Rewriting. That word is a bit vague until you approach it from a writer’s perspective. From there it gets even foggier. It can be a wipe-the-slate-start-over command, a reorganization, or focus-honing of the draft as it exists. To be clear, Rewriting has its close cousins named Revising and Editing. The last two follow the first before publishing.
Rewriting is changing the story because the first draft holds major problems with the plot, subplots, and character arcs that don’t live up to the hype you created in your mind when you set out to tell a story. It’s time to cut, cure, and create to construct a readable tale. Thankfully, you have a First-Draft to guide you to a finished product that can then be polished by revision and editing. You won’t need to start at square one with all new plots, scenes, and characters.
Starting with a completed First Draft, Rewriting can be more difficult than the initial effort it took to pound out the words of a story from beginning to end. We generally take a very subjective view to craft a human story in writing fiction. But in Rewriting, the necessary shift to objectivity can be jarring when we see that the edges of our story pieces don’t match up from scene to scene and chapter to chapter, or sometimes (the horror) not even within a paragraph.
What is Rewriting?
After a first draft, Rewriting comes before the Revising and Editing steps. It involves big structural changes that can only occur after the last period has been added to the First Draft. It takes an objective, overhead view of the land to ensure the beginning leads to the end without detours, sidecars, cast adrift and dead-end plot lines, or passersby and a cast of thousands chattering in the reader's ear.
Changing the cast. Eliminating non-essential characters or combining their purpose with another can bring easier focus for the reader. Some small part characters can be kept but eliminated in the reader’s memory by dropping their names and using personal pronouns for those that step quickly into and out of the storyline. As in movies, not everyone in the crowd gets a name or speaking part.
Changing by Elimination. Drop chapters or scenes where not much happens, or at least significantly reduce their size to prevent reader drift. These unnecessary distractions were inserted in the first draft with some inkling they might be used as foreshadowing or for some other significance later but turn out irrelevant down the line.
Changing the Point of View in which the story is told is another major structural change that will require Rewriting. A major rewrite is needed when the writer realizes they want to change the distance between the reader and the characters. Which is better for a book, chapter, or scene? A third-person objective or a subjective close zoom into the mind of a few major players to create real-time, emotionally intimate experiences. A story’s tone changes significantly when experienced through a subjective, first-person character, or told by an omniscient third person.
Changing when the reader encounters important story points. Ideally, a writer wants the story tension and conflicts to build from the beginning to the final ‘shootout.’ But that may mean not telling the story in a time-linear fashion. It can get tricky and confusing when writing non-linearly. Moving information scenes around later so the reader can follow seamlessly is much easier.
Changing the location of the story. After the First Draft, a writer may take a top-down look and decide the plot can be made more personal by moving it to a small town or more exciting in the hustle of an impersonal urban setting as the reader follows the character (rat) in a huge maze.
Changing the time. We can drop our story into a reader’s Past, Present, or Future… any of which can be written as the present. If the genre has no specific historical context demands, any story can work in any time period. A change in time period can help the writer create a mood, tempo, and tone that fits what they intend for the reader to live through.
Changing the demographics. Consider how to best situate your characters for the greatest reader impact. If your story involves a fall from grace or life demotion in the character arc, have them start at a greater social and economic height. No one commits suicide by jumping out of a basement window.
Elements of a Rewrite
- Adjust characters, goals, tension, and conflicts to fit the story
- Rewrite to focus on the key core of the story.
- Scrap and rewrite parts that don’t meld with the rest of the story.
- Build on the remaining structures that give the story its strength.
- Add or juice up the action to involve the reader.
Stalking Rewriting. Approach it like you’re hunting for the greatest story. And once found, build a fence around it, feed it, educate it as you would a child until it’s strong enough to run on its own.
Don’t feel failure because the First Draft had junky, awkward sentences, plot crashes, detours, and sophomoric phrases. In Rewriting, you learn from those how to put a story together that is a pleasure to read.
And don’t forget, after rewriting comes revision and editing.
