How to improve my re-writing skills-booksetc?

Jen

I've just finished a free futurelearn course on writing fiction and it has helped me to focus on my writing more ( which one I paid for didn't) and I think I need to focus on improving my re-writing, so does anyone know of any good books or courses or anything?
I have read loads about the writing itself but hardly anything about re-writing. Novels and short stories please.
thanks

Carol

Rewriting, Lizy has done a lot of that recently.

danfango

I think reading is the best way to go, rather than trying to learn any particular techniques. If you assume that anything you read in books and magazines has been rewritten (often numerous times), you can probably learn more from looking at the way an experienced writer presents a completed story than from a text book or a course.

If you decide what sort of story you want to write, and find a couple of examples of that kind of thing written by somebody with a good publishing history, that would be a sensible start. Read it, not just once, but several times (this is why it may be better to pick a short story than a novel), and pay attention to how the writer has structured it, how much or little description they give, how their characters interact, what is said (and what remains unsaid). Look at their style - is it poetic and beguiling, or a more direct, no-frills approach? How do they start and end the story? Is there a link between the way it begins and ends?

And so on. Then look at your own work. How does your approach differ? Are you spending too much time describing a room or what the characters are wearing, or do you not mention it at all - leaving them floating in 'white space'? Is your dialogue realistic - it has to be realistic enough for the reader to believe it could be a real conversation, but not so realistic that it sounds like a transcript, full of umms and ers and going off on tangents and people forgetting what they were saying halfway through. Do you begin and end at the most effective parts of the story? Does the pace sag in the middle?

The best way to learn about rewriting is definitely to practise. I find it a good plan to always aim to reduce a story by at least 10% - with that target in mind, it makes me look very critically at every paragraph, every sentence, every word. If it's not earning its keep, it has to go!

Tiny Nell

Well said, Dan!

Yes, read it aloud. Do you need every word?
Are you repeating yourself? Only say something once.
Have you chosen the most effective language? Look at your verbs. Take out your adverbs.
Do you need every speech tag? Cut some out. If it's clear who is speaking, then you don't need them all. Find other ways to break up speech, e.g. character action.

Just make sure the story moves. Take out anything that will bog down the reader. Make them want to turn every page. Are your chapter endings enticing? Make them want to read 'just one more'.

It's always good to put it away for a while, then read it afresh. You will still find things that could be improved.

Mrs Bear

I am in the final stages of a rewrite of a novel which, ten years ago, I thought was perfect. It wasn't, but I didn't see it at the time.
What is a novel? It's life heightened, in a capsule.
It's the telling of life-changing events for a series of characters, or one character; it takes place within a limited timescale (unless you're writing War and Peace), and usually, but not always, it comes to a conclusion that rounds up all that went before. It will involve one or more slopes towards a climax or two, followed by the final resolution of the plot, or a good reason why there isn't one.
Read aloud, especially dialogue. Does it sound like speech or parody? Does it actually say what you want it to say? Is it necessary?
Does the timeline of the story work? Mine didn't - I'd managed to get the whole story within an impossibly short timespan, involving impossibly long days! I drew up a chart of what happened each day, and was very surprised at what I found.
Does your main character instigate the action or is s/he (as mine was) a victim? I'd had more fun with the secondary characters than the main one.
Does the point of view work, or have you got places where you want to say something important but can't because the main character-voice can't possibly know it? (If you have any instances of 'What X didn't know was...' get rid of them!)
Are all your characters adding to the story, or padding it out?
No matter how golden the prose, you can probably cut a lot of it out. Tighten up!
Print it out, if you haven't got a paper copy, and read it from start to finish. Red pen, green pen - be ruthless.
Rewriting is a skill all of its own, and it takes practise, and a dispassionate eye - not something writers are naturally equipped with, but it can be acquired.
Good luck!

Lizy

Rewriting, Lizy has done a lot of that recently.

Yes I have, and it's been a challenge!

All of the above have said it much more eloquently than I could so I won't repeat their advice, but here are a few of the things I remember doing.

