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Rewriting is the Real Work of Writing

Rewriting is the real work of writing



Rewriting Is The Real Work Of Writing

No one writes a perfect novel the first time out of the chute. - TriciaGoyer.comI get letters almost daily from people who want to write a novel. Most of them have started one, and some are close to the end of their book. But once the writing starts, the fears come quickly. We know what we want to say. We know what story we want to share . . . but the words on the page often don’t match. Then we look at our manuscript and see that it needs so much work! I remember that feeling. I still feel that way at times.

I’ve written more than 70 books, and all of them seem TOO BIG for me. I always look at the words and paragraphs and think, “Am I going to be able to pull this off?”

I love what Anne Lamott said: “Just look at the one-inch picture frame and do the next thing.”

Let it take the time it needs. - TriciaGoyer.comNo one writes a perfect novel the first time out of the chute.

If it takes a year to edit your book, let it take a year.

If you need to start over, once you’ve come to the end and know your characters and the situation better, then by golly start over.

My first novel took a couple of years to write. Some authors I know go through complete rewrites after the first draft. I’m friends with a NY Times best-selling author (you would know her name), and she was just told by her editor that she needs to rewrite a large portion her book completely . . . and she rolled up her sleeves and got started!

Rewriting is the real work of writingRewriting is the real work of writing, and we shouldn’t be afraid of that.

Of course we need the right information to make sure we rewrite well. We also need the right support group. I highly recommend ACFW if you’re not a part. There is a loop where people ask questions and workshops. There are also writing contests for unpublished authors so you can “submit” before you “submit”—to get constructive feedback and to see how your manuscript stacks up.

Rewriting is the real work of writingRemember this whole process takes time.

I started writing in 1994, and my first book came out in 2003. That’s 8 years later. With ANY career, people expect time to grow and learn. Doctors go to school. Teachers go to school and then student-teach. Artists go to art school. Writers must write—lots.

No one in any other occupation feels they have to get it right the first time. Remember that!

So, maybe the words on the page aren’t what you hoped for. Keep the best ones, throw out the worst ones, and rewrite the rest. It’s great practice, and you’ll never know what you may end up with!

 

 

Prayer

God, thank you for giving me the creativity to write. I am so grateful that we are made in your image. Teach me to have patience in the process of creativity. Teach me diligence and dedication.

Writing: Keep the best ones, throw out the worst ones, & rewrite the rest. @TriciaGoyer

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More Resources

– Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

– On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

– On Writing Well, The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser

– Writing Down the Bones, Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

– The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

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rewriting is the real work of writing

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Editing Tips from Your Favorite Authors

 Young woman with old typewriter

Becoming a writer is so much more than actually writing the book. Editing is half the battle to publishing, so I’ve gathered some of my fellow writing friends’ best advice about tackling the dreaded editing task.

Editing Tips from Your Favorite Authors

Just as you “become” the characters in order to write about them and their reactions and motivations authentically, “become” an editor in editing stage. Approach your manuscript without your writer-heart emotional attachment to it. Read as if you were an editor…a ruthless one at that. Temporarily divorce yourself from being the one who wrote the piece and instead become the one bent on making it stronger, clearer, more lyrical, and crisper. Pretend you don’t know the characters and the story yet. Does it make sense? Pretend you don’t know what that sentence is supposed to say. Does it? If you can get into the mind of a 90-year-old marathon runner in order to write about her, you can get into the mind of an editor in order to edit. —Cynthia Ruchti

Did you conquer #NaNoWriMo? Take the next step—editing—with @TriciaGoyer:

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Read the story aloud, preferably to a listener or use a read-aloud program to read it to you. I use TextAloud (from NextUp.com). —Linda Ford

1. Incorporate body language and emotion into every aspect of your writing. By blending the two, the writer shows emotion instead of telling it. 2. Create an antagonistic setting. Consider setting as a character who is working against your protagonist achieving his/her goal. —DiAnn Mills

Read it back to yourself slowly and aloud to catch typos, and then read it on a recorder and listen to the flow of the words. There’s no better way to catch the glitches. —Hannah Alexander

My best editing tip is to read your document out loud or to run it through a program that reads it to you. You’ll hear mistakes like a repeat of two words like “the the” that your eyes will skim over and read as one “the.” —Vickie McDonough

I guess my best tip would also be my favorite writer’s quote: “In your writing, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.” That’s from NT Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard. To accomplish this, take a sharp scalpel to your work. And before you send it in, give your manuscript to several fiction-loving readers (don’t have to be writers themselves), begging them to highlight places that tempted them to skip, areas that bored them, confused them, or forced them to read more than once to understand.  —Dan Walsh

Get #editing tips from the best in the business, today on @TriciaGoyer’s blog:

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In this busy world of hurry-up-and-publish, sometimes we don’t give a novel time and therefore the writer time to mull over the story to deepen and strengthen it. My piece of advice for editing is to give some time between writing the novel and editing it. That way, the writer can view the material more objectively. —Leanna Ellis

l. Leave some time between finishing and editing the mss, so that you come at it afresh. 2. Do you really need this scene/paragraph/word? If not, excise. 3. Delete all attributions. Substitute beats showing action. 4. Keep a calendar or diary of events to hand, to check back when she said or did whatever. 5. Praise the Lord for a good copy-editor, who is going to pick up all the errors you’ve made! —Veronica Heley

 

Did you hear the good news? A Christmas Gift for Rose is only $2.99 (digital), now through January 6! Get the ebook HERE!

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The Story Behind ‘The Promise Box’

The Promise Box2
What happens as an author writes a novel? Tricia shares a behind-the-scenes peek at her latest book, “The Promise Box.”

What happens as an author writes a novel? Don’t you love hearing the “Story behind the story?” Today, I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes peek at my latest book, “The Promise Box.”

Where did your inspiration for The Promise Box spark?

I’m a person who journals many times a week, and I always wonder what my kids will think when they come across those journals some day. I share favorite Scriptures, prayers, worries, needs, hopes, and ideas. It’s quite a collection! My kids know me as Mom, but I have a feeling  they’ll know me on even a deeper level when they read what I’ve written just for myself—things I don’t easily share. I also wonder if the things I write will some day impact the spiritual lives of those who follow.

This thought spurred my idea for The Promise Box. I pictured a young woman who was adopted and feels like there is no place tat she truly belongs. Yet through the notes in her adoptive mother’s promise box, she learns more about her mother’s faith and her own life. Lydia truly discovers who she is through reading her mother’s words on the page.

How long did your book take you to write?

Well, the idea stirred in my mind for a while. As with all my books, once I know the main plot, the characters and scenes filter into my mind over time, and I make sure to write those things down. When I actually sat down to write The Promise Box, it only took a few months. The months prior of my mind “working through” the story really helped because by the time I sat down to write, the movie had already been playing in my mind, so it was just about getting the words on the page.

How long was the editing/publishing process?

The Promise Box is part of the series Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors. I contracted three novels for that, and this is the second book. After I turn my novel in, I usually do one round of edits and then a second round of minor things. In this novel my editors Sue and Leslie encouraged me to write a few more romantic scenes. I have the bad habit of allowing my characters to fall in love too easily and too quickly.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

My advