To fix or rewrite?

[Robinne Weiss]

Here's a question, as I struggle with a novel that I wrote a while ago. I still love the story, and I think it can be turned into something publishable. Problem is, it is far from that at the moment. I have learned a lot, and changed how I write since I wrote it. The question is this: At what point do you just rewrite the novel from scratch versus fixing the one you wrote? I'm curious if anyone else has had this question. What did you do? How did it go?

 

[Jennifer Stone]

I would say re-read it first, if you haven't already. Perhaps some parts just need tweaking and restructuring, instead of rewriting the whole thing. Take your time, whatever you decide.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Tricky question really. I know my first one is past editing and would need a re-write, starting from scratch. Just not sure about actually doing it, so I know where you're at. Totally rewriting it is almost like killing your first story! In the end, only you can decide.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Tricky question really. I know my first one is past editing and would need a re-write, starting from scratch. Just not sure about actually doing it, so I know where you're at. Totally rewriting it is almost like killing your first story! In the end, only you can decide.

No, I want you guys to decide for me! I have a feeling I will end up rewriting completely. I already scrapped and rewrote the first half of the book, though that still needs to be rewritten...again...

 

[Emurelda]

Rewrite..by the sounds of it. Am rewriting major chunks of my first and only one.

 

[Marc Joan]

I've had to rewrite a couple of stories. They were the better for it. You can usually salvage something from the first attempt, so it's not all wasted effort.

 

[Stephen Drake]

I would go with what Jennifer said. Re-read it first. Only you can decide how to spend your time writing. If you like the story and feel you want to re-write it, then do it. If not, tweak it until your satisfied (you'll probably end up with a re-write by the time you're done tweaking it anyway).

 

[Carol Rose]

I've rewritten novels from scratch, and some I've only tweaked parts here and there. It all depends on what you want to change. What different does it make is the end result if a book you like better?

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Try looking on your novel as a building. What would you do if your structure was flawed in crucial ways, but still contained great features? You might not need to tear the whole thing down, just make some adjustments, adding new elements you've learned as an apprentice.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Ok, so I've decided not just to rewrite, but to REALLY rewrite. I'm lifting bits and pieces from the old one, but have decided that the book would be more saleable if I pitched it as MG, not YA...which means making my MC younger, which brings in a whole set of problems with how to get her to do the things she needs to do in spite of her age (you know, like we never think how odd it is that 12 year old characters in MG fantasy have jobs and run off doing whatever the hell they want...) And it means turning the "boyfriend" character into her brother, and...whew! It'll work. It'll be better. But it's daunting. This is the second time I've made her younger...first draft she was in Uni...by the time I'm done, I'll probably be able to publish first and last drafts as entirely different books

 

[Katie-Ellen]

I did a rewrite and no takers yet, but I'm glad I did. It became a whole other story, with three characters salvaged and re-designated. Didn't want to do a patch job.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I did a rewrite and no takers yet, but I'm glad I did. It became a whole other story, with three characters salvaged and re-designated. Didn't want to do a patch job.

Yeah, this one has been revised so many times, the patches were beginning to show...I'm happy with how the rewrite is going, and because the story line is essentially the same, it's fast going.

 

[K.J. Simmill]

Here's a question, as I struggle with a novel that I wrote a while ago. I still love the story, and I think it can be turned into something publishable. Problem is, it is far from that at the moment. I have learned a lot, and changed how I write since I wrote it. The question is this: At what point do you just rewrite the novel from scratch versus fixing the one you wrote? I'm curious if anyone else has had this question. What did you do? How did it go?

I wrote the series I am currently publishing about ten years ago. When I look back on it now what I had there was a shell. I was very much like you, I loved the story, the characters, but the work needed a lot of, well, work.
What I did was as follows. I read a chapter, now my chapters are long and I break up sections with *** I took all the text down to my first break and copied it onto another word document, I read it, understood what I wanted to say and the importance of that section. Then hit enter a few times at the top of the document, and using the text below as a guide, rewrote it. Once it was done, I pasted it over the original, saving it under a different name for the first edit, then did the same again for the next section. Some parts stayed similar, others got a complete rewrite and were nothing like what I had originally written, then there were also new additions and ideas I hadn't included before. Then there were a number of easier full edits once that was done, but the result was, I ended up with what I hope is a good book, from what I now look on as a draft copy.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I wrote the series I am currently publishing about ten years ago. When I look back on it now what I had there was a shell. I was very much like you, I loved the story, the characters, but the work needed a lot of, well, work.
What I did was as follows. I read a chapter, now my chapters are long and I break up sections with *** I took all the text down to my first break and copied it onto another word document, I read it, understood what I wanted to say and the importance of that section. Then hit enter a few times at the top of the document, and using the text below as a guide, rewrote it. Once it was done, I pasted it over the original, saving it under a different name for the first edit, then did the same again for the next section. Some parts stayed similar, others got a complete rewrite and were nothing like what I had originally written, then there were also new additions and ideas I hadn't included before. Then there were a number of easier full edits once that was done, but the result was, I ended up with what I hope is a good book, from what I now look on as a draft copy.

That's a lot like what I've decided to do. I'm going through the old one chapter by chapter, reading the old, and writing it anew, based on the changes I've decided to make. I'm also finding I can do some cut and paste where I think old bits are decent. I wrote the old one over such a long period of time, I can see how my writing changed from edit to edit. It's going faster than I expected--because of course I've written this book twice already...