Curious about re-writes

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black ink

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It seems a few of you are in "rewrites" and many of you are probably over that hurdle. It got me thinking though, how specific are the notes an editor gives you regarding rewrites? And what if you rewrite something and your editor doesn't like it--either thinks the writing is poor or the idea (if a whole new idea was developed) was lame? Just curious about how this stage in the process unfolds. . .
 

nitaworm

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When my editor returns my manuscript to me with revisions. I actually reread the manuscript again before sending it back or accepting the changes. I do it to validate that there are no gaps, or changes that greatly effect the story. The notes my editor gives me is very specific. However, when it's your story than you knwo it better than they do - so you still have to re-read.
 

Mumut

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I actually reread the manuscript again before sending it back or accepting the changes. I do it to validate that there are no gaps, or changes that greatly effect the story.

This is hugely important. My editor took out a line because it was head-hopping but without that line the paragraphs before and after made no sense. So you must look at the whole as well as the specific.
 

ChaosTitan

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It depends on the editor. Mine send along a nine-page letter, as well as the line-corrected manuscript. Sometimes a change was specific, sometimes it was very vague and I had to figure out how to make it work. Your editor's job is to help make your book the best it can be, so the amount of edits you get back depends on the shape of the book when they bought it.

So far my editor and I have been on the same page with my rewrites and changes, so I haven't had her say "No, that doesn't work, change it again." Yet. ;)
 

HannaRay

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My editor was extremely thorough. There were broad thematic suggestions as well as a line-by-line. The ms. went back and forth between us at least 4 times. My story profited hugely from her input.

~ Johanna

http://johannamoran.com
 

ishtar'sgate

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It seems a few of you are in "rewrites" and many of you are probably over that hurdle. It got me thinking though, how specific are the notes an editor gives you regarding rewrites? And what if you rewrite something and your editor doesn't like it--either thinks the writing is poor or the idea (if a whole new idea was developed) was lame? Just curious about how this stage in the process unfolds. . .
My editor went over my manuscript in three stages. In the first stage he looked over the manuscript as a whole, gave his opinion on its weak and strong points and any thoughts he had about the characters. In the second stage he went over the manuscript in clumps - a few chapters at a time. He questioned me on word usage (it was a medieval novel so he questioned some of the terminology), sentence structure and paragraphs that didn't work for him. He never told me what to do, he just told me why he thought it needed fixing. Lastly he went over my punctuation. I'm a comma addict so a lot of them had to go. He had a wonderful sense of humor and the process was virtually painless.
 
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