Rewriting versus Editing

How to Make Your Book the Best it Can Be

This week I thought I’d write something that’s both personal and [hopefully] very helpful for you as a writer. Call it a mash-up of what I’m up to and how to approach the [sometimes intimidating] rewriting process. Let’s be candid – I adore rewriting. It’s my favorite part of writing. And I know that that’s not true for a lot of writers. So I thought I’d share some of my rewriting tips. To begin with, let’s talk about how I’m defining rewriting versus editing.

Let’s also be honest. Most self-published books don’t sell very well. What makes a traditionally published book read so differently from a self-published one is a matter of rewriting. By that, I’m NOT talking about grammar, although that certainly does matter. Fixing grammar, spelling, and sentence structure should happen, but it should be the very last thing you do before going to market. After all, there’s no point cleaning up content that you may cut or completely change.

I call this final step editing. In the editing world, this would be the purview of line editors, copy editors and proofreaders. They do a whole lot of things including the following:

Editing Includes…

Removing redundancy in word choices – for example if you use the same word too many times throughout the manuscript
Strengthening word choices for clearer and more evocative writing
Eliminating excess and/or unnecessarily wordy phrasing
Reorganizing thoughts so that they flow more efficiently and clearly for the reader
Fixing spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.

When I talk to writers, especially those who self-publish, I get the sense that when they re-write, they’re solely focused on these things I just mentioned. The problem with that is that this alone won’t make for a good novel. And readers can tell that it’s a self-published novel…that’s not a compliment. None of us who pursue self-publishing want that!

We want novels that read like a traditionally published novel does. That requires a level of rewriting that comes before these editing tasks. If that sounds daunting, don’t be nervous. I’ll tell you how I go about this in steps. It’s a long process, but that’s true for any well-written novel. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, you can have a polished novel that reads as if it came from a top publishing house.

Draft #2: Rewriting the Bones

I have a process of planning my books that looks a bit like a mixture of pantsing and plotting. I write out a summary of my story and then fit it into a structural framework that allows for good story pacing and character development. That said, after I write the first draft, I still find elements of the novel that aren’t reading the way I pictured them in the plotting process.

After a brief break from my book (good for clearing my palette), I read through the manuscript and note what isn’t working. At this stage, I’m looking for the following types of things:

Scenes that bore me – if they bore me, they’ll bore the reader
Scenes that seemed necessary in the plotting phase, but now seem to have no purpose – kill all of your unnecessary scenes no matter how much you love them, or make them serve a very clear purpose!
Pacing that’s off – such as sections in which it feels like a character moved from one phase of the story to another too quickly –> the story could use another scene or two (or more) in between; or vice versa – sections that are too slow and need more tension and purpose
Plot holes – if you did any plotting, you probably won’t have many (or any) of these, but holes have a bad habit of popping up when you don’t expect them.
Plot twists (if you have them) – are where they should be and are both surprising and plot twisting (taking the story in a new direction
Etc.

Notice that in this step of the rewrite I’m looking for bones that are out of alignment. I’m basically resetting all of the underlying structure of the story. Before that’s done, nothing else matters.

After I’ve fixed and cleaned up the bones of the first draft, I write a second draft. Your second draft should look VERY different from the first. If it doesn’t, you’re either a compulsive plotter (every component of every scene), or you didn’t do what you need to do to improve the manuscript. Give yourself the time to create something worth reading and remembering.

Draft #3: Rewriting Protagonist/ Antagonist Arcs, Setting Choices

Once you’ve done that, you can move onto the next layer of writing: the main character’s progression (or devolution) and your scene choices. Look for things like these:

Is the Main Character’s (MC’s) arc what it should be? Does he remain flat too long and then suddenly change at the end? Does he learn everything he needs to too early, such as by the midpoint and then has to wait for the third plot point and climax to happen?
Is the Antagonist actively pursuing what she should be (not just reacting to the MC) and in a progression that makes sense?
Are the right characters in the book?? Sounds funny to raise that at this point, but sometimes those secondary and tertiary characters, as much as we love them, don’t seem quite right for the story after we get the plot details hammered out. If you love them but they don’t fit, save them for another story and get the right characters in here.
Are the settings right? Sometimes a scene is necessary to the story but feels boring simply because the setting is a repeat; your character was just there. Try to choose settings that have a symbolic purpose for each scene and those that increase the interest and/or tension in the story. This was challenging for me in my current WIP because it’s set solely within an old estate. The protagonist can only leave (while accompanied) to attend her father’s funeral. There aren’t as many settings as when I work on my Fantasy novels. However, it can still be done! Even in a single room or small space, it’s possible to highlight a very different area or aspect of the setting at different points in the story.

Again, after you find and plan these fixes, you’ll want to rewrite the story.

Draft #4: Rewriting Subplots, Relationships, etc.

Then reread it for issues related to character relationships, etc.

