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Rewriting word by word on a later draft?

The Second Moon

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I just started the third draft of one of my WIPs and was talking to a fellow writer about how to tackle it. She suggested rewriting it word by word.

I'm considering this because she said it will make my writing stronger. I don't have a deadline (self-publishing) so this would be doable, but is it for everyone? I didn't do it on my now-published book and it turned out fine.

Have you ever done a word-by-word rewrite? What was it like? What did you like about it? Or did you loathe the experience? Please tell.

Thank you.
 

Fiender

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Unless I was having severe decision/revision paralysis with a project (and I was too in love, or too confident in the project overall just to bin it), I would never force myself to revise in such a way. For one, it sounds exceptionally tedious, if I'm being honest. It also seems like a waste. Mandating a change to every single word means you might change things that worked perfectly fine, and end up ruining them.

It sounds like your friend is suggesting you rewrite everything from scratch while endeavoring not to reuse the same words/sentences. My pardon if she just meant a rewrite from scratch; that's different, though also not always what a project needs.

Choosing a scene or two and trying the word-by-word rewrite method might be an exercise that improves your writing, though, as I've already said, I'd caution against using it as a tried and true method of revision.
 

mccardey

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I'm not sure what you mean by 'word by word'. I wonder if your friend was referring to the lovely book on writing by Anne Lamott. (It's called Bird By Bird, but it's basically about writing as a word by word endeavour.

Heartily recommend it. It's lovely.
 

The Second Moon

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Sorry about the confusion. What she meant was writing every word down again, seeing if everything flows and works. If not then change it.
 

neandermagnon

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Personally, I wouldn't do that. I've done some slightly crazy things when revising, like changing a 25,000 word draft from past tense to present tense, which requires editing sentence by sentence, but I didn't rewrite it as another draft, I just edited the draft I already had. Also, I saved a copy first, in case I didn't like it in present tense. Also, I frequently re-read and edit what I've written, sometimes at a word for word level, other times just re-reading it and either changing anything that doesn't sound right or marking it for future editing (i.e. highlighting it in red) if I can't figure out exactly how to fix it. But I work with one electronic copy of a story unless I want to make really drastic changes like changing the entire plot or something (done that too lol) - at that point I'll rewrite it from scratch and it ends up completely different.

If you want to check how it flows, you could try reading the whole thing out loud to yourself. Or getting someone else to read it to you, if you have a willing participant to do this.

Different things work for different people though.
 

talktidy

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Personally, I would not adopt that advice.

Everyone is different, but for me drafting is a painful process. No matter how much I try to bean my internal editor before I start writing, I am second guessing myself as I write. As a consequence, I am rarely satisfied with my first draft. Still, that first draft forms the bones for later drafts, where I can see more opportunities for revealing subtext and developing the psychology of the characters, for instance.

As for the words themselves, though. When I redraft, I root out repetitions and look for the rhythym of the words on the page. Every now and then I hit my stride and what emerges is both clear and has a good rhythym, but I do not see that happening if I insisted on starting each sentence from scratch again. I mean with some stuff I accept there's no recourse other than to chuck a scene in the trash and try again, but if I did that with every scene I wrote, I think it would be soul destroying.
 

lizmonster

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This sounds like a variant of reading aloud, which I actually find helpful. It's a way of making sure I don't skim while I'm revising. It's one piece of a larger revision strategy, but it is genuinely useful.

Revision - for me at least - is often about tricking the mind into looking at your work as if someone else had written it. IIRC you're writing linked short stories. You could try this trick with one story, and see how you feel about the results.
 

Cephus

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I would never do it as it seems like a complete waste of time. Change the things that need to be changed. Leave the things that are fine already alone.
 

ChaseJxyz

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Well if you wrote by hand or by typewriter you don't have much choice, do you? You have to do it that way. But if you're using any sort of word processor then it seems unnecessary. I don't want to re-type 150k+ words...you should always strive to work smarter, not harder. Working harder doesn't always mean a better product.

