I have a serious problem with my writing. My first drafts are middling decent, partly because I sort-of correct as I go along.
When I get to revising them I don't have a problem identifying what's wrong with them, and I can fix minor details. Most of the time I've had my work critiqued by other people I had already noticed ninety percent of the errors they pointed out.
Problem is, what do I do next? Whenever I try to rewrite, the original draft seems carved inside my skull. I can't break free of those first words I scribbled. I can't turn the story around and start with a different MC, for example, because I keep getting pulled back into the rut of the first draft.
Any ideas? How do you revise? Do you throw your first draft away immediately and start afresh? Do you revise on your drafts?

Thanks everybody

 

You rewrite a story when there is a major change that needs to happen. Everyone says (and you agree) that the POV character should have been Chuck, not Bob, for example. When this happens, you need to throw away the first version and start fresh as the old version will just get in the way.

Revising happens when you need to make small changes throughout: add some description here, cut some words there, make Charlotte taller because you need her to be able to reach the top shelf in Chapter 7...These kinds of changes can be worked through a first draft and are probably better for it. The first draft tends to have the most passion, and assuming you can put words down in a fairly coherent manner the first time through, it is best to maintain that passion.

Editing happens when you go through and polish, checking for spelling, grammar, and syntax. This, too, should USUALLY be done to an already written draft. I caution that if something is particularly poorly written (wording), it may be better off rewritten rather than edite.

These things can be combined. Especially in a novel, I might rewrite a chapter or even a section. If I notice that I got particularly clunky with my wording throughout an entire page or two (normally an editing pass), I might go ahead and rewrite that page to get a fresh spin on the entire wording process.

 

So that (hopefully)prevents any major rewriting and a little of the revising (as defined by Christine).

That's not to say that rewriting and revising isn't required though. I did that with my current project and I'm now rewriting the whole climactic chapter 'cos I fluffed it first time round.

Anyway, then I tend to revise and edit every four chapters or so, because I personally find it easier that way. Now I've got the whole manuscript though, plus comments from my wife (she's the one who called for the chapter rewrite)and I'm working my way through all of that. Once I've finished all those changes I'm going to print it off again, do an idiot read (to check for places where I sound like an idiot--I always do this after an edit, it seems to happen when I concentrate too specifically on one or two sentences without paying attention to what surrounds them).

Then I'm maybe going to widen my reading circle and see if I can get more comments. But maybe I won't because I really just want to finish this damn novel now...
 

I am on the verge of finishing a year-long rewrite of my only "completed" novel. The rewrite is intended to correct a slow pace and distant tone. My goals were to add secondary action that supported the plot, and adjust the POV to give the reader more access. Some chapters I rewrote from new POV, which was easiest to do by cutting and pasting and editing the old chapter as I went. I replaced two cliche chapters with new content, and these required clean new documents to start, although I kept a printout of the old chapter in front of me, so I didn't lose any important plot details. I split three chapters into six, again cutting and pasting and inserting scenes, although some of the new scenes I wrote in new documents, and then inserted them later. All of this required outlining, which I didn't do the first time around and didn't do with any great flair this time. I just had to have some way to break it into manageable pieces. The rewrite has taken at least as much screen time as I needed to write the original.

I kept notes in a composition book, so that I could alter later chapters as needed to avoid referencing material I had removed. I have no idea whether or not I've done a good job, and I guess I'll find out when I start approaching readers again.

I've seen this quote in multiple places on the internet, although I've never seen the primary source. I think it's going to be my next "writing" purchase:

From Carolyn See's "Making a Literary Life":

"Revision is when you first get to recognize the distance between what you wanted to write, what you thought you were writing, and what you actually did write. That recognition often makes you want to throw up."
 

http://deanwesleysmith.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=248

[This message has been edited by Spaceman (edited July 05, 2006).]
 

Of course, since I got the hang of word processing, I pick and pick and pick and pick until I'm not sure it's worth fiddling with anymore. I've tried to stick to one draft (and endless fiddling), then a printout and a fresh new draft (and endless fiddling), then abandonment (and / or submission).

Then there's editing for mistakes---misspellings, grammar, continuity, the usual. You've gotta do that.

*****

Of course, that's just rewriting...maybe it doesn't qualify as true revision. Usually I've decided what I want to write in the big broad strokes (the scenes and characters), all in my head before I start pressing the keyboard. But sometimes I'll discard something along the way.

Right now I've got one scene (an arrival at school merging into a memorial service) in a novelette-I've-done-two-drafts-on-already, that I want to discard, but can't decide on just what I need for the scene that will replace it (some kind of arrival at school, but what details do I put in?) Meanwhile, it sits in my files, its weight-on-my-conscience oppressing me and depressing me, too...
 

Then I let the story sit for several days before I go back and reread it. During this stage I focus on cutting the fat and correcting the mistakes.
 

The only short story I've ever written that ended up published was written as part of a challenge, then tidied up a bit a few weeks later. The editor loved it in spite of its flaws.

Myself, I think it's okay. It's definitely not my best.

I've also noticed that I get more positive reviews on my edited first drafts than I do when I rewrite sections of a story. It makes sense because I've learned that once I write a story down I have a very difficult time rewriting anything inside it. Usually I either edit (with a little revising here and there) or start over from scratch.

That's shorts though. Novels are different.

I think the idea of using the comments on a story for the next story is fascinating. Has anyone else tried this?

[This message has been edited by Keeley (edited July 07, 2006).]
 

Oh, and go watch Finding Forrester. Sean Connery movie where he plays a reclusive Pulitzer Prize winning author. The "Punch the keys!" scene is good for writters who have problems with stopping too much.
 

http://www.wordos.com/what.htm

 

["She was interesting looking," when I might have said, "She had the face of a Doberman glued to the body of a supermodel."]
 

If you change the background color in your display preferences, it doesn't affect the document formatting, so there's no problem there. Though changing the document formattng shouldn't be all that difficult either.

You can also just accept that a document is going to need a lot of revision and planning. Go through multiple versions. Type notes to yourself.
 

Every time I paste 13 lines in the box and start to hit send, I stop and rewrite part of it, because I see flaws that were invisible to me on every previous read-through. I don't see all of the flaws, but it's a start.

I think revising with the fear of an editor coming right behind, red pen in hand, is forcing me to write better first drafts, or at least revise with a sharper eye.