Struggling with second draft

It sounds like starting from scratch may be better. Unless you have a really strong first draft and there are parts that you love and would like to keep as they are. I don't mean completely deleting the first draft. Just don't feel obliged to follow the old text word for word. You can keep it open and peek in, or read it little by little before you write the same scene in the new draft. If you just cut some bits out and insert new bits there, it may be difficult to keep the flow of the whole thing consistent.

I would start a new draft from scratch and alt between screens with the first draft. Also keep lots of notes handy with your new ideas (perhaps insert notes into the original first draft).

There's lots of ways to tackle it, that's the one I've done (and am doing again). Revisions can be an exciting place, good luck!

Could these changes go into a second book in the series?

If you put in a lot of changes, there are bound to be certain spots in the draft that don't match up well. Probably best just to start over.

I sympathise. When I subbed my historical novel to agents, I got feedback from one that it wasn't 'high concept' enough, and it needed a wider scope. So I decided to create a whole new main plot over the top of the existing main plot, which then became a subplot - and the subplots got demoted to smaller subplots. So everything broadly stayed the same in terms of characters and the timeline of events, but some of what had been 'on stage' now happened off stage, and visa versa. Yes, it was a bloody nightmare. At the outset I thought I'd be able to recycle huge portions of the story, even whole chapters, and just drop them in to the new story framework. But in reality, the rework I had to do to the joins to make them fit got bigger and bigger until they sorta met in the middle, and the parts of the story that are preserved from the original version are now no more than sentences or descriptions here and there.

The other thing you will find is that after 2 years, your writing will have improved. What seemed good to you then will probably not read as well now, and you'll want to polish and improve. After so much of that, it's very likely there you won't recognise the original parts as original anymore.

FYI, rewriting my book took me 4 years. Writing it from scratch might have been quicker...

I largely rewrote my current work after the first draft, partly as I had come to realise it was only half the size of a typical novel for the market I was aiming for, and partly because I had thought up a number of new ideas while working on it that I wanted to use. I drafted out a rough chapter-by-chapter plan, and then committed to writing half a chapter a week, but integrating old material where it still fitted. Going through at that relatively slow pace ensured that everything from the old draft that made it back in (often in a highly edited form) made sense in the context of the new direction, whereas the weaker parts were left on the cutting floor where they belonged.

Is there a time crunch? Do you have a concrete deadline from an agent? If not, and you've already said it would make your story better...go for it! Yes, I bet it's going to be an up hill climb,but isn't making your WIP a better story within your power? Good Luck !!

I'm with everyone else here. Rewrite the entire thing. Have the old draft close by, and feel free to regurgitate anything from it onto the new one, but you'll find that everything will be better on the second draft.

When you're plugging in ideas into an old draft, especially one you put aside for so long, you'll find that there's always at least one or two lines that other readers would raise an eyebrow to. Something in your old draft won't fit at all with your new ideas, and it's probably a line in there that you've long forgotten.

Plus I think your voice will have changed. Even if you haven't been writing, you've most likely been reading, living, learning. Don't use the exact text but you'll still be able to use a lot of the scenes. By the same token, don't be afraid to rethink your approach, how you see the story's structure and shape. I think you'll surprise yourself.

I've got one novel like this where I tried to do a revision within it. That's not working. So I decided it's time for a complete rewrite from scratch.

Over time and through reading many novels, I've changed considerably and so the old draft doesn't work anyhow.

Makube said:

So i finished my first draft (70k) a few years ago and it has been sitting mostly undisturbed. Edited a third of the chapters, polished here and there. Then, from out of nowhere, I came up with some ideas for the book which I love and think will make the novel so much stronger, but they are immense. The basic story structure will stay the same - places the main character goes to, the people he meets, etc, but the main characters backstory, motives, etc. will be changed almost entirely, and I will add som new themes as well.

How would you tackle such revisions? It feels like I have to cut and rewrite almost all things "within" my narrator, his feelings, thoughts, desires etc. Would you start the new draft from scratch or try to save as much as possible from the first draft?

Hope this post makes sense. Feels like my brain is about to implode.

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This is where that expression "Kill your darlings" applies.

Adding to the voice that says start anew. Like, get a new notebook* write 'Chapter 1' and 'Once upon a time...' & go from there.

*metaphorically speaking, unless your a pen&paper person - like a brand new doc & start typing.