I tried to read my own work as if I hadn't written it and ask myself if I would have thought it was worth paying money for!

I cut out swathes of purple prose more suited to one of those cards that covers three pages.

I extracted unnecessary characters, or at the very least refrained from giving them names.

I also worked as fast as I could, knowing this was not going to be the final draft, so that I could guage how well the story flowed, see where it sagged, and was better able to spot repetitions.

My daughter read it while I was away and says it is more pacey now, she likes the MC much more, and when am I going to perform the same miracle on the next book in the series of five?

Good luck.

polar bear

Take a break after you have written it, work on something else, then go back with fresh eyes. It can help reading it through a different media, I often download mine onto my Kindle (via documents) so you view them as a reader would.

Jen

I have this one short story I am stuck with. I really need to improve my re-writing because I get so stuck

inatizzie

Some super advice here which has come at just the right time as I am about to undertake a re-write using suggestions and guidance from an agent interested in the book. Her report arrived this morning, followed almost immediately by Mrs Panic and Miss Self-doubt, and I have spent the day praying for divine intervetion to help me tackle my rewrite. Help has arrived... As always some gems of advice, which I am promptly going to print out and eat in the hope that I can digest all of it in the shortest possible time.

ana s

What did the report say, tizzie? Was it very specific or quite general?

inatizzie

Ana- it was a very detailed and thorough report (on what is a fairly short story). The crux being that I need to up the emotional ante and dramatic tension to add layers and depth (on refelection I think this is pretty much the same feedback I got from Chicken House). It is categorised into an intro, Plot + structure, Characterisation, Writing style and Conclusion. On the plot she has offered numerous suggestions on the directions she thinks I could take this but has told me to follow my heart (which is great!). For the characterisation there are numerous suggestions on how I could weave in layers of emotional depth and thinks that need to be strengthed and she has asked questions for me to reflect on. She has given me a lot to work with and, if I am being honest, they are things that were niggling me but I just couldn't work out how to tease them out. She has also requested that I add some scenes to add another context, which luckily I have written for book two so I need to polish them up and plant them in book one.

I have nothing to compare it to but it is written so positively and I really feel that she is behind me on this. She has offered to brainstorm any alternative ideas that I have and has srtreesed that we are working together on it so I can ask her anything at anytime. I just have to go away and write it now- I just hope I can do it justice. From this level of feedback I know I will have a much improved story as a result, regardless of the outcome re; representation. I don't want to hijack this thread so is there another one for support in re-writing or WIP?

inatizzie

Sorry about posting twice and typo's - I am very tired after a stint at Glastonbury over the weekend I-)

ana s

Sounds like she really knows her stuff. People pay hundreds for that level of professional feedback, so whatever happens it's win-win. Look forward to reading it some time.

datco2014

I often get visited by mr self doubt - mr panic buggered off a while ago when I stopped giving him coffee!! Love it inatizzie - you will get there - remember it is your story / you are in charge BUT when someone who knows what they are talking about - which I assume your agent does- tells you to make changes you'd probably better make them coz they have your best interests at heart - let us know how it goes.

I tend to go back and look at sections of my writing every few weeks and re-edit and change and tinker and re-arrange until I either drive myself barmy or end up happy with it - until mr self doubt pops his head around the door and says ' oh you didn't want to go and do it like that'!!!!

Lou Treleaven

I found Rachel Aaron's 2K to 10K really helpful, even though only the second half is about rewriting. It's 77p on the Kindle.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-Better-ebook/dp/B009NKXAWS

LeMat

There's a book called 'Wonderbook' by Jeff Vandermeer that has a big section on revising in it. The book itself is a huge, meaty slab of a thing that lots of famous authors have contributed to, and it's full of Dali-esque pictures and diagrams illustrating the whole writing process as well. In short, it's a writing how-to book like nothing else out there.

I don't think it's available as an e-book - I don't know if it would even work as well in e-book format anyway. The best link to give you is to the Wonderbook website, since you can get the book from there plus it has lots of sneak-preview freebie stuff there as well.

(http://wonderbooknow.com/)