The Art of Creative Re-Writing

I have been thinking about a recent post in This Itch of Writing by Emma Darwin, one of my top favorite blogs about writing. Darwin lists some amazing ways to approach revising your work. Since I am currently working on editing a book, her advice was spot on.

Rewriting can often become a something of a chore. Showing up daily and booting up the computer to go over page-by-page of your work not only seems daunting and fraught with second-guessing (does that word work there? Will readers see I am being funny? Should I make that sentence more/less obvious) but on some days, downright boring. Your brain switches off and you stare at the rows of words with lukewarm enthusiasm. I really need to go and dust those shutters, you tell yourself. Or clean out the fridge. And return those library books….   

Revising doesn’t have the blood thumping charged feeling of creating a new story, of introducing characters and situations and molding them into an exciting, interacting whole. The scaffolding is off and the structure stands completed – well at least the foundation and roof and rooms are done and even decorated. It is no longer a blueprint awaiting the magic touch of your handiwork.

The irony is that re-writing is where the real work begins. It is now that you can polish and perfect your work, to delete and tighten your prose, and catch flaws in plotting and inconsistencies in interaction between characters. Sometimes, revising can change the entire pace and even the point of view of your story. Editing gives you a chance to look at your story as a writer and editor, as a reader and writer simultaneously. It can all get mentally exhausting though and I think that’s why writers tend to approach the task of re-working with some amount of trepidation. Being objective of your very subjective take on life situations can be done but it is hard to sustain over a long period of time.

Some of the ways I have found to be helpful in being on track with revising and editing are:

Setting a time limit every day to editing your work. After two hours, I tell myself, you are free to do whatever you want. Very often, I become so engrossed that I don’t notice it’s way past the deadline.

  On certain days, when it’s very hard to be motivated, I tell myself edit five pages, that’s it; you’re done for the day.  Again, once I begin work and get into the flow, I end up having worked on considerably more than five pages.

The time-tested method of re-reading yesterday’s work can really jump-start not just your writing motor but also your editing brain.

Promising myself, that once I finish the day’s quota of editing, with the prospect of something exciting: like writing out the outlines of your next book. Or maybe researching locales and historical periods and characters that may help spark an idea for a book.

These are some of the ways that I combat editing fatigue. I would love to hear from other writers about how they wrestle with it.