Comments on: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Rewrite

By: Lugh

Lugh — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:17:24 +0000

As a potentially interesting note that is surprisingly apropos, I read a couple stories that the big problem with Transformers 2 is that it *didn’t* get any rewrites. The writing team got stalled out by the strike, and Bay wouldn’t adjust his shooting schedule to compensate. Apparently some of the scenes were literally written the same day they were shot.

Next time you think you don’t need a rewrite, look at what happens when even the pros try to get by without one…

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:08:14 +0000

I am very happy that your handy dandy tags exist for the day when I need to come back and digest these again.

So thanks. *airkiss*

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:21:58 +0000

It’s interesting how different many writers are from one another, and how unique their habits.

I’m pretty comfy with first drafts. I can bang out a draft with no fear, and I can do so swiftly — but it’s the revision process that used to have me trembling like an anemic schoolgirl standing knee-deep in snow.

In other news, the novel edit is off to the races and in the hands of Uber-Agent Decker!

– c.

By: Joelle Charbonneau

Joelle Charbonneau — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:13:09 +0000

Great post! I love editing and reworking a story. It is always the first draft that gives me fits. Once the story is actually down on paper, I love getting the chance to look at it from all angles and tear it apart. Options are a wonderful thing and should always be considered. As a stage performer, I loved the fact you continued to play with the show until the closing performance to see if different choices bring something new and better to the story. I view writing the same way…nothing is set in stone until the final curtain comes down and the book is on the shelves.

By: Will Hindmarch

Will Hindmarch — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:12:08 +0000

Great stuff in here. I love rewriting. I think I’m pretty good at it, too. It’s getting the material out into existence in the first place — and finding people with whom to have the rewriting conversation — that’s hard for me.

By: Imperfection :Blue Ink Alchemy

Imperfection :Blue Ink Alchemy — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:50:38 +0000

[...] publishing even in embryonic form, and things I do submit that have a chance are going to need rewrites. I know it’s not an easy process and it won’t always go the way I’d prefer. So [...]

By: Gloria Oliver

Gloria Oliver — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:17:29 +0000

Great post!
I love edits. At least they feel 10 times easier to me than a first draft. First draft is an utter relief to get to the end. Not that I do not enjoy the voyage, but so much work! I always look at edits as so much easier. All the real hard work of general plot, characters, setting, etc are already done! Now I just have to tweak! Though sometimes having a plan, or knowing what exactly needs fixing can be problematic.

And like you said, options can be beautiful things. There’s been more than one short story that bugged the heck out of me till the light went off and I realized a change of POV was what it needed. And voila! Story improved by tons!

Thinking of each edit/reqrite as an improvement is totally the way to go!

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:45:57 +0000

Stoney: Kick ass.

Josh: Also, kick ass. I’ll deviate from your metaphor a little, though, in that thinking of it as meat undoes the reversibility of the process. Once I cut the fat off the meat, the fat is gone. Once I cook the meat, it’s cooked. By thinking of instead as an evolving recipe — that can be changed on the fly — you have a dynamic push-and-pull. You can go back and play with the recipe, introducing new ingredients or reintroducing old ingredients you removed. You may make a tiny change (“needs salt”) or a big change (“forget the cream sauce; let’s see what it tastes like when marinated in the blood of the infidels!”).

Of course, YMMV, and all metaphors are inherently false, as they are, well, metaphors.

– c.

By: Stoney

Stoney — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:42:28 +0000

Perfect timing. To the point where I wonder if that’s actually my regular peeping Tom outside or you.

I’m facing down a bunch of red lines on a page and felt pretty bleak about it. And it’s totally like your first excuse: waaah, it’s broken and if I couldn’t get it right the first time, how can I get it right the second time? Or eighth? But that’s stinkin’ thinkin’.

I’ve just bookmarked this post to remind me to quit that shit and get to work.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:40:37 +0000

I look at it this way:

Your draft is a hunk of meat.

Sure, meat is tasty and fulfilling. But you need to do stuff to it first to really enjoy it. You know the difference between a hunk of meat and a well-cooked steak? That’s the difference between the first draft and the final one.

You have to slice off the fat. Spice things up. Rub some herbs into it or let it marinade in the fridge over night. Toss it on the fire, flip it over, come close to burning the sucker. In short, you kinda have to abuse it.

But in the end, you’ll have a product of much higher quality that more people will be interested in consuming, rather than appealing to the mad cannibals who think they gather strength by consuming the flesh of their fallen enemies.

What was I talking about? Right, rewriting. It’s good. It’s worth doing. And it goes great with A1.