I do agree that you should read it aloud, or look at things in smaller units (like sentence by sentence or paragraph by paragraph).
 

mccardey

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Sorry about the confusion. What she meant was writing every word down again, seeing if everything flows and works. If not then change it.
Might she be suggesting this as a way around your selective mutism issue? For a small document, if you wanted to try it, you could see if it worked for you. It won't do any harm, but it might not be the most efficient way of working.

Reading aloud, as Liz mentioned, is always an excellent idea.
 
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Layla Nahar

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What she recommended, this is how I do it. I write my first draft in notebooks, I reread looking for what needs to be improved, and when I've gotten a sense of that, I put the first draft aside and I write a new version in the computer.
 

Woollybear

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People who write and then rewrite the whole thing from scratch say it works.

I'm still puzzled by what she means, though, Second moon. Everyone finds the final product of their story in a different way. If I read a chapter in the morning, it reads totally different than if I read it mid-afternoon or evening. Also if I format it as a pseudo-paperback and print it hardcopy it reads different.

Find what works... what gives you the product you will stand by.
 

gothicangel

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Do you feel you need to do this?

For me, my first draft is about getting the story down, and yes, I will do considerable rewrites in draft two. My experience is that it improves the writing and makes a considerably better book.
 

CathleenT

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First off, nothing is for everyone. You have to find what works for you.

Instead of rewriting every word, it's a whole lot easier to listen to it in Word. If you've got the version that came with Windows 10, you can tell the mechanical voice to read it aloud to you, which is awesome, at least for me. You'll catch all the double "the"s, and the sneaky missing prepositions and all that. It's a terrific proofreading tool. Good for minor line edits where you reuse words or phrases that are too close together. That sort of thing.

As far as this individual work goes, I'd have to know more about it to give an intelligent opinion. I've rewritten entire sections of drafts, and it vastly improved the overall work. There's no point in polishing stuff that's going to go later anyway, except as a learning experience.

Not being a critique partner of yours, I went ahead and read the Look Inside to your published book. It's not to my taste, but overall, it seems publishable. It could be improved. (We can all stand improvement.) I value my beta friends beyond gold--they kick my backside when it needs kicking and make me get better. That works for me. I don't know if it will work for you.

That's the real trick, and no one can do it for you. You have to figure out what will make your writing better. I wouldn't use the technique your friend suggested, but hey, it worked for them. So, I'd say try it, (not for a whole book, mind you), and see if it works.

I'd try everything, all suggestions within reason. Just pick a reasonable sample, like a chapter or short story. It's the only way to know what will actually help. I'd love to give you a shortcut, but I haven't found one. : )
 
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indianroads

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We each have to figure out our own process - for writing, editing, and everything else.

For edits, I usually go through chapter by chapter, first reading it, then letting word's speak feature read it back to me. I do this start to end, then end to start. It's also helpful to take some time off between editing passes.

When I read or read aloud I tend to gloss over everything - filling in blanks etc. It's valuable to read it, but it can't be my only method.

While listening, if I catch my mind wandering, I stop and hunt for sticky sentences (which is usually the cause of thought drift).

Again though, find your own process. At the conclusion of every project, go back and look at what worked for you and what didn't, then modify your process.
 

KittenEV

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This is exactly how I do my revisions or if I haven't written for that story in a while and am coming back to it.

I change Word to overwrite and I rewrite it. I like it. It helps me get back in the mood and mindset of the story by physically writing instead of just rereading it.
 

MythMonger

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With the early drafts of my first manuscript, I absolutely needed to do a rewrite from scratch. I'd make notes of what I wanted to include in the rewrite, maybe note a particular phrase or sentence I was fond of, but very rarely would actually copy and paste from the old manuscript. This was vital to me leveling up, getting every closer to that million word mark in total.

On my third manuscript, which I just completed, I needed that less, but I'm still quite fond of that process. It's a good way for me to delve into a scene more, which typically increases my word count. Since I'm an underwriter, this helps on that front, too.

Then after I've completed the last draft, I'll self edit that before querying.

Other people can write a clean draft on the first round. I cannot. :)