Stop Editing by J. M. Strother
I have been writing for more years than I care to admit, a bit more seriously with each passing season. I feel I have gone a long way in developing my voice, but never really felt I have mastered my craft. Perhaps one never truly does.Recently I've come to believe that I have been holding myself back by failing to grasp the difference between editing and rewriting. Oh, I revisit stories two or three times before I generally let them out of the box. I may even add major scenes, or flesh out a minor character. Until recently all these "rewrites" really amounted to no more than heavy content editing.
Now I am trying something different. I am actually starting one of my novels over, a total rewrite.
I have heard stories at nearly every convention I attend about how some authors write their first draft, then completely throw it out and start over from scratch. It always seemed crazy to me – all that hard work unceremoniously pitched into the bin. I shuddered at the thought.
At long last I think I understand the essence of what the panelists at these conventions were trying to convey. Stop editing and revising. Rewrite.
That does not necessarily mean throwing the original out with no regrets. I still think that's crazy. But it does mean starting the project over afresh, with new crisp white paper (or File > New > Text Document in my case), and beginning all over again. Just start typing. Sure, use the old manuscript as reference. But don't simply open the old document, save it with a new date, and start whittling around the edges. And for heaven's sake, don't use copy and paste from the old document to the new even for short passages.
My current experiment seems to be working out quite well. The new document, while essentially the same story, is developing with much more depth and texture than the old one ever had. Things like foreshadowing come much more naturally as you can imagine as I've already been there once before. The novel still has the same characters, the same setting, the same plot points, but the overall flow and feel are much improved.
This is hard work, no mistake about that. It is taking me every bit as long to rewrite this novel as it did to write the first draft. On his excellent blog, The Book Deal, Alan Rinsler told one reader, “The most successful writers I know do three or four rewrites over as many years before they consider their manuscripts ready to go out.” Very hard work indeed. But the payoff, if in nothing more than my own sense of satisfaction, is well worth it.
I don't know that I'll do three or four rewrites, but this first one is certainly making a huge difference. When I'm done I will put it on the shelf once again, and then look at it with fresh eyes. If I still like it, then I will consider sending it out in hopes an agent or editor will feel the same. If not, I can always do another rewrite.
Here are some links that help explain the difference between an edit and a rewrite and the types of things it can help improve:
Do you rewrite from scratch? Any tips on what problems to look for and how to fix them? I'd love to hear them.
~jon
