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So ... rewriting

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whiporee

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After my first round of rejections by editors, I've decided to rewrite a section of my book (it's written in three distinct parts). I'm wondering how you've been able to revisit a story and characters you've already created and told -- do you work off the old work and cut and paste, or do you start with a clean slate?

I know how it ends, and I know what some of the major plot points have to be (it's the second section, so there are things that have to happen in order to make the third part work). But I'm having a tough time diving in, because the way I wrote it has been the way the story has been in my head for a year and a half now, and I can only think of it the way I wrote it the first time. Any suggestions on how to rethink what you've already done?
 

cornflake

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After my first round of rejections by editors, I've decided to rewrite a section of my book (it's written in three distinct parts). I'm wondering how you've been able to revisit a story and characters you've already created and told -- do you work off the old work and cut and paste, or do you start with a clean slate?

I know how it ends, and I know what some of the major plot points have to be (it's the second section, so there are things that have to happen in order to make the third part work). But I'm having a tough time diving in, because the way I wrote it has been the way the story has been in my head for a year and a half now, and I can only think of it the way I wrote it the first time. Any suggestions on how to rethink what you've already done?

What does your agent suggest?
 

dangerousbill

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I can't rewrite from the old copy. I end up with the same thing. I study a few chapters, make a list of events, and start to write without reference to the original version. Later on, I can go back and add in things from the first draft that are worth keeping.

Writing is easy; rewriting is hard.
 

thedark

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...because the way I wrote it has been the way the story has been in my head for a year and a half now, and I can only think of it the way I wrote it the first time.

Hiya,

I just wanted to say that I've felt something similar when revising - the words have formed patterns in my head, and when I try to revise them, they keep wanting to snap back into that old mold.

I solve this by rereading what I wrote, then reforming the whole scene in my mind, a little differently, fixing whatever needs to be fixed, then writing it down on a blank page. The new draft always comes out stronger and better, and if something was worth keeping from the old section, it tends to find its way into the new one, wrapped around newer, stronger text.

But it's still hard to tear apart your baby.
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

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I pretty much started from scratch. I knew I wanted to keep the original plot, but it had to become a sub plot to a completely new and much bigger main plot, so really a clean slate was the only thing that would have worked. I only went to the original version when I came to a scene I wanted to keep, but they were rewritten almost entirely anyway. As I went on, I found myself going less and less to the original version. Now I'd say it's a completely new story, but elements are still recognisable from the original.

Try the clean slate approach. You always have your original version to fall back on if you don't like the new one.
 

BethS

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Writing is easy; rewriting is hard.

Nah, it's the other way around. :) Filling the blank page is hard, but once words are down, the fun begins.

But in this case, the OP would probably be better off starting the section fresh. S/he can always borrow choice bits from the original, but I would imagine it's easier to cast a new pot on the wheel rather than break the old one and glue it back together in a new way. Chances are the seams will show.
 

whiporee

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What does your agent suggest?

She agrees with the strategy of rewriting the section -- focusing more on the MC of that section instead of the plot -- because after reading the passes, it seems like that's where we were losing people. But because she really likes the book, she's loathe to suggest specific ideas because she loves it as it is.
 

E.F.B.

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She agrees with the strategy of rewriting the section -- focusing more on the MC of that section instead of the plot -- because after reading the passes, it seems like that's where we were losing people. But because she really likes the book, she's loathe to suggest specific ideas because she loves it as it is.
What do you mean by "we were losing people?" Were these people becoming confused, disinterested, or what?
 

whiporee

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What do you mean by "we were losing people?" Were these people becoming confused, disinterested, or what?

Don't really know. I had some say that they liked the first part, which is plot driven. The second part was more character driven to set up the action of the third part. I got a lot of critique that the characters felt a little light, particularly the MC of the second part. So I'm trying to flesh her out a bit more in the rewrite, because that seemed to be some the criticism I got.

I don't know whether this will make much difference, but I do think the second part was the weakest, so rewriting it isn't a bad idea before it goes back out. The good thing about the format is that I can structurally change the whole thing without changing much of the rest of it, and I think the character actually works, but I didn't do a great job of writing her -- I got too wrapped up in the scientific nuance that I thought was very important, but maybe turned out not to be.

But it sounded easier when I was talking about it than it's been since I've tried to restart, rethinking the whole picture. Here's an example - part of the MC's story was something she called the Girlfriend Experiment -- it's her way of compartmentalizing her time with the other MC - she tried to be a perfect girlfriend for the limited time each year they were together. It was one of my favorite ideas of the book, but it was also something that a lot of readers didn't like -- they felt it made her unlikeable, and in order for the overall book to work, you have to at least sort of like her.

So that becomes the kind of questions I can't really get around right now -- what to leave in, what to leave out, what to re-invent to make the section of the book work better than it currently does, like a painter drawing the same scene from a different perspective.
 

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Don't really know. I had some say that they liked the first part, which is plot driven. The second part was more character driven to set up the action of the third part.

I've not read the book, obviously, but if readers are losing interest during the second part, at a guess it's because the story stopped going anywhere in that section. And it has nothing to do with it being "character driven," because a character-driven story is a story that goes places. Sounds more probable that the pacing flagged because the characters stopped doing anything interesting.

The middle is not for character introspection and set-up.* The middle is for plot complications, deeper conflict, and raising the stakes.

*These can be present, but as by-products, not the central focus.
 
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Jamesaritchie

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If the rewrite is really massive, I throw the story away and start over from scratch.
 

SaveitForaRainyDay

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I have the exact same problem as this. In particular, not being able to re-write because it turns out the identical to the original. This is why I'm stuck on re-writing now :( I'd love to hear people's suggestions.
 

whiporee

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Thought I'd check back in. I ended up re-plotting the section and came up with a couple of new characters and new ideas. The problems I'm having now is that I like my old book. I liked the pace and the tone of the section I'm rewriting now, and I hate abandoning scenes that I liked enough to include in what i thought was a finished product. And I haven't been able to detach from the original as much as I'd hoped I'd be able to -- the way I wrote it originally still sticks in my head.

Much more challenging than I had thought.
 

Smeasking

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Hiya Whiporee!

I'm going through something similar. I separated my story into two parts, and part two begins with a flashback/dream which is basically backstory to let the reader know how the main characters came together. My problem was that throwing it in the middle slowed the momentum of the story--exciting hook at end of chapter 9, which doesn't continue until middle of chapter 11--so after some critiques I just cut it out (10k); but, I think I will add in little snippets from it for backstory as smaller flashbacks while characters interact, and use their dialogue to incorporate some of those vital points from the past.

The more difficult task, though, is re-writing my entire first chapter. A beta told me that I have a great story, one that he can picture becoming a movie, but said that if a publisher only asks to read the first 2.5k of it--I'm doomed. He said my first chapter doesn't give a reader a good rundown of what the rest of my book is about--at all. Which is crummy, because I love that chapter, and just starting it from chapter two, alone, wouldn't work. So... what I decided to do, is just highlight all the vital points I need/want from it and just rewrite around all those points; that way, the flow and everything will be fresh, but all the bits that are important will still be salvaged. Hopefully--it works. :)

I guess, good luck on both our re-writes! :)
 
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