How can I be a confident writer when stuck with rewrites?

[joanofarc2015]

i do freelancing on the side of teaching. i get disappointed when i have to do rewrites. i was wondering what are the advantages of rewriting? how can we help maintain our confidence as writers if we are stuck with the rewriting phase?

shout out of love for writers, authors, and freelancers

[moderntimes]

Rewriting is part of being an author. In my 3 novels (all of which are being professionally published) I rewrote each as needed.

One of them, after receiving a cogent and thoughtful critique from an editor who said "no thanks" to my submission, I rewrote totally upon recognizing the flaws which were pointed out to me. I went back thru the 80,000 novel and revised extensively.

Rewriting has no connection with lack of confidence as a writer. Rewriting is part of the game. Never be afraid to do this. There are a few prodigies, geniuses who can write without errors, like Mozart or Bach did music. But those are rare indeed. Most all writers are always revising. And usually for the better. I've written professionally for most of my adult life and rewriting was a part of this. After the first draft I'd then take a short break, and then re-read and find flaws and ways to improve the story or article or essay. And I'd make changes. Thankfully we've got modern computers and revision and rewriting is a lot easier and more efficient than it used to be.

Don't be worried about rewriting. Comes with the territory.

[GAVanDruff1]

I love/hate rewrites. Don't think of it as being stuck. Think of rewrites as polishing your favorite gem. You do have to know when it's time to stop, though, so you don't rewrite the life and vitality out of your baby. Now, editing - yeesh - I did two edits, then had two editors, then did two more of my own. And, still, one mistake made it to Amazon. Which I edited out. But rewriting - it's a gift. The chance to get it exactly right:) Good luck with all that you do!

[moderntimes]

GAV is right. Think of it as polishing. And as advised, learn when to stop tweaking. This comes from experience.

A tip: If you're writing fiction, read the dialogue aloud, even if to yourself or just to the cat, ha ha. Hearing the dialogue goes into a different section of the brain and you hear the rhythm, and from this, learn to adjust the dialogue so that it sounds more authentic and realistic.

Reading aloud works okay for narrative too, but it's the biggest help with dialogue.

[TrishaAnn92]

I haven't done any rewrites yet as my novel is still in the rough first draft phase at jut over 24k words but I am actually looking forward to editing and rewriting whatever necessary. I may be weird, but oh well.

[moderntimes]

Your being weird has nothing to do with rewrites, ha ha.

What I've found is valuable when I'm writing my books is that I don't wait for the book to be totally finished before I start revising. What I do is write a plot arc, maybe 4-5 chapters, then go back and do some rewriting, then I'll proceed w. chapters 6-9 and then go back again, maybe not to the beginning but back a ways, then revise, then write some more new stuff. This back-and-forth mode helps me fit everything together nicely and also lets me include some of the things I've thought about since I wrote the first batch.

Regardless of how it's done, revisions and rewrites are part of the author's normal cycle and nothing to cause concern nor any reason to lose confidence.

[DarkestbeforeDawn]

On the whole, writers have to deal with a lot self-criticism and rewrites are the result of that. Writers compare themselves to other literature, and they feel like they can't match it. But you forget about all the background stuff, the editing, massive revisions, and their own rewrites. Just slog through it, that is honestly the only way to get through it. You will feel bad about your writing, you may even come to resent it, but don't dwell on it. Keep chugging through and you'll get where you need to be.

[Percarus]

Well, I never took my level of writing to the point of having to do re-writes (except for university assignments). This because my Indie genre demands that I type from the heart/soul and any mistakes in grammar (I proof read once) just demonstrates I am a normal individual, despite at the ghastly fast speed I compiled my publications. Some authors scoff at the idea of using any of a MYRIAD of softwares to help one write - I am contrary to that opinion. If I was to write for the purposes of self monetary gain and not solely for charity and petty profit in cash as a test to people's generosity then indeed I would be looking at purchasing a professional novel writing software that can be so advances so as to develop a fully formed story layout - a lot of these programs even imitate the writing layout style of successful famous authors.

