I totally do NOT buy into this (a tip I found on the internet) attitude:
Eventually, redrafting will just spoil the novel – there is a danger that the story you set out to write ends up so ‘surgically’ enhanced that it no longer resembles the original story – the intrinsic core of the story has been lost.
I do not agree with this advice because fundamentally I am a journalist, accustomed to being questioned, and subjected to Fact Finders, sub-editors and finicky editors who know what story they want and how it should be crafted. I bow to their expertise. I trust those with more experience than me. I humbly accept advice though do not automatically take it. If I see what they mean, I accept their advice.
But during the process of writing my first novel, I experienced rewrite after rewrite. The pages before me were the fourth draft. The first draft was in third person and that didn’t feel right. The second draft became first person. I rewrote the third draft because the story needed big character changes and improvements. The text then needed a fourth draft to make it fit into a tight ‘thriller’ genre with a big suspense emphasis. This need to restructure the fourth time became screamingly obvious after a reread as I wanted to follow the rule ‘the story should turn about every four to six pages.’ Nowadays, if you want to sell, and sell well, you basically have to follow that rule.
After having shown it to a good friend who is also a top New York literary agent, the advice is that my new book needed, yet again, another draft. This would be my 5th draft and now the book would be in third person (again). I remember feeling a little taxing.
Whining about rewrites will do no good. We write, that’s what we do. Again and again and again, changing, recrafting, improving, omitting, and adding. Part of being a writer is knowing that rewriting is compulsory. If you don’t want to rewrite – then get out of the game now. If you think what you’ve written is perfect and doesn’t need rewriting, you’ll never be published.
A dear friend of mine, was on a three-book deal with Little Brown, and was on her TENTH rewrite while I was working through my fifth. I had nothing to complain about.
The more you rewrite, the faster you become at writing. I am a slow writer and I want to be faster. The only way I was going to write faster was by writing more. I needed to rewrite, write faster and ultimately write better, without fear of the text being crappy. Remember, we can always edit the bad bits out later it’s good to just let the writing flow, knowing there will be a rewrite later.
Everyone has to rewrite, there is no way around it.
I DO agree with Michael Crichton,
Good books are not written. Good books are rewritten.
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If you’d like to share any comments or thoughts, I’d be happy to hear from you. Email me directly at lisacliffordwriter@gmail.com.