<whine> Rewriting is haaaaarrrd! </end whine>
For me, rewriting is the hardest part of the writing process. This is why I have so many first drafts and very few finished products! When I’m writing, I’m not judging or worrying about being published, especially when I’m doing the NaNoWriMo challenge. It’s all about creating and letting my imagination loose. Rewriting, on the other hand, is about looking over what I’ve created and trying to make it publishable. I am finding a lot of resistance to the process, I think my subconscious thinks that if I never finish, I will never be rejected. I’m fighting low self esteem, fear of failure, despair, frustration and self-sabotage. No wonder I keep finding myself procrastinating and distracted during my writing time!
My writing is brief and spare. The first step in rewriting a draft is to plump it up. I have the 50K seed from doing NaNoWriMo. Most publishers want manuscripts from 80-100k for fantasy/sci-fi. I’m studying the works of Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss and Robert Jordan to learn the ways of being wordy. I can’t and shouldn’t change my style, which is more like Douglas Adams, but I can get ideas.
The next step is to look at the work as a whole and examine the plot, characters and story arc. Does it work? Does the main character have enough conflict and change by the end of the story? Does she solve her problems or do they just fade away? Are there things that don’t make sense? Are there boring bits that need to be cut?
Then we go to line editing. Spelling. Grammar. Using concrete verbs and active voice.
Finally, a last re-read and tweaking of this and that.
In this process, it’s good to have a trusted reader who can tell you their honest opinion. Don’t pick someone who will say either “it’s nice” or “eh, it didn’t work for me”. Neither one is helpful.
Then, send it in to a publisher or editor, and start another project immediately.
That makes it look easy. But what if you do all that and never get published? Sigh. Following my new motto- “do it anyway.”
Yup, do it anyway. I’m supposed to be writing a new chapter and editing an old one this morning, however I keep procrastinating. Now I feel motivated– thanks!
Do it anyway! I like that!
It’s tricky, you know — many writers write for themselves, not “to be published,” and so it’s hard to switch gears. I’d be hard-pressed to explain why I want to try to get published…is it so that I can say my work was deemed acceptable by an unbiased outside group? Is it because I’d like to see my name in print? (Well, that one I’ve pretty much got daily right now, but it’s a draw for most people and it was definitely a big motivator for me for the first few years of my career.) Is it because I get some greater enjoyment from finished pieces?
Anyway, if you can figure out what your main motivation is for revising, perhaps that will help you go at it. Now I’ve got to go figure out what my motivation is!