Edits, Revisions, and Rewrites, Oh My!

If you've ever finished a book, you know that it's only step one. It always feels like a big accomplishment, and it is. Supposedly, less than 30% of people who claim to be writers actually finish novels. So finishing is great. But it's just step one.

The real hard part is what comes afterward.

I know a lot of writers claim to be "clean drafters" and a lot of us are. I'm a pretty clean drafter. If you're not, then editing (copyediting, mostly) is something you should learn to do. But still, finding mistakes and line edits are only one piece of the drafting process.

Not all editors are going to require this, but many books need revisions. Major or minor. There's a scene missing somewhere, a character isn't fully developed, there's a plot hole, an incomplete plot thread, dialogue isn't consistent, what-have-you. All books need some form of revision. Some more than others. And, yes, all authors should expect revisions. If you're not getting revision requests, your editor isn't doing their job.

And then, there's the dreaded re-writing. Not all books need rewriting. But some do. I know I've turned in at least one book that needs minor if not major rewrites. This is the most difficult part of drafting. Why?

Most of us have an image in our head about how our book flows. It might be a timeline, it might be a complexity of relationships. It just depends. But somehow, you know how it goes. Rewriting means you have to change how you feel about the book. How you remember it. 

When you rewrite, you have to pull apart your baby, remold it, and toss things that might not fit. It's like major surgery. It's painful, it takes a long time, and you might not always survive. I'm looking at heading into some major rewrites on a book. I think I'm steeling myself against it. I know it will be hard, and take a long time. I just hope I come out unscathed on the other side.