I looked at it extensively in the past but I forget which one I could recommend as they keep launching newer and better ones. If I am to partake in a dissertation for a Phd someday I feel very compelled to use one of these softwares (an academic layout one combined with story telling if studying Arts/Humanities) to guarantee that I actually learn from the procedure and that at one point I shall no longer need the software. Some softwares have faults that reshape the story to fit the theory, which is not altogether bad for academic work.

I have been practising all my life on basically doing first drafts good the first time around; of course that means I made a lot of mistakes but this process of conditioning is finally sinking in I would think. Of course, re-reading it at least 4 times for an official sponsored publisher publication and have others review it at least 5 times more does seem like a necessity and hence re-writing is essential, but that does not mean you have to re-write the whole book unless you really were drunk on that scotch whilst coming up with ideas.

I consider myself a rookie in terms of sponsorship for my works simply because I never tried and instead self-published by some reputed agencies. My small reader base loved my work, grammar errors or not, they get the gist... I like 'moderntimes' idea of revising before the book is totally finished, I do the same thing if I am to do a third read over (the read as I go counts as one thorough read, the writing another one, and the final review the third in extreme cases - I am not slack, it is just my non-serious style). However I do not get 'moderntimes' views that in the writing of fiction one has to be 'authentic' and 'realistic' - the aspect of 'authenticity' is enough to write an university paper about and many thesis' have been written on that subject matter before; and 'realistic' I presume you/he meant insofar as to get the reader's devoted attention throughout the whole story by an aspect of associative self-relation to the character and the real world through similes, metaphors, or day to day dramas and real life parables.

One day I will buy the best software I can afford and write a superb book the cheats way (but hey, at least I will learn, and FAST).

[moderntimes]

I wanted to give this some thought before I posted a reply...

First of all, "softwares" is not a word. Software is singular and plural, like "deer".

I realize that there exists software which helps writers on grammar. I also eschew that. I have removed all the settings in my MS-Word for auto-correct because I don't want any intrusion into my writing. I do allow it to highlight actual spelling errors. We all make "tpyos" and a simple transfer of letters doesn't mean I don't know how to spell "subjective" but I just skittered at the keyboard and typed "subjictive" and I appreciate the little helpful flag. But other than this, I rely on the best editing "software" ever, the grey matter between the ears of the author.

Nevertheless, I am a perfectionist, and I re-read and revise and rewrite my material until I an certain that I'm delivering the finest possible to my readers, error free and cleanly comprehensive. I'm irritated by finding mechanical glitches in published material and think that the author or editor didn't care enough. I also blink at errors in simple internet posts but I don't get irritated as I realize that they're just off the cuff typing.

But were I to give my books and essays and articles and reviews just one quick review and send them off willy-nilly is to demean my readers, to whom I owe the best possible. I hold my readers in higher esteem. Being a normal individual is not an excuse for sending out errors in a manuscript. And allowing errors is a habit which should be overcome.

There are no "softwares" which will correct poor and sloppy writing. Some software can make stylistic recommendations but in my estimation those suggestions are worthless. Each author must develop a unique voice. As an author of modern American crime novels, I write in a snappy, abbreviated style. I've got one-word sentences, sentences which clearly violate standard rules of grammar, and I would not use such if I am writing a formal essay or magazine / newspaper article -- which I also write.

But all novelists break rules. It's however incumbent that the writer know the rules first, and then know how to break them "properly".

But to toss out incomplete and erroneous writing to the reader in a hasty manner is to look down on the readers and ask them to accept less than excellence as a hallmark. When I write my novels, I spend about 60%-70% of the time it took to write the book to then review and edit it, numerous re-reads, until it's perfect as I can make it.

Which seems to help, as I've sold all 3 of my novels commercially and they're now published.

Believe me, to publish (even self publish) less than the best you can do is counterproductive. You don't only owe the best possible to your readers, you owe it to yourself.

[pjswink]

Rewriting is part of a writer's life. Raw writing is great, it is rewarding for the writer to do it....but it is the undisciplined 'fun' part of writing. Maybe one in a thousand times something writes out perfectly the first time - but most good writing is molded and remolded with much time and effort.

Plus, sometimes ideas are spawned during edits and rewrites that turn into other works.