Is the development of a character-to-character relationship too flat or stilted? If it is, it may be an issue of needing to write better dialogue, include more interactions in the scenes you already have, or even add a new scene (it’s never too late until the book goes live).
Do you have character subplots and are these well-developed? Do they support the plot and yet stand alone – meaning: the subplots aren’t totally removed from the story and yet they aren’t 100% necessary to the plot?
Does your antagonist have a sidekick? There’s a big advantage to it, if you haven’t already included one. See why here. If you have, is there relationship progressing? Are their interactions unique to them and consistent with their characters?
Are all of your characters playing the archetypal roles they should? Meaning: if the MC has a mentor, is he mentoring, or is he running off on a side-tangent? If you use a jester-type of character, is she providing the comic relief in the right places? Are her actions unexpected enough to qualify as a jester? Etc. See Jung’s archetypes if you’re confused about this. It isn’t necessary to formally determine this for every book, but it can be very helpful as you develop your characters on the page.
Is the dialogue largely subtext? [It should be.] Is any of it awkward or unnecessary?

Draft #5: Rewriting Thematic Underpinnings

It might seem odd that I’m talking about the theme at this point in the rewrite. That’s because, first, I’m assuming that you had your theme in mind and included its progression in your first draft. And second, a lot of what develops the theme for readers happens through character dialogue and description.

For example, my current manuscript has a couple of themes, one of which is that vengeance cuts both ways but justice always satisfies. At a plot level, it’s important that the MC and many other characters are exploring this throughout the story. My MC has a strong reason to pursue vengeance and I give her ample opportunities to do so. As she learns more about the antagonist, her desire grows but her opportunities are thwarted…until they aren’t. So those scenes have to be there for her to be able to attempt (or want to attempt) to take vengeance.

However, there’s a lot of dialogue that happens between her and her sidekick – the ghost of her long-dead aunt who met a very untimely death. And between other characters. There’s also a lot of symbolic description in various scenes that parallels this theme. That can be tweaked and refined in later drafts without [necessarily] having to add or subtract scenes. But give yourself the space and permission to do so if it’ll make a better end product.

In this draft, look for these types of things:

Is your MC exploring the theme from a number of different angles (and rejecting the one you want him to learn)? For example, let’s say your theme is that most people can be trusted to help others regardless of what they gain from it. Your MC shouldn’t believe this at the start. He might pursue ways to prove that people are 1) inherently untrustworthy, 2) only trustworthy if they get something from it, 3) only trustworthy if they feel obligated, etc. This should work hand-in-hand with your plot, of course.
Are your other dominant characters also dealing with this theme from different, less-prominent angles? See this article, if you’d like help understanding this.
Is your description and dialogue contributing to the theme? Look for places where you’ve chosen the easy/ obvious description or statement and could instead say something more symbolic and intentional.

Draft #6: Clean-Up

At this point, you’ve written the book at least five times: your first draft and four rewrites. That’s not a hard rule, of course. All of this is simply meant to guide and aid you. However, this is how I go about a rewrite. The reason I do it this way is because I want my plot, characters and theme to be very dense and well-written. I can’t do that in one pass. And that many moving parts makes one rewrite too overwhelming.

I actually go through each of these steps fairly quickly considering how meaty this process is. And managing the rewrite process in layers keeps me sane. Very important.

A Personal Note

I promised a personal component to all of this. In a lot of ways all that I’ve said is personal; this is my process, which may or may not work for you. However, this is also where I am at the moment. I’m working on my sixth draft of my current book.

It had been finished, had even been to a number of beta readers, and had been revised due to their feedback. But then I stepped away from it for a year due to life circumstances and, once I came back to it, I had changed my publishing plans. By that time, my writing ability had improved enough that I wanted to take another look at the manuscript before sending it out to the editors.

When I did, I saw a number of things I wanted to refine, so I gave myself a set time limit: a few months during which I could rewrite to the best of my ability and still stay on track for an October 2023 release date. [This is hard for me. I could rewrite forever, continually refining and perfecting everything I do. There’s definitely a balance to be had.]

It’s hard during the Thanksgiving – Christmas month (or more) when there are so many other things happening and so many family expectations and obligations. However, I’m putting in a lot of time and am doing well so far.

This draft is a hodgepodge of a lot of different things. That’s why I call it Clean Up. That’s really an all-inclusive way of saying that I’m tweaking poor dialogue, adding in more visibility for a character or two, increasing some of the ominous symbolism, closing the loop on a couple of little [but important] things that readers might wonder about, etc.

It’s a lot to do, but I want to go to market with the best product I currently can.

Next Steps

After I finish this rewrite, I’m planning on sending the manuscript off to the editors. I’ve been researching these and have found a couple of women with a lot of experience in my genre(s). They will, of course, suggest changes – both developmental and simply line/copy editing – as well, which is why I have a timeline for all of this. However, I’m looking forward to enlisting their support and help in my growth as a writer.

If you don’t use outside editors…do. At least find a friend with a sharp eye for grammar who can fill in for the copy editing/ proofreading portion of the editing work.

Conclusion

If this seems like a lot, ask yourself: if you were offered a traditional publishing contract that [usually] comes with an 18-24 month lead-time between signing and the book’s release, would you take it? Because that lead time isn’t just an issue of marketing. During that time, the publishing house’s editors help the author refine the book so that it reads as well as it can.

Ask yourself if you’d rather release two or even four times as many books that sell poorly (because most self-published books don’t sell well primarily due to the quality of the books), or half as many books that all do at least fairly well if not very well?

Lastly, remember that your ability to do all of the above more quickly and effectively, in fewer drafts, will likely increase as you give yourself the time to work at your craft and learn all of the nuances of writing. Long way of saying: it probably won’t always take me this long and this many drafts to put out each book. However, it’s ok if it does. Many bestselling authors do take years per book. And the results are worth it.