I’ve had a couple of questions about revisions, so I thought I’d share my revision process for a problem that was really getting on my nerves. (Boring post here! Most of us don’t really like revision.)
I want to add that this was my third or fourth draft–I don’t do any revisions as I write the first draft because it really slows me down. I like to get the whole thing on paper before I start editing.
At the end of October I was revising the latest Myrtle Clover (my personal revisions, not the editor’s.) I thought the beginning was ‘okay.’ But the more I looked at it, the more it really started bothering me.
I tried approaching it from a couple of different directions. I switched one scene with another as a lead-in.
Then I revised a long scene and made it much shorter.
I took out a phone conversation that I realized was unnecessary and instead started the next scene with the person doing the action they’d discussed on the phone.
Some of the sentences seemed longer than needed, so I broke them up into shorter ones, which made them read a lot smoother.
After all these changes, it was much better. But it still wasn’t the beginning I knew it could be.
I decided to pretend that I hadn’t written the beginning at all—that it didn’t exist.
I rewrote the entire first chapter, using a different approach. The nice thing about word processing is that we can easily see which one works better and cut and paste the different beginnings in.
The first beginning had a lot of set-up written in. I incorporated it with humor, but a duck is a duck. It was set-up. And set-up slows down the pace—and is boring.
With the second beginning, I ditched the set-up. Instead I included foreshadowing to let the reader know to keep an eye on a particular character.
I completely removed, in my rewrite, several passages that were unnecessary. For example: I needed to have a particular character at another character’s house. In the original beginning, I’d had a whole sequence to set that visit up. Boring.
In the second version, I just opened the scene with the visit and put in a passing reference to it in dialogue, “I’m glad you could come by, Jill, and help me out…”
Looking back at what I did, I’m thinking now that I should just immediately have done a total rewrite of the entire first chapter. Instead I spent a lot of time doing surface work on something that had a deeper problem. Yes, it did read better when I changed scenes around and toyed with my sentence structure. But, for this instance anyway, I got much better results with the radical rewrite.
I did a lot of rewriting on my personal revisions this time around. I hemmed and hawed a lot because it was so much work and I wasn’t sure it would be worth it, but eventually I was convinced it was necessary. It was the best thing I could have done. Rewriting is terrifying and tedious, but it can make all the difference in the world!
Rewriting is cumbersome, but I have always been please when I did so.
I have problems with not starting scenes in the right place, you know putting too much detail to lead up to a scene. I learned some things…as usual.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who has to do radical rewrites! It’s hard to give up those smidgeons of goodness and start over but worth it. I’ve completely rewritten about 4/20 chapters in my first wip. I think the whole thing will be replaced in the end.
A very good post! I’m also in the middle of rewriting my first chapter. Too much telling, too little showing. Too much yada yada, too little happening. It’s like falling face first into one ditch and getting up just to fall into another. Luckily mud is good for the complexion :).
I think we all get faced with the need to do really substantial rewrites. I know I just went through the same process, myself. Like you, though, I’m glad that I did. I’ve added a prologue to my WIP, and I think that makes all the difference. I’m completely fixing the first chapter, too, so that it fits better with the prologue. Like everyone else, I’ve found that rewrites are no fun, but are worth the effort.
I’m doing a similar thing with my my book at the moment. I’m actually showing the process on a litle ebook, I’ve got on the blog. At the moment I’ve got a huge chuck of backstory in it. i have no doubt that will go as the story develops. The problem i have found with previous problems is as the plot becomes more intricate and my characters develop, If I continue to revise the first chapters, it loses something…and thenthe danger point for me is a drop in enthusiasm, so I leave major rewrites as long as possible.
Everyone works diffently…same problems…different solutions.
Excellent example! In my completed ms, I avoided the beginning for a long time. I finally did a major rewrite and am much happier with it – even if it meant rewriting most of the first half of the ms.
I enjoyed your post, Elizabeth. Revision is challenging for most writers, me thinks. I love that you removed a phone conversation. When I was homebound this summer, I spent a terrible afternoon watching soap operas where everyone had close-ups talking on their cell phones. It was so awful! Anyway, I’m glad I’m not stuck on the couch anymore, and I’ll bet your characters are thankful to be more active. Best of luck!
I’m just beginning to write toward being published, so this information isn’t boring but helpful. I think I may try to edit as I write, and it does slow me down. Sorry I haven’t been by since Tuesday, but I was involved in a true mystery experience of my own, a carjacking! I hope I only have to write about them in the future. Which I did as a way to vent on my blog.
I think I almsot always end up rewriting the first chapter. It serves me well enough to get the story going, but it’s almost always rubbish. It was very interesting to see your editing process for your latest Myrtle Clover, though. Very nice!
Kristen–It really does make a huge difference, doesn’t it?
Teresa–I think we all do that. Because we’re putting it all out on paper for *ourselves* too, and want to get our facts straight.
Lorel–You are not alone! It really is hard when you know there are elements that work in your text…but that, as a whole, the chapter doesn’t. I think that makes it even harder.
Christine–Mud is definitely good for us! :) It’s a frustrating thing, though, at first, isn’t it? Makes me grit my teeth.
Margot–I’m a big fan of prologues, although I know I’m probably in the minority. I think, especially for mysteries, that it’s a great way to incorporate some foreshadowing.
