Making big edits mid-writing

[TheOtherTeacher]

How do you feel about making big edits?

I'm about 8k words into a long incest story and suddenly realised that I have a gender imbalance and need to change one of the sisters into a brother.

But that will probably involve a lot of time editing, and stop me from writing further parts of the story until it's done.

How do you feel when you hit this issue?

 

[MelissaBaby]

You gotta do what you gotta do. If it was easy, everybody would do it.

 

[TheRedChamber]

You gotta do what you gotta do.

Yep, it sounds like you know it has to be done. An edit on an 8k story will go fairly fast. Just do it. Editing takes a slightly different part of the brain from writing new content, so if you're motivated to press on, just flip the genders from now on and press on. Come back and rejig stuff on your downtime.

 

[Duleigh]

How do you feel about making big edits?

I'm about 8k words into a long incest story and suddenly realised that I have a gender imbalance and need to change one of the sisters into a brother.

But that will probably involve a lot of time editing, and stop me from writing further parts of the story until it's done.

How do you feel when you hit this issue?

I do it all the time.
I'll be half way done with the story and an idea would hit... "Hey what if his sister was a starship captain and he had actually been on the run from a band of pirate marauders?!?" and suddenly the bank teller and the crossing guard have amazing back stories. I go back to start and edit where needed. It's not really that hard, and to me 8k isn't that far into a story (mine tend to run 10 times that long) Quite often I'll leave plot points open so I can come back and fill in the blanks later. I'm constantly going back and editing and tweaking as I go and if you do it right it gives your characters depth and complexity that you just can't plan as you outline the story.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I typically remove about 25% of my first draft, just tightening up the writing. Yeah, it hurts, but your goal (at least, my goal) is to give the reader the best experience.

-Annie

 

[StillStunned]

Like Duleigh, I do it all the time. It's part of my writing process: start writing, see where it goes, consider where I want it to go, change what I already have to suit the new ideas. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Nothing is written in stone, or even typed on paper. You can't let the existing words dictate where the rest of the story goes. It's like shaping clay on a potter's wheel: no part is final until the whole is complete.

 

[Duleigh]

Nothing is written in stone, or even typed on paper. You can't let the existing words dictate where the rest of the story goes. It's like shaping clay on a potter's wheel: no part is final until the whole is complete.

I love that! If I were teaching creative writing I'd have that as Duleigh's Demandment #0!
(Duleigh's Demandment #1 is Throw Nothing Away)

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

You gotta do what you gotta do. If it was easy, everybody would do it.

True. With The Emasculation of Henry Smith, I had actually published the story and got a comment asking; What was Bonnie's motivation? That caused em to effectively rewrite the entire story interjecting counterpoint chapter between all the existing chapters telling the story from Bonnie's point of view. Doing that forced me to tweak the existing chapters to maintain flow and doubled the size of the story to just under 50K words. It was a big ask, and took longer than writing the original version but was so worth it.

 

[MrPixel]

I have to do it, albeit infrequently. Since my writing style is "stream of consciousness", it will sometimes go off the rails into an "Ohgawd, I surely didn't want to go there!", and I end-up having to go back and delete a couple of pages' worth of copy to erase the divergence. But you're right, continuity edits as large as a gender change are difficult. The fear there is missing changing a relevant detail during the development.

This is a current concern. I am fighting with myself over a story that is ostensibly finished and is "next in line" in the series, but it has a reluctance/forced scene I am fearful of. I need to get over myself and just let 'er rip.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

Edits are good! Keeping continuity can be a struggle for me! I proofread my draft several times but hadn’t realized something: that a recent edit I made had rendered some longstanding text implausible (there wasn’t a car in the same anymore!) I almost pressed publish.

 

[Duleigh]

Edits are good! Keeping continuity can be a struggle for me! I proofread my draft several times but hadn’t realized something: that a recent edit I made had rendered some longstanding text implausible (there wasn’t a car in the same anymore!) I almost pressed publish.

I agree - I have word read back sections over and over, I hit ctrl+F to find things buried in the past, I even do a final check and look for Nick, Paul, Josh, Andi, Octavia, Veronica, Don and Lanh. Those names creep into stories without noticing and the next thing I know I'm getting comments that say, "Who is Anthony? You mention him in chapter 5" and it was my fingers on autopilot entering a name that I had typed a thousand times before.

Read Aloud is a life saver!

 

[SimonDoom]

Like Melissa said, you do what you gotta do. There's no deadline to meet. Nobody's paying you. Write and edit until you get the story right.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I have to do it, albeit infrequently. Since my writing style is "stream of consciousness", it will sometimes go off the rails into an "Ohgawd, I surely didn't want to go there!", and I end-up having to go back and delete a couple of pages' worth of copy to erase the divergence ...

