Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Too many rewrites?

This is topic Too many rewrites? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Josh Leone (Member # 2365) on :

The other thread got me thinking. I know what my limit is, but I'm curious about the rest of you. How many rewrites will you go through before deciding that what you have is never going to be right and must be shelved for other projects? My limit is five major reworks.

Josh Leone

Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :

Everyone works differently... my personal preference is one first draft, one final draft. That's it. There have been a few exceptions, however. I find it's better for me to completely rewrite the stories rather than edit them to death.

Nevertheless, I have plenty of stories that went nowhere due to poor planning on my part. Most of these are 1/4 or 1/2 finished. What I am about to do is combine one of these unfinished stories with a new idea I came up with a few weeks back, and I feel this old story will add that missing element to the new idea. So, even the shelved stories have potential.

One thing, though. I doubt we'll ever think our stories are perfect. We can edit them over and over and we'll ruin them in the process. It's best to resist this temptation and send that story out as is. Who knows? Someone might like it for how it currently is and publish it. You won't know until you try sending it. This is assuming it's finished.

Posted by Jeraliey (Member # 2147) on :

For me (and this is kind of extreme, I guess), it's one rewrite for every critique I get back, plus two or three final edits for consistency and smoothness.

I feel like I know when it's "done", even though every time I read it, I'll see at least three little tweaks that I'd still like to make. It takes a lot of effort to keep from tweaking, even when I've declared it finished.

Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :

Normally, I do a horrible rough draft. Then I clean that up a lot; this is the version you guys usually see. Then I do another version to include crits. Maybe I give it a final polish. Sometimes the first draft just needs a final polish. I don't think I've done more than that on a story yet.

my first novel is more problematic; despite several tries, I haven't gotten it to the stage where it's ready for crits. I just make big mistakes every time I try it. But I am not ready to give up on it yet.

Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :

I have not always followed this, but I have recently come to the conclusion that it works this way:

1. Exploratory draft -- this is even rougher than a rough draft, and involves the spilling out of ideas without a real clear picture of what is going on in the story. In lieu of this, you can also do extensive outlining or character development that puts the story in mind without any draft at all.

2. Rough draft -- This should actually be a story, although it will be rough. This is the draft that it is most benefitial to have others read and comment on.

3. Final draft -- If this doesn't do it, it's done and was never meant to be. There can be polishing edits after this, but no more complete drafts. The love is lost. The passion is lost. The time is best spent on a new project.

The only reason to go past final draft is if you come across a project years (and I do mean YEARS later) and that lost final draft sparks something new in you. It has to be years, though. Any less time and it's a dead draft.

I learned this the hard way with my novel. I've gone past final draft and into yet one more revision (after a suggested major change). I'm nearly ready to send that novel out to see who bites, but I have to admit I don't love it. I feel, at best, neutral about the project. I think it may be missing the passion and I hope it isn't so but I fear that it will not sell for that reason. But we live and learn and I will soon begin a new project.

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

I suppose I'm with HSO on this one. Everything's in there somewhere, I'd like it to come out perfect the first time, but if it doesn't I'll keep giving it chances as long as it wants out.

There are some ideas that only try to come out of me when I'm not all there, the sort of things that seem really cool when you've just woken up or haven't slept in a long time (or, one suspects, when you are utterly drunk). But that's neither here nor there.

Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :

For new writers like me, if each draft gets better and better and the story is worth it, should there be a limit?

However, if with each draft it isn't getting better, even after receiving advice from wise readers, then perhaps it's time to take a break from it...

Posted by TaShaJaRo (Member # 2354) on :

I don't put a limit on mine but perhaps I should because I am guilty of constantly rewritting. Sometimes I'll write a scene from three different POVs just to see which I like better. It's like trying to rearrange furniture - I can't tell if I like it until I see it done.

Posted by Jaina (Member # 2387) on :

I'm like that too. I'll have different sections of the same story all over the place. For example, in Wendell, I have the actual story all in one document ("Wendell"). And, separately from that, I have a document called "ending" where I played with the end for a few hours. It's got three or four different versions of the end in it. Then I just copied and pasted the one that worked best into the final story ("Wendell final"). I guess it would be confusing to anybody other than me, but it works for me just fine.

Posted by djvdakota (Member # 2002) on :

I usually work pretty slowly and methodically. I don't produce a lot of work that way, but my first draft is usually closer to submission-ready than most folks'.

I go through an overall critique cycle, in which I ask for a more general critique, then a second tighten-it-up critique cycle in which I ask for a more detailed critique. If it's not ready after that I shelve it for awhile. Usually there's some little thing bugging me that time will show me how to fix.