Rewriting. I won't say I love it, but I do enjoy it.
I enjoy challenge of taking that mental vomit of a first draft, hauling out my cookbook and attempting to create a gourmet meal out of it. This meal, of course, usually ends up bland and undercooked, but after a few tries (or twenty) it becomes something I'd feed to guests. Whether or not they get food poisioning is always up in the air.
As part of my NaNo rebel effort this year, I'm devoting 25k of my writing goal to rewriting my original NaNo Novel from 2006. I love that story and I've always wanted to get back to it. Since part of NaNo is making time for that novel that you've always said you would do but never get around to, this seemed a perfect fit.
Now, when I say rewrite, I mean it. I have the file up there in front of me, but I retype every single word. Yep. Every one.
This might seem like a huge waste of time. The words are already there and surely they can't all suck. True. However, I'm trying to create a Thanksgiving feast from a stale Happy Meal. Not to mention I've learned how to set the table since then and seeing my wayward formatting drives me nuts.
My writing style has changed considerably since writing the original draft, and I'd like to think for the better. Retyping every word helps me to clear the way to rephrase, reword, tighten and embellish. I find it also makes for a smoother and more consistant voice throughout the story, especially when working with older projects. How about you? Do you rewrite rough drafts or do you simply edit what you already have, adding a bit here and there?
Why am I hungry, and where the heck did I leave the paprika?
I don't retype mine in general, but often by the time I'm done editing a scene from a first draft, it won't look anything like its old self!
ReplyDeleteI have two old NaNo novels that I might see about rewriting soon. I liked the idea and the characters, but it kinda fell by the wayside.
Good luck with your rewriting! *passes the paprika*