Tricks of re-writing.

So because I dislike re-writing so much, I need to have a program to help me do it.

(Don't get me wrong, I love writing the first draft, discovering the story, feeling the characters...)

***A couple of tricks I try to get me going on the re-writing:

1.)  Go backwards.  Start with the last chapter and go backward to the front.  This focuses on the writing, instead of the story.

2.)  Do them in chunks.  Last book, I found that 10 pages was a good healthy chunk to focus on before I lose interest.  So do 10 pages, then take an hour off -- or even 2 hours off -- and then do it again.  I can fit in at least 3 sessions per work day, if I do that.  Of course, I use the 5 minute rule all the time for unpleasant tasks. 

5-minute rule:  (Sit and work on something for 5 minutes, and more often than not, you'll keep going.  If after 5 minutes you still aren't engaged, probably best to leave it alone.)



***The best trick of all is when I have a critical thinker helping me by critiquing.  I love bouncing off the suggestions and corrections.  Somehow that is so much easier than staring at my own writing raw.

Problem is, this is very time intensive for the reader.  I usually can only ask someone to do it once, maybe twice, before they start avoiding me...

Right now, I've done it so much, I've pretty much worn out all the people who have helped me in the past.



***The thing I'm going to do a little different this time, is a systematic tracking of time, space, and characters.

Make a flow chart of the events in the book.

Make a map of the events, and make sure the events match the map.

Make a list of characters with their descriptions, and where they appear in the book. 



 ***The other really helpful thing is to do the historical research.  Just making those telling details count makes me look at my writing with fresh eyes.  Like I said, I just need a trick to do something other than stare at the words.



 ***I am such a spare and sparse writer, that when re-writing, more is almost always better.  That is, I rarely go too far in using extra words -- in my case, extra words usually fleshes out the story, the characters, the descriptions, the events.

My pacing is fast, so these things can actually moderate my pacing a little, which I need.

So I have a cheap trick, which seems to work.  I found it because when I was self publishing, I sometimes wanted to add a word or two to a sentence to extend the writing another line so that the chapter would end in a place that didn't look too sparse.  Say, like one line into a new page, something like that.

I found that almost every time I did that, the writing improved.  So now I do it on purpose, not to make the pages look better (I have no idea how that will look when the publisher gets done) but because it always seems to improve the story. I just look for those spaces, which then usually leads to a cascade of changes.

In other words, it's my lever, my wedge, my entry point.



***Finally, thankfully, I have Lara, my editor, who I pay to do both copy-editing, but more and more, content editing as well. 

A couple of sessions with her, and the book usually dramatically improves.

This also allows me to take time off from the book while she's working on it, giving me some much needed perspective when it comes back to me.



***Finally, I just need patience.  Not settle for "good enough."  Take the time to do it right, make it good, and be proud of the effort. 

Make sure the book is done before I release it.  Go on to the next book, let the book sit for awhile.  Then check it again.

Then, when I'm sure, let it go.