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Jennifer never stops rewriting…
You know how in life, you often wish for a do-over (please
nod here and say yes—I don’t want to be the only one!)? Only a few of us are
lucky enough to get that. For the rest of us, we have to just move on and keep
going.
But writing isn’t like that. Writing allows us not only to
create worlds, but to recreate them until we are satisfied. Don’t like a
character? Kill her. Wish your character responded in a different way? Change
the conversation. Realize that a situation is unbelievable? Redo it. It’s
awesome and cathartic and just generally useful.
As for editing, ha! We can always write better, fix commas,
choose better words. That never ends. No matter how many times I might submit
something to a critique partner or an editor or a contest judge, I’m constantly
playing around and fine-tuning my work. At some point, though, I have to let it
go. But that doesn’t mean I won’t find a mistake I missed the first five
thousand times I looked at it.
Writers, like parents, can always do better. It’s a
never-ending battle to learn to let go. The good thing, though, is that we get
to choose when we do so.
I find I can trust more lately the feeling (when it get it) that a chapter is done well enough to move on.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it's great to rewrite. I did that to my historical western and now am doing it with my time travel. I've learned a lot over the past five years!
Yes, there's definitely a "feeling" when it's time to move on.
DeleteI spend most of the first draft re-writing, deleting, and adding as I go along. As you say, at least with our novels, we have countless opportunities to 'get it right' - thank goodness! :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can't understand the people who can do it first perfectly. Wish I could!
DeleteOh I certainly wish life had do overs!
ReplyDeleteEditing and revising is a constant in the writing world. Most often times I feel like I'm never really 'done'. I just reach a point where I have to say...this is it...and send it off.
Invariably then a thought pops into my head later that night while I'm trying to fall asleep that I wish I would have changed in the story...
When my 3 early novels were republished, I was able to make those changes that had jumped into my mind after they'd first been published! :-)
DeleteWasn't it great to go back and tweak, Paula?
DeleteI feel the same way, Debra! Paula & Ana, republishing is great for that exact reason.
DeleteI did more than tweak, Ana. I actually added some 'extras' in each story - the things I thought of later, and wished I'd included!
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