I have so been there. In "Rug Pull" I wrote a 15,000 word courtoom scene.

Then I realized that starting the story with that much conversation between characters who would all disappear from the story afterward (except the protagonist) would be deadly dull and lose almost all readers. I think 200 words of that whole thing ended up in the published version.

-Annie

 

[TiberiusPrime]

There are times that, no matter how much you love a story when you're writing, it's just not clicking. For me, my most recent story is a great example of this. I was totally stuck on it, even though I loved my idea. When I came across the Valentine's Day contest, it changed how I saw my story. I actually deleted about 3,000 words and restructured it. Of course I love my final story, hopefully others do, too.

 

[Lumiere_Amie]

I've done it before, but it takes attention to detail. If you're changing a character from female to male then you're changing names, sexual characteristics, POV, . . . I don't think I've ever done it perfectly the first time. Eventually, I'll submit it and a reader will point out an inconsistency. I may or may not submit a revision depending on the severity of the error.
As has been said, if it needs to be done then do it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Sometimes it just has to be done. It does make it even more important to have the story edited/beta-read by a fresh pair of eyes though, lest you end up with material that depends on the material that's no longer there.

 

[lovecraft68]

I write on the fly, finish it, then go back and change what needs to. Stopping to make major changes costs momentum.

There is also the "first guess is always right method." Ever take a test, put down the gut instinct answer, waffle, change your mind and answer only to find out the first guess was right all along?

I know people who have stopped mid story, changed everything, wrote more then realized they should have never changed anything.

Write the first draft organically without overthinking it, when its done read through and see how you feel.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I often tweak when I start on the story the next day before advancing further. It is easier for me to make the changes as I realize I need them than to wait until I'm done and do some gigantic editing before I send it to my editor. I certainly wouldn't dream of asking him to edit it, me make changes after him, and then send it back to him for editing. So it's better for the flow to do it as I go.

 

[Rustyoznail]

It happens...

I had a story stuck for nearly two years, then an idea morphed out of nowhere that clarified the end. I had to rewrite a fair chunk of the story, but it was worth it.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Like Duleigh, I do it all the time. It's part of my writing process: start writing, see where it goes, consider where I want it to go, change what I already have to suit the new ideas. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Nothing is written in stone, or even typed on paper. You can't let the existing words dictate where the rest of the story goes. It's like shaping clay on a potter's wheel: no part is final until the whole is complete.

Story management 101.

The primary reason that a writer should embrace patience during the creative process. Finish the entire story before publishing pieces of it or you give up that control.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

But that will probably involve a lot of time editing, and stop me from writing further parts of the story until it's done.

How do you feel when you hit this issue?

I feel like it's time to edit and I get to editing.

I'm a plotter. Filling in the actual words is the easy fun part. I can do that at any time. I much prefer to have some sort of plan going on before I write anyways, so if the plan needs changing, I'll just stop and change it before I write any further.

 

[EdgySubMic]

In summary: Do what you feel you need to do.

In more detail, you can:

• make the changes, at the risk of overlooking something, which an editor might catch anyway, or of changing your mind again later;
• continue without making changes and (risk to) get a less good story, which may or may not "hurt" your reputation as an author;
• continue and change it later, at the risk of having to do (a lot of) extra work;
• abandon the story – maybe revisiting it in the future.

Decide which pain is the least bad for you (unless you're a literature masochist ) and go for that option.

To help prevent a case such as with this specific story: Start by laying down a plot for the whole story, before fleshing out too many details. Then, optionally, let it rest a bit and review as needed with a fresh mind. Still do feel free to write down bits and pieces when they cross your mind, especially if you tend to forget them otherwise, but make sure to not let that tendency take over prematurely.

One of my general rules: Don't be afraid to review and rework, unless you consider that what you're starting from is a(n economical) total loss. It's possible to destroy something by reworking too much ("Better is the enemy of Best."), but, on average, I find that reworking works out positively. And as long as you saved an older version, you can always go back.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Decide which pain is the least bad for you (unless you're a literature masochist ) and go for that option.

Personally I choose the option that makes the story best.

 

[EdgySubMic]

Personally I choose the option that makes the story best.

Me too, but everybody has to decide for themselves, taking into account all factors that may affect them, including some not related to the actual story (such as "can I afford the time needed for option X at this moment", or ...).

 

[NaughteeDragon]

You said that the reason is gender imbalance. If you’re just trying to even out the counts, throw in a couple of occasional male characters. If that character wants to be male to make it a better story, then that is a rewrite.
As others have said, 8k words is not a lot to re-write.