequencing and character development.

lilymeade · Mar 29, 2010

shaldna · Mar 29, 2010

Roly said:
a) Before submitting it to agents?
b) Before finally snagging an agent (if you have one)?
c) Before submitting it to publishers?
d) Before getting it published?
or simply
e) So far?

Twice. Sort of.

I write long hand, and then I do minor edits as I type it up. I give it to my beta and two weeks later I reread it myself and do my major edit. That's it.

scarletpeaches · Mar 29, 2010

Sheesh.

First draft, quick edit, done.

thethinker42 · Mar 29, 2010

scarletpeaches said:
Sheesh.

First draft, quick edit, done.

Yep, me too. If a first draft has serious problems, then I've been known to tear it apart and rewrite it, but that's rare. Of the seven books I've sold, only one went through a massive rewrite.

shaldna · Mar 29, 2010

I have noticed that I edit less now than I did when I started writing. And I think that is a result of experience. I know now as I'm writing what doesn't work, and I can correct it then rather than having to come back to it and fix it later.

YAwriter72 · Mar 29, 2010

scarletpeaches said:
Sheesh.

First draft, quick edit, done.

This.

I usually have a beta read it over to make sure I didn't leave a huge plot hole anywhere, but this last one I drafted, decided on a different ending that took all of 4 pages, then agent had a few minor tweaks and off it went.

I tend to write a pretty clean first draft, so there are typically only minor revisions when I go back to edit for the basics and fill in.

Danthia · Mar 29, 2010

Book One (Shifter)

a) Before submitting it to agents? Once, though it went through three or four rounds of edits and polishing.
b) Before finally snagging an agent (if you have one)? See A
c) Before submitting it to publishers? I rewrote the ending twice, did tightening and polishing on the rest
d) Before getting it published? Multiple rounds of editing, basic tightening, polishing, clarifying. No "rewriting" by your definition

Book Two (Blue Fire)

a) Before submitting it to agents? n/a (but I did show it to my agent because I thought it was bleh, and she said "yeah, rewrite")
b) Before finally snagging an agent (if you have one)? n/a
c) Before submitting it to publishers? I rewrote it pretty much from scratch five times before I felt it wasn't ghastly and I wouldn't be embarrassed to show it to my editor. Sent it to my editor knowing it still wasn't great, but I needed her input to fix it. We did three more rounds of rewrites after that. So eight total.
d) Before getting it published? Multiple rounds of editing, basic tightening, polishing, clarifying. And I ended up rewriting the last two chapters again at the copy editing stage because I had a great idea for it. This was about a 15 month process.

Every book will be different. Some are easy, some are nightmares. Even though the second book was rough, it ended up coming together in the end and folks are now telling me it's better than the first (yay!) so all that hard work wasn't wasted. It was just needed to make the book the best it could be.

Try not to dread the rewrites

They're part of the process and the biz, and if you can find a way to embrace them, you'll end up with less stress and better books at the end of it.

Shady Lane · Mar 29, 2010

i do clean first drafts now, but I still do at least two passes before it goes out to anyone. My first drafts tend to be underwritten, so the second pass is usually to slow a few things down and boost the word count. The third pass is just to make sure everything's shiny.

Mistyag1 · Apr 2, 2010

i have re-writen mine about 3 times now and im doing it again now so 4 and it gets better every time i write it

Sandy Shin · Apr 2, 2010

I haven't gotten to the revision stage yet, but reading everybody's responses is incredibly helpful! :]

CheyElizabeth · Apr 2, 2010

Shady Lane said:
i do clean first drafts now, but I still do at least two passes before it goes out to anyone. My first drafts tend to be underwritten, so the second pass is usually to slow a few things down and boost the word count. The third pass is just to make sure everything's shiny.

My first drafts are usually overwritten, and with my current WIP I've decided to underwrite.. I love it.

How many times did you rewrite the ms?

silly puppy monster

Hearts the furrily challenged.

Benefactor Member

my name is hannah

silly puppy monster

Tired and Disillusioned

my name is hannah

the UnID

Chi-Town Scribbler

lurk & learn

In the ozone

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Abnormal Romance Author

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

someone let me off this crazy ride

Danthia

my name is hannah

procrastinating, clearly

My horn can pierce the sky!