The Bloggers With The Most To Say
Editing & Rewriting
Because I'm finding it hard to have any real conversation on the 'Wall' section with all the spam (I only just noticed Eric's reply to my post - sorry!) I thought I'd start a separate discussion for this.
I wrote:
"I leave things for at least two or three months before editing... it's hard not to go back, but at the same time, I'm too close to take criticism (or to spot problems) until I've had that kind of break."
And Eric wrote:
"Really? I take about a week, tops, then immediately set upon it. Usually a year or so has passed since I wrote the beginning, so that's plenty of distance from the text. Do you go back and reread or make tweaks while you're still writing?"
I do absolutely masses of rewriting/editing as I'm writing, but I also don't write from beginning to end - if I have an idea for a later scene, I just skip ahead & write it, and similarly I'll go back and insert/change stuff if I realise I need to do that to make it make sense later.
So when I've finished, I have a decent break, then come back & read it beginning to end (the first time I'll have done that) to make sure that it all makes sense. Which it invariably doesn't, the first time ;)
I wrote:
"I leave things for at least two or three months before editing... it's hard not to go back, but at the same time, I'm too close to take criticism (or to spot problems) until I've had that kind of break."
And Eric wrote:
"Really? I take about a week, tops, then immediately set upon it. Usually a year or so has passed since I wrote the beginning, so that's plenty of distance from the text. Do you go back and reread or make tweaks while you're still writing?"
I do absolutely masses of rewriting/editing as I'm writing, but I also don't write from beginning to end - if I have an idea for a later scene, I just skip ahead & write it, and similarly I'll go back and insert/change stuff if I realise I need to do that to make it make sense later.
So when I've finished, I have a decent break, then come back & read it beginning to end (the first time I'll have done that) to make sure that it all makes sense. Which it invariably doesn't, the first time ;)
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Lauren Cummings on -
Chris Offutt did a really interesting article in Tin House called "Performing Surgery Without Anesthesia" that everyone who revises should read. And by everyone who revises I mean everyone, because everyone should revise.
I am with you though I do not write from beginning to end. Being in school dictates that I must edit right away, which is good because If I wait to long I forget what some of the criticisms are. It is also important for me not to lose my momentum because I have total writers A.D.D and am constantly switching projects. But it is very helpful to put something aside for a significant time and revisit it later with fresh eyes. -
-
Permalink Reply by Lauren Cummings on
-
There is no rule on chapter length, generally chapters should have their own arc and pacing and that is what dictates individual chapters.
-
-
Permalink Reply by Benedict Molefe Jones on -
Ruth, I have a similar problem to you, in that I always end up over-editing, and although it creates a better piece technically, sometimes a chapter benefits from that 'beefing up'. It really affects pace. So, umm yeah, i can see where you're coming from.
-
-
Permalink Reply by Eric on -
As above, I'll be the dissenting voice and say don't edit your piece until you're done writing it. You get too caught up in polishing and you stop making progress. I'm in the middle of a fiction workshop right now and all I did with the critiques was put them in a drawer. I'm just submitting the next section of my book, not even having touched that with respect to their suggestions.
I write beginning to end, so I guess that could be a little different. I can't fathom going out of order. I make notes about future scenes, but I don't write them. -
-
Permalink Reply by Rachel Cotterill on -
I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one! If I didn't go back while I'm writing, I'd have to write in a completely different way (which I wouldn't enjoy), but on the other hand I don't find that it stops me progressing overall.
I wonder if part of the way I write comes out of having started off with playscripts - I usually write the dialogue first, then go back and flesh out the action in the scene (stage-direction-style notes), and then add actual prose and description. It's inherently a multi-pass process.
But I wouldn't suggest other people should work the way I do -- do whatever works for you! -
-
Permalink Reply by Eric on
-
That is crazy talk to me. I know a guy who's writing a novel and he does bare bones with one draft and fills in after, sort've like what you do. I can't imagine it. It's wild.
-
-
Permalink Reply by J.D. McCoy on -
More is MORE ! Trust me. When it comes to writing your novel you want to have way more content than you need. It is so much easier to cut than to add. Especially when it comes to dialogue. I've seen many instances where a writer has to go back and add dialogue. Hell; we all have to go back some time or another. But getting back to that frame of mind. Climbing back into a scene which you have already written off as being done can be a painstaking task. So even if most of your chapters seem huge the first time you write them. Rest assured that when it comes to editing there will be plenty of cutting. Or should we say trimming of fat. Often times I will go back to a scene or arc while editing and find that that whole scenes just don't work. But in most cases I have written so much content that it has become irrelevant if I delete a whole scene or arc because I have an overwhelming amount of content. So when doubting your self about chapter length during your first or zero draft ask yourself one question " Have I filled this chapter with all possibilities?"-Fin
J.D.
www.writerontheverge.com -
© 2012 Created by Lisa.