Tina–You are absolutely right. I should have mentioned that I leave all radical revisions for the 2nd or 3rd drafts. Otherwise it *really* slows things down. Actually, I think I’ll add that thought to my post now…
Well, look at it as a learning experience then!
I did massive amounts of revisions on my last novel, and it was well worth it. I used to hate the idea of rewriting, but my editor forced me to do it and the end results were so much better that I now relish thinking of how I can improve a first draft with revisions.
Marvin D Wilson
Sometimes you have to take a wrong or long route to get to where you need to be in order to know what turns and maneuvers to make the next time so you get there faster and directly. This is true of writing. Thank goodness we learn or we’d be forever repeating ourselves. ‘Course, reading this, I believe you are a faster learner than I.
Helen
Straight From Hel
I just dislike when I rewrite something and make it worse. Or, more annoyingly, I rewrite something and it ends up sounding more or less identical to what I was rewriting.
Now I try to have the original up on the screen as I rewrite so I can catch that early on. Apparently once my brain gets an idea it doesn’t really want to let go.
Thanks for sharing your revision process.
Jemi–Grueling work, but then it pays off in the end.
Diane–Absolutely! It wasn’t wasted time.
Stacy–That’s interesting! I’m sure it was really boring to watch and it would be equally boring to read. I don’t like talking on the phone, myself, so I’m not sure why I had my poor characters doing it.
Marvin–I was wondering if you editors who write enjoy the revision process. You’re so good at it that I bet it’s fun for you.
Helen–I think you’re right…it’s all a learning experience. Maybe sometimes changing minor things makes a chapter better, but not in every scenario.
Judy–A carjacking! Oh no. I’ll head over to your blog to get the story. That sounds horrible!
I used to edit as I wrote, but it really killed the creative process for me, so I stopped doing it.
Carolina–I usually have the harder time with the endings, but the last Myrtle Clover it was the beginning. I must have just slapped it down on paper and moved on because it wasn’t at all like my other beginnings. Weird!
I always wonder why I try to ‘save’ stuff that’s not needed, just because I wrote it, and those words are so precious. They’re not. Trying to keep a conversation in a scene just because there’s a clever line in it doesn’t make the writing better. Sometimes it’s better to bite the bullet and start with a blank page. You can always “borrow” from what you’ve written, or save it and use it somewhere else.
I’ve started 4 books with the same basic opening. Not one has survived, but at least it gets me writing.
Revisions can totally be boring. Which makes me wonder why I titled my blog “Constant Revisions.” Shooting myself in the foot?
Actually, no. I find revision interesting, a real mental exercise. I’m just not sure I can manage to make writing about revisions interesting (like you’ve managed to, good lady).
And yes, sometimes it is necessary to just start over again, instead of fiddling on the surface. I’ve needed to do that many times with construction projects, and since fiction’s analogous to building with words, the same holds there.
Great post, Elizabeth. Thanks for sharing your process!
Thanks very much for the post. I follow the same process…write it, get it all out, then start on the re-write. I actually like the re-write. I’m on one now for the Sequel to THE SORCERER’S CONFESSION. Someone once told me in reference to Ist chapters…you’ve got to hook the reader in the first paragraph. I probably re-wrote my first paragraph 50 times!
I like revision and I like it for just what you said. I like fiddling around and getting irritated and then going at it hammer and tongs. It is sooooooo satisfying especially if it works well and sometimes even when it doesn’t. Like cleaning the house. Hard to get going, hard to stop.
I can’t wait to get to revisions but alas I have way more to write. My new motto is ‘write fat- revise thin’.
Simon–Actually, your blog sounds pretty cool. I’ll pop over and check it out. You’re so right about the mental exercise part of it–and I love your analogy to construction. Can’t fix a foundation issue with a paint job.
Susannah–That first paragraph is tough! We want to get it just right, don’t we?
Cassandra–I know what you mean. That’s where the pretending comes–I just pretend I haven’t written in and it works out better.
Jan–I’m thinking you must be a talented editor to enjoy it so much!
Write fat, revise thin–I’m liking it!
I’ve learned never to regret trying various approaches to rewriting. Each version gives me a little more perspective.
I like to think of my first draft as an “exploratory draft” where I write all my ideas, even sometimes mutually exclusive versions. Then I print them all out and start over from scratch, taking what works and leaving what doesn’t.
You remind me, good writing is re-writing. I have to say, I dread re-writing but once I get cracking I tend to enjoy the process. I don’t ever wait until the end of my work to re-write and revise. But, that’s just me, I obsess, especially at night when I’m trying to go to sleep. My brain wants to analyze whether or not I’ve taken the proper approach. Sigh.
Great post, Elizabeth. It wasn’t boring at all. It confirmed what we all know about revision and its importance to our work. If we ignore those messages when we realize something isn’t working, we live to regret it. Thanks
Terry–I save it, too. Little scraps I’ll put in a Word file for future books…but I don’t use it! I think I just feel better about not deleting it outright. :) We get attached.
Ann–Thanks so much! And thanks for coming by.
Elizabeth–Another poor sleeper! I’d like to meet a writer who sleeps well…I think they’re few and far between. As far as the revision (waiting until the end of the process to revise)I’ve gotten so I make it more of a mantra: “I’ll fix it later. I’ll fix it later.” I just promise myself it *will* get fixed and then I can move on.
Sylvia–You’re right. We can choose to ignore the problem, but at some point it’s going to rear its ugly head again…either at the editor’s office or with the reader.