[moderntimes]

How true, pj. Sometimes when I'm revising a story or chapter, I get a peripheral idea which immediately goes into my "ideas" file for future use.

I also think that revising is a learning process for a writer. As you say, sometimes a great bit of wordcraft comes out first try, I've had this myself, a sentence which was perfect from the start. But usually this is brief and not extensive.

What I think happens as I revise is that I hone my writing skills even more. I learn to adjust the words and sentences for the nuances of rhythm and balance, the texture of a paragraph, short sentences mixed with longer ones, short and terse words against longer and more complex structure.

Fixing a typo is easy. Writing a chapter that zings? That takes time.

[giorgiads88]

What's the extent of a rewrite?
I haven't been able to strike the balance between 'thats alright for now' and 'having it just right'. In other words, I dont know how much I should labour over the sentence structure, description, similies and metaphors at the stage of first writing. Should that stuff be left for second draft? I feel that my need to have everything in shape is holding me down, 5,000 words can take me up to a week to write and im starting to get frustrated. My worry though is that if I just 'go with the flow' or whatever, I'll re-read the manuscript upon finishing it and realise that it reads like a diary of a 15 year old.

[moderntimes]

The crossing line between good revision and needless picking is a difficult one to learn. It's not easy to discern when to stop.

I often have to "slap hands" to myself to stop my endless tweaking. So there's no guarantee specific point at which to quit. For me, it's when I get to the point where I keep changing the same phrases back and forth and "can't decide" and in fact, have to realize that it's fine as is.

Taking a week to write 5000 words isn't a bad thing. Realize that each of my novels has taken me maybe 9-10 months to write and even then a few small revisions were needed.

For a short story, definitely 3 read-throughs and revisions, AFTER getting all the actual mechanical errors fixed, is a decent goal. After 3 re-readings, you're probably done.

[giorgiads88]

Thanks mod (can I call you mod?)
I was aiming for 10,000 a week but maybe that's me overachieving, as always, or naivety. I'm concerned obviously that 100,000 words of spur of the moment writing will need to be chucked out but at the same time I don't want to hinder my momentum with endless revisions. Today I wrote nearly 2,000 but yeah, I've just re-read them and I can see myself spending all of tomorrow working them. This is my longest project yet and I'm all about 'The Plan" and I need to maybe revise it...but I'm ranting. Also not a good sign.
Thank you!

[moderntimes]

Glad to help.

I think that too many new writers seem to think that they have to be either Mozart or Bach, writing down the music without error and perfectly emanating from the brain to page (or screen) without flaw.

And sure, there are a few writing prodigies, but the vast remainder of us must understand that revision is a part of writing, an integral component, and not something which is tacked on afterward. If we waited till the precise and finest sentence was there in our minds before writing it, we'd get about 5 pages a year, ha ha.

I write in bursts, as do most. I have the energy of a story line and I'll dash out 2-3 chapters full force, very few slow downs, and I know full well that I'll be revising it. But still I plow ahead. Now I'm not just typing junk on the screen -- there are sentences and paragraphs and quote marks and such, because I'm a kind of a "neat freak" and don't like to commit typos, regardless of how fast I'm writing.

But still, I know that what I'm putting into the "chap 12" file is off the top of my head, and will need revisions. Which is fine. Sometimes I start back immediately with revisions, some times I take a break, depending on how I feel. But no biggie. Revise I will and I have a "feel" for this which, after 3 novels, I can grasp when I'm finished and when I'm just tweaking things which are fine anyway.

What must be done, regardless, is that any writer will make revisions. That's part of the game, and as I say, revision is an integral part of being a writer, not something that "comes after" you're finished writing. And so it's incumbent on all writers to accept this as normal and not become overstressed by making revisions. It comes with the territory.

And it's actually "Sam Waas" but hey, I'm okay with pseudonyms, too.

-- 26 Jan 2016, 13:00 --

Oh yeah -- I'd not suggest a forced target like 10k words per week. We all write in fits and spurts, and so some weeks we might write a lot, some weeks we might spend in research, revision, or just go bowling, ha ha. At arbitrary word count may push you to write junk just to get to the goal. When in fact the true "goal" is to write well and write good stuff, despite how many words.