Revising A Can Of Worms

[TheIT]

My novel is mutating. Again. I've been revising my completed first draft and keep coming up with new ideas about where the plot should go, what characters should be in the story, what scenes, etc, ad infinitum. At the moment it feels like I'm playing whack-a-mole with a can of worms.

Thing is, I think the novel will be better for the restructuring, but it's very frustrating when the scenes I thought were solid now look like they've been built on quicksand.

Anyone else have the same frustration? How much do your drafts mutate from one revision to the next?

[Fenika]

I'm still pretending I'm on draft one. It's easier that way. Eventually I'll get brave and my word count will go up. Or down. But hopefully up...

[Use Her Name]

I want to get published in a few years, and want to work like a professional. Child hood is over. I need to create the plot and stick to it. A piece of long fiction is too big to lose the reins.

This has really helped my writing in the past year or so:

Before I write every chapter I write down what I am going to write in a few paragraphs. I stick with this.


While working, I will often write down the entire story, chapter by chapter, up to where I am, in almost an executive summary. I consult with this summery often as I write. Since it eventually takes me days to actually read my own work, having a "cliff notes" type copy helps keep on track immeasurably.

But the most helpful thing is doing the first thing I mentioned: Pre-writing what you will be sitting down to write.

In your case of expanding, you need to be fair to your readers. Readers seem not to want a cast of thousands. You can write deeper, not broader.

The first draft is always shorter than the final draft (at least for me) Some people over-write, I under-write. Think of whether you were asked by an editor to shorten it. Would you prefer to get rid of all refrences to your characters underwear obsession, or get rid of a really classic character. I vote underwear.

[TheIT]

I'm still pretending I'm on draft one. It's easier that way. Eventually I'll get brave and my word count will go up. Or down. But hopefully up...

My word count needs to go down since my draft is way too long. I threw a lot of talky scenes in which seemed to work at the time, but now seem to drag. Thinking about it as a first draft again might help. I've done that to some extent, but maybe it's time to just drop the last part and keep writing as if it's new.

Once more unto the breach...

[Zoombie]

My novel started off meh and 60,000 words long.

I started editing...but then I knew how it would be perfect, so I re-wrote it word for word.

It was then 80,000 words and pretty good. So I started editing it again and when I got halfway through, I stopped editing and got distracted.

So, I came back later and started editing from the beginning and realized that to effect all the changes I had realized that I needed, I'd have to re-write it word for word.

Again.

And I just finished doing that! Now I'm at 60,000 words of awesome that I need to edit into really awesome. The main problem of a dragging middle has been fixed...but a rushed ending is now the result. But I know how to fix that by adding four scenes. Not much at all, no?

So...if necessary, start with a blank sheet but remember the direction it had gone before...it lets everything fall into place again without the constraints of the older drafts.

[Use Her Name]

I started editing...but then I knew how it would be perfect, so I re-wrote it word for word.

My condolences.
Do you use a manual typewriter?

I usually just "massage the text" on my PC, instead of doing a total re-write.

[Ravenlocks]

Anyone else have the same frustration? How much do your drafts mutate from one revision to the next?
YES! I have that frustration, and my drafts mutate A LOT. When my current revision is done my WIP will be a whole different subgenre of sf/f with a whole new setting, many new story elements, and serious changes in some of the characters' backstories.

And all the prewriting in the world wouldn't have made any difference. The direction I'm taking the novel now isn't a direction I would even have considered before I started writing. I needed to do the first two drafts before I understood that the current direction is where I really should go. I wish I had realized it earlier, but I didn't. You can't control when good ideas will come to you. That's part of the creative process.

[JustGo]

I have the same problem (is it a problem?). I just realized I'm going to have to cut out an entire major character and put a new one in to take up the slack elsewhere in the novel. I'll be killing my darlings and deleting at least fifteen pages and writing just as much new stuff, if not more...
Fun, fun, fun. But I'm sure the results will be worth it, especially since it strengthens several mediocre subplots and ties them more strongly to the main storyline.


I started editing...but then I knew how it would be perfect, so I re-wrote it word for word.

It was then 80,000 words and pretty good. So I started editing it again and when I got halfway through, I stopped editing and got distracted.

So, I came back later and started editing from the beginning and realized that to effect all the changes I had realized that I needed, I'd have to re-write it word for word.

Again.


I do this too - I find it the most effective way to improve my writing, and that the results are much more noticeable than when I simply "massage the text." However, there are times when I regret doing this, as I might have noticed all of the major problems before doing so much work if I'd taken a less intense approach.
Ah, well. Such is the process.

[Matera the Mad]

I don't believe in first drafts, I just dig worms until I have enough in the can, less the bucketful I toss to the birds during the long, slow process.

[Paichka]

*sigh*

I recently decided to cut an entire subplot of my novel out. It doesn't impact too much in terms of overall plot, but it shortens the narrative timeline. And it requires me to rewrite the first 10 chapters to remove all traces of that subplot.

It's...a little daunting. :)

[Zoombie]

My condolences.
Do you use a manual typewriter?

I usually just "massage the text" on my PC, instead of doing a total re-write.

Well, see, I changed two characters completely, removed a third, and brought the villain from the first draft back in a new and better form and one of the bad guys suddenly and unexpectedly became good.


It was easier for my poor brain to just start a new word document and write from there. The lines fell in easier and it was great fun too.

[HeronW]

Do the scenes, new or old fit with what the MC is trying to accomplish? Is there enough drama from the antagonist to keep things in a state of flux until the resolution? Would some chapters work better in a sequel or as shorts based on the novel that you can sub elsewhere?

[billyf027]

How long do you let the finished first draft sit before you begin to revise?