So I want to rewrite one of my stories that I started in...eighth grade, I believe. I finished it a couple of years ago. (I just graduated from high school this spring.) It's a really good story (if I do say so myself) but obviously...it has some issues. There are sections that just need a total rewrite, but there are also scenes where I feel like I would want to preserve the majority of it...

I've done a little editing before but not much, so I was just wondering if there were any of you that HAVE done numerous drafts of your stories, where exactly do you begin?

I'm one of those writers who has a hard time finishing first drafts, so I don't revise very often; however, for the one I'm working on now, I'm intending to try Holly Lisle's One-Pass Revision. Don't know how well it'll work for something you wrote that long ago, but I'm sure there are ways to modify it.

The most important thing is to find a method that works for you, so I'd say, just try any method you can think of until something fits. *most useless advice ever sorry >.>*

For me, personally, I go overboard (or, at least I think so) when I do second drafts. Each time I do a new draft, I make grammar corrections, suggest better sentence structure (like deleting words, making a sentence active instead of passive, stuff like that), make notes about big changes like "make this character more aggressive" or "change this conversation to be about something else", and think about either adding or deleting chapters. And I make notes about any new world-building that's popped up or if I need to change the plot to orient around something else. I've done multiple drafts this way for several years. But, as Var says, find a method that works for you.





A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people- Thomas Mann




My writing blog: [aspiringpen.blogspot.com]

It also helps to have another set of eyes. I'm interning as an editor right now, and have done some editing. If you'd want someone to look at it objectively, I'd be more than happy to.

I'm working on a story right now that, while I never technically finished the first draft, really needed a reboot. I started over from scratch, but kept the old files. Then, whenever I found somewhere that I could use the old material (descriptions, witty bits of dialogue, sometimes whole chapters) I pulled it from the first draft and whittled it down to fit its new place.

And you who seek to know me,
know that the seeking and yearning
will avail you not,
unless you know the Mystery:
for if that which you seek,
you find not within yourself,
you will never find it without.

OK--newly discovered tip: PRINT IT OUT. Like, not in massive doses, but just a chapter or three at a time. Get a nice, brightly-colored pen (I'm using a shimmering-blue gel pen) and MARK IT UP like CRAZY. :D I just discovered how much fun this is and have something new to do at work. :P

Pay no attention to the bird behind the curtain!!
Trav is a SHE
http://www.musings-in-a-strange-land.blogspot.com/
I am a Wraith of Yore...fear me and my power of forgotten-thread blackmail

Ditto Trav. It's so much fun



President and Founder of Twilight is Overrated Club
The Traveler as Vice President
Current Members: Galadriel, Trav,Eberwolf, Aljeron12, Sulmandir, vareth in silico
Purl, LovelornLark, Mindarin, Anna-Light Warrior, Caeli

There are three rules of writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
— W. Somerset Maugham

OH OH! I have something to say, but no time to post, i'll post later tonight :D

****************************************
Var is awesome!