{"id":1410,"date":"2021-06-02T08:52:23","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T12:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/?p=1410"},"modified":"2021-06-02T08:52:23","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T12:52:23","slug":"the-remodel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/2021\/06\/02\/the-remodel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Remodel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On April 22, 2020, Writeforfun wrote, I\u2019ve just finished my current book! Or well, the first in what seems to have turned into a series. There\u2019s lot\u2019s more to go, but I\u2019ve come to the end of this one, at least. So, yeah, happy dance! But I\u2019m wondering \u2013 I know there are many posts on here about editing so I\u2019m definitely going to go back over all of those \u2013 but I\u2019m just wondering, any opinions on the best way to edit a first draft that has changed a LOT since the beginning and is rather a bit of a jumbled mess? I pantsed this book, just to give it a try (I\u2019m usually a planner), and the story has meandered and changed a ton since the beginning, and didn\u2019t really get on a particular track until about halfway through. Normally when I finish a book, I\u2019ll go through from the beginning of the manuscript and just tweak things as I go (which works, since the plot hasn\u2019t really wavered from the beginning so I\u2019m usually only making minor changes); but this time I\u2019m talking major changes \u2013 entire characters and plot points that I dropped halfway through, 50-page events that I need to add or remove, or shuffle or swap with different portions of the story \u2013 things like that. It\u2019s daunting! How do you keep it all organized? I\u2019m almost wondering if it would be better to start a brand new document and just re-write the story\u2026although, I don\u2019t really want to do that because I ended up accidentally making it about 500 pages long (though hopefully I\u2019ll manage to cut that down a bit)!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m just wondering if there\u2019s any particular great process for editing a book that needs a LOT of changes! Advice? I know some people are great at editing and really enjoy it. I am not, and do not \u2013 so if you have a process that works well I\u2019d love to hear about it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of you wrote back:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christie V Powell: One thing I\u2019ve been doing with my WIP is using Word\u2019s styles\/headings feature and labeling each scene, chapter, and act. It makes it easier to see structure at a glance and to figure out how to move things around. Another tip: save a new copy every time you start a major draft. It gives you more freedom to experiment (I copied Gail\u2019s suggestion from \u201cWriting Magic\u201d about putting numbers after each draft, although the number of drafts I need has been getting smaller as I keep writing).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erica: If you\u2019re normally a planner, then I would suggest writing an outline of your story using whatever method you like, and then rewriting individual pieces to fit the outline better. That way, it\u2019s easier to stay on track and you\u2019re less likely to end up making more big dramatic changes without realizing it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations for finishing! I hope I said that at the time too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I\u2019ve said often, I love to revise. It\u2019s my favorite part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like my advice from Christie V Powell\u2019s lips! Versions are super helpful because nothing is lost. When the change is ultra-big, I rename the document so the revision and the earlier incarnation are easier to find, like one version may be called Wolf friend 3. The hugely changed version might be Wolf no friend 1\u2013because I took out the friendship. Or, often when I\u2019ve started revising for my editor, I might name the next version Wolf RB edit 1 (her initials). When I\u2019m completely done and the manuscript is beyond even copy editing, I can count my versions. Many versions means this was a tough book to write. I find that satisfying to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I agree with Erica that an outline is likely to be helpful. It doesn\u2019t matter that the book is written. An outline helps us see what we have. For me, the outline would go chapter by chapter, summarizing what happens in each one in a few sentences. When we think about what to revise, we can use highlighter so that what we need to do stands out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A timeline may be useful too. Depending on the book, I\u2019ve used them during revision–and while writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, a character-by-character description may show us how our cast fits together and which ones are essential and which can be cut. Combined with an outline, the descriptions will show consistencies and inconsistencies in their actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, another reader is important, especially at the stage Writeforfun is describing. When my manuscript is big and unwieldy, I don\u2019t know what I\u2019ve got, what the most important threads are, what\u2019s working, and what isn\u2019t. A good reader, whether or not the person is a writer, can help us see our book fresh. We may get confirmation that what we think are the problems really are, or we may be surprised. Either way, we\u2019re learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I\u2019ve also said here many times, I almost always toss more than a hundred pages during a revision, so I think we should be willing to make big cuts. As long as we\u2019ve saved the old version, we can be intrepid. It\u2019s astonishing what I thought I needed and how much I discover I can do very well without.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, some parts may grow. We are likely to find places that are scant on detail, or where we haven\u2019t sufficiently revealed our MC\u2019s thoughts and feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writeforfun mentions that her plot gets on a particular track halfway through. We can consider whether the earlier off-track parts should be part of this story, which maybe should start where it finds its way. The deleted pages can be fodder for other books later or earlier in the series. Out of one, many. Cool!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The popular wisdom is to put a manuscript aside for some time, a few days or weeks, in order to get perspective. If we go back to it too quickly, we may be so invested in it we can\u2019t see it clearly. But when my manuscript is more than two hundred pages long, I generally jump right back in, because I don\u2019t remember the beginning well enough to endanger my objectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the macro editing is done, it\u2019s time for line edits, the part I love most. Do my chapters end in the right place, either in a moment of excitement or in a brief rest? Am I varying my sentence beginnings and the sentences themselves, like, do I keep stringing together independent clauses connected by and<\/em> or but<\/em>? Are there words I\u2019m overusing? Can I cut adjectives and adverbs, the weakest parts of speech, like very<\/em> and almos<\/em>t?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know I\u2019m done when I find myself changing sentences and then un-changing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are three prompts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Your MC, a book doctor hired to rehab a murder mystery, realizes that her client (who wrote the book that needs work) had his fictional detective miss an important clue, which points to a different perpetrator. After she makes the change, a stranger visits her in the middle of the night. Write the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 This is a tad sad: Your MC has invented a time machine so that she can return to the night thirty years earlier when a fire killed her father\u2019s first wife. Sadness at the loss haunted her dad even after he married her mom\u2013and soured their marriage. Your MC, at the risk of never being born, is determined to prevent the fire and save the fianc\u00e9e. Write the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Your MC, a specter\u2013but the good kind\u2013performs for kids\u2019 birthday parties, creating delightful environments for children to have fun in. And when the party ends, there\u2019s nothing to clean up. However, another specter\u2013the bad kind\u2013is bent on destroying her. The bad one shows up at one of her gigs after another and terrifies the tykes. Your MC suspects the baddie of planning something much worse for the mayor\u2019s son\u2019s party. Write the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have fun, and save what you write!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On April 22, 2020, Writeforfun wrote, I\u2019ve just finished my current book! Or well, the first in what seems to have turned into a series. There\u2019s lot\u2019s more to go, but I\u2019ve come to the end of this one, at least. So, yeah, happy dance! But I\u2019m wondering \u2013 I know there are many posts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1410"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1410"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1417,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1410\/revisions\/1417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}