Rewrites...

ccarver30 · Aug 24, 2007

People that have done rewrites: I am currently rewriting my novel that I had finished (then realized it was crap and "started over") and am in the process of adding in some of the scenes from my first draft. Here is how I am feeling:
1) That I am cheating by adding in "old" (but valid) material.
2) That since the first draft was crap, I am afraid that this recycled crap with damage my fresh new draft.

Did you feel this way with your rewrite? :poke:

EriRae · Aug 24, 2007

Your entire first draft can't be crap. It just can't be. Go ahead and use what you think works with your new stuff. That's what revision is!

Azraelsbane · Aug 24, 2007

My suggestion is to read over the recycled crap to see if it really and truly is crap. It may be exactly that.

Chances are your writing has improved so much from the older stuff, that it just isn't up to par (but I could be wrong, I just know how it has been with me).

I'm doing heavy edits on my novel at the moment, and I went back to the beginning and cringed...not like *eww, that's bad* cringing, but *holy crap wtf was I on when I wrote this?* cringing. I axed 7k words (2 entire chapters) in one day, and I felt SOOO much better when I rewrote the boring, whiny 7k snore-a-thon into a 1.5k anxiety attack that gave my MC a much more intriguing entrance and covered absolutely everything I needed from those 7k I'd cut (which were originally chapters 2 & 3).

I also set out to do a few small rewrites on chapter 1, and in the end scrapped 2 of 3k the next day (now I'm up to minus 9k on my novel, lol), and rewrote it into a much punchier, compact beginning. All in all, it hurts to rewrite and start over, but sometimes it's mandatory. Sometimes scenes you thought were important to the story in the beginning, you realize later aren't at all.

Good luck with this, and I hope all my rambling helped a bit.

reenkam · Aug 24, 2007

I agree with Erin...

Azraelsbane · Aug 24, 2007

reenkam said:
I agree with Erin...

Fine, don't agree with me... Ya little furry punk! :tongue

brer · Aug 24, 2007

ccarver30 said:
People that have done rewrites: I am currently rewriting my novel that I had finished (then realized it was crap and "started over") and am in the process of adding in some of the scenes from my first draft. Here is how I am feeling:
1) That I am cheating by adding in "old" (but valid) material.
2) That since the first draft was crap, I am afraid that this recycled crap with damage my fresh new draft.

Did you feel this way with your rewrite?

Nope.

Although I have revised and/or rewritten parts or all of old scenes. This is because things have changed. Either my tastes or writing preferences have changed, or the way the story is now going and what it is about has changed, or sometimes the characters in the story have different personalities than they did in the earlier versions, etc.

aside: I've found that "Revision: a creative approach to writing and rewriting fiction," by David Kaplan, to be quite excellent.

-brer

CaroGirl · Aug 24, 2007

A rewrite for me is rearranging and rewriting the scenes that need to be rearranged and rewritten. Some parts of the first draft don't need to be messed with at all. I don't look at those parts as "old", I look at them as "finished".

Amiton · Aug 24, 2007

I don't feel that your above mentioned problems are problems that I would be concerned with. In my own rewrite, the actual structure of the story changed so much that there wasn't a lot of material that transferred well to the new product, but there were some particular sequences that resonated really well with the first edition betas. If they could be brought over and they still "worked" with the framework then it was golden. I don't think should matter so much if the first draft was crap and your writing has improved significantly. At least under my own mechanics, the first run through a rewrite is a first draft again and will have to be smoothed over. By the time that's finished the old writing should be on par with the new.

I think you'll be okay with what you're doing in the end...

Amiton.

Inky · Aug 24, 2007

I used to ignore the advice: walk away from it for several weeks, if not months.
Uh huh.
With Shadows of The Keeper, I didn't have any choice. My son, an MIA in Iraq, depleted my muse. Kinda hard to write fantasy when you're living a bloody nightmare.

When I came back to my work, I was able to read it with fresh eyes. Like a previous poster, yeah, your vocabulary and ideas mature. So did my story, as I rewrote it.
Now I make sure to take that long ago adive and leave my work for a time before coming back to do a rewrite. Oh, and I just have it in my head that the whole thing is going to be gutted, re-worked, changed...yeah, loads of work.

But....anything I cut, I save in a file for future use. You never know when that great scene will actually come in handy several books down the line. I toss nothing!!

Oh, and the fact that you have to rewrite is a sign that you're willing to see your work for what it is...there is nothing ever wrong with wanting to make sure it's the very best before submission. After all, it represents you. Kinda like first impressions. So, what are you wanting the agent/editor/publisher to see?

Claudia Gray · Aug 24, 2007

I've had that feeling sometimes, though I've also found that when you're thinking, "Oh, God, subplot X is a disaster!", you'll start tinkering and realize that, instead of rewriting a fourth of your book, you actually only need to rejigger a couple of scenes to work out the kinks. Sometimes very small shifts in tone, or fairly minor edits, can make something read very differently and flow much better.

