Rewriting; not redrafting.

[AnyaKimlin]

I love redrafting. I know the characters, I know the story and the setting. It is when the story deepens and really takes shape.

It is when I begin to be pleased with it.

 

[Tecdavid]

It's easy and good fun.

That's a relief to hear. The idea seems to me like it'd be fun -- taking the story in a new and better direction, and all -- so it's good to hear someone's tried it before and really enjoyed it.

I love redrafting. I know the characters, I know the story and the setting. It is when the story deepens and really takes shape.

It is when I begin to be pleased with it.

Very true -- I feel the same after each redraft of my own. After a while, though, I begin to wonder whether simply redrafting is enough. A few niggles and difficulties that nead more than a polish up, and will change the course of the story once they're dealt with. That's kind of what this one is.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Very true -- I feel the same after each redraft of my own. After a while, though, I begin to wonder whether simply redrafting is enough. A few niggles and difficulties that nead more than a polish up, and will change the course of the story once they're dealt with. That's kind of what this one is.

By redraft i mean bin previous draft and start from scratch. I write drafts until the story is very clean and doesn't need a lot of editing.

 

[Bowler1]

It's easy and good fun. It's how my debut Memory Seed was done (third re-write was the one they published).

It's also a terrific exercise in realising that your supposedly "perfect" and "unchangeable" novel can so easily be something else... draft 2 of Memory Seed had 50/50 men/women. The real book, draft 3, was an entirely female cast bar one male character.

I had actually (almost) sold the novel on draft 2, but by the time they got back to me I'd done draft 3...

I'm courious Stephen. Was Memory Seed your first ever book (ignoring the fact it was re-written three times), or had you written books before this that were part of your learning curve?

 

[Colbey Frost]

Because I plan everything before I start, I've never had to do this. Most of what I want is there, but it's all about editing, adding, cutting etc.

EDIT: I don't think my novel is "perfect" or "unchangeable", as Stephen put it, it's constaly changing, and for the better, but I think the level of planning I do cuts out some of the need to start from scratch as I'm just filling in the gaps to what I've already come up with.