Complete rewrites

[TheEarl]

I come to the conclusion that my (non-erotic) novel is doomed. It's been locked in editing hell for several years now, being toyed with whenever I get up the energy and I'm unsure that it will ever be finished to my satisfaction. The writing is juvenile in places, the characterisation is inconsistent and it's both too short and too stodgy.

However, I like the characters. I know them intensely well now and I still like the story that they ended up in. But I know that no matter how much I edit and tweak, I'm never going to do them justice. I'm just shifting lines about, unable to tell the good from the average. So I've decided to start again. I'm (metaphorically) throwing out 49,000 words and starting with a blank sheet of paper to try and retell the story properly with the skills that I've learned since I first penned the opening line.

The thing is, it's scary. At the moment, I've got a complete story. It's not brilliant, but I know that there are some pretty good turns of phrase in that .doc file. The trouble is that, if I start reaching back for the good bits, then I'll lose my perspective and end up back in the same position I was with my many-yeared edit.

Anyone got any advice on rewriting something you've already done? Or am I the only person dumb enough to try this?

The Earl

You wait years for a writing thread and then tons of them come along at once.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Most first novels probably should be revised, which is what I'm doing with mine, or totally rewritten, as you're considering doing, or thrown away.

What I did was try to look at the story as if I were an editor. What will sell, what is effective, what won't, what isn't. I came up with a new opening, then started working on the rest, one chapter at a time.

I've got a hunch you're right about the old version being a tar pit that could make your job harder. Why not finish a rewrite, then go over the old version for lines, phrases, scene that, if polished at bit, might work in the new one?

Good luck and keep us posted.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[mismused]

delete

 

[R. Richard]

What I did was try to look at the story as if I were an editor. What will sell, what is effective, what won't, what isn't. I came up with a new opening, then started working on the rest, one chapter at a time.

I've got a hunch you're right about the old version being a tar pit that could make your job harder. Why not finish a rewrite, then go over the old version for lines, phrases, scene that, if polished at bit, might work in the new one?

Good luck and keep us posted.

Rumple Foreskin

Outstanding advice!

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Now it's only 366,800 words. Uh, did I say it was over200,000 words. Well, yeah, I guess 366K+ is over 200,000.

Not much help, but hope you do it. It's you, Mr. Earl.

Sci-fi/fantasy, right?

It's hard to kill our children. Sometimes a writer catches a break. Thomas Wolfe's was getting Maxwell Perkins as his editor. Perkins cut over a hundred pages from the manuscript of, Look Homeward Angel.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[cantdog]

I cannibalized mine. There were things I could use. But it is essentially mined out now. I don't get so attached to characters, I guess. It was a learning experience, but by the time it was 'done,' I hadn't learned enough. No loss to anyone.

 

[mismused]

delete

 

[JamesSD]

Perhaps you need an outside set of eyes to take a look at it and tell you what's good and what isn't? Are you trying to publish this for profit, or is it more of a pet project?

Like most things, when you write, you get better at it. In the case of short stories this is edifying, as you can look back on older work and see how you have improved. With a novel, you have a large, theoretically unified work, so when you "finish" your first draft, you may look back and realize the stuff you wrote first isn't up to snuff with where you're at as an author.

Nothing will ever be "perfect". Sometimes you just have to say "It's done". (Unless you're George Lucas, then you keep going back and tinkering with your old work).

 

[mismused]

delete

 

[gauchecritic]

Something I found when I wrote a couple of humourous stories for Lit. was how much freedom there was in having a time-worn and well known plot to follow.

If you know your book that well The, then maybe just taking the characters and principal plot points would give you that freedom.

What about taking the work and cutting out everything except the plot points and well turned phrases and then rather than starting with a blank page you can begin with a story that needs filling up.

 

[jeanne_d_artois]

It is sometimes wiser to start again instead of trying to save a failed story.

I have several (= over 50) incomplete stories that will never be finished. They reached a dead end and short of a total rewrite will never be completed. They can be resources for other stories in minor ways but they are best forgotten.

I have mentioned my first erotic story before, set in the 19th Century Balkans. I was too enthused by details such as the use of mountain guns, hydraulics to provide power, black powder weaponry, guerrilla warfare and the poor social and economic status of women in traditional rural societies. That story is beyond saving and I don't have a complete version left. I started writing it as a .txt file on a PC running C/PM, moved it to an IBM XT with 5.25 floppies, and converted a later stripped down version of the story to a 3.5 floppy. The stripped down version was a disaster. I took out the good bits and left in the parts that sounded good but aren't.

My advice is:

If the story is worth telling, start again from scratch. Don't try to save anything. Plan to write the story with the skills you have now. When you have written the complete new story think about comparing the old version with the new. IF there is something in the old version that could be incorporated into the new one, rewrite that old part in the new style.

However I think you are unlikely to find anything worth keeping, except the ideas that started the story.

jeanne aka Og