I'm deep in rewrites right now. I just sent the book to my betas last night, and they'll try to have comments for me around Labor Day; between now and then, though, I will still be rewriting. But I've finally hit the point where it's less a matter of "where will I lay the framework for this wing of the house?" and more "hmm, what paint color goes best in the living room?" If that makes sense --

scarletpeaches · Aug 24, 2007

Ah yes, the dreaded re-writes which are more intensive than what I would refer to as a mere 'edit'.

If you're not paranoid, you're not a writer.

Azraelsbane · Aug 24, 2007

scarletpeaches said:
If you're not paranoid, you're not a writer.

Amen! Wait...I'm not all that religious. Argh, I'm stealing the phrase anyway.

AdamH · Aug 24, 2007

ccarver30 said:
People that have done rewrites: I am currently rewriting my novel that I had finished (then realized it was crap and "started over") and am in the process of adding in some of the scenes from my first draft. Here is how I am feeling:
1) That I am cheating by adding in "old" (but valid) material.
2) That since the first draft was crap, I am afraid that this recycled crap with damage my fresh new draft.

Did you feel this way with your rewrite?

The thing about a first draft is that you need one to hash out the story. Sometimes it's crap, sometimes it's not. But most times there are little diamonds glittering in that crap.

You're not cheating by adding old material as long as you consider them diamonds. There's nothing wrong by carrying over some of your ideas from the first draft into future drafts. THAT, my friend, is the process of writing.

stormie · Aug 24, 2007

Nope, you're not cheating using some of the work from the first draft. You're improving on it. That's what revisions are. Sometimes I even take work from another unfinished ms. and use that, tweaked a bit here and there.

And yeah, generally speaking, paranoia runs rampant among writers. But maybe that's a good thing, as it makes us take a good look at what we're writing and helps us strive to do better.

ccarver30 · Aug 24, 2007

Thanks everyone!!

scarletpeaches · Aug 24, 2007

Azraelsbane said:
Amen! Wait...I'm not all that religious. Argh, I'm stealing the phrase anyway.

I charge copyright fees, you know. Just send me some chocolates and we'll say no more about it.

TheIT · Aug 24, 2007

I had a similar question. Maybe this will help:

"Borrowing From Yourself"
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45661

ccarver30 · Aug 24, 2007

Thanks, ITty! Mine is all the same story, but I do see what you mean! I had similar feelings when I started novel 2 (when 1 wasn't finished). It's hard to be "fresh" AND keep your style. Gah!

TheIT · Aug 24, 2007

ccarver30 said:
Thanks, ITty! Mine is all the same story, but I do see what you mean! I had similar feelings when I started novel 2 (when 1 wasn't finished). It's hard to be "fresh" AND keep your style. Gah!

Agreed. I'm weaving in bits of my original draft of this story into my current draft, and it feels bizarre to go from writing new material back into revision mode to make the styles match.

Happy revising, and good luck!

ccarver30 · Aug 24, 2007

TheIT said:
Agreed. I'm weaving in bits of my original draft of this story into my current draft, and it feels bizarre to go from writing new material back into revision mode to make the styles match.

Happy revising, and good luck!

ANOTHER thing is that whenever I change something in WIP 1, I have to remember to go and change it in WIP 2!!

Ziljon · Aug 24, 2007

I find that if you re-type the crap, rather than just pasting it in, it becomes new again.

Danger Jane · Aug 24, 2007

I'm rewriting a WIP from a completely POV character. I can't recycle much.

But I catch myself obsessing over stuff like chronology...that is flexible anyway. It doesn't MATTER if I have everything in order the way it was in the last draft. It just has to work.

Sean D. Schaffer · Aug 24, 2007

ccarver30 said:
People that have done rewrites: I am currently rewriting my novel that I had finished (then realized it was crap and "started over") and am in the process of adding in some of the scenes from my first draft. Here is how I am feeling:
1) That I am cheating by adding in "old" (but valid) material.
2) That since the first draft was crap, I am afraid that this recycled crap with damage my fresh new draft.

Did you feel this way with your rewrite?

No, I don't feel this way with my present re-write. My feeling is, if it moves the story forward, and if the story needs it, then using old material is fine. As for recycled crap, real recycled crap is turned into plant fertilizer, so why shouldn't you be able to turn your old crap into something that will feed your story and make it stronger?

It's pretty much an issue of attitude. Don't give up on your story just because it doesn't feel right. Look it over objectively and see if it works or if it does not. Then make your decision whether or not to keep it, based on that.

ChimeraCreative · Aug 24, 2007

Sometimes it's invaluable to put your finished work aside and give yourself time to disentangle yourself from it. A couple weeks a part might do you some good. When you go back to it you might enjoy what you read rather than be picky and hyper critical of what you wrote in your first draft.

Pretty much everything inked09012 said was great advice. ^_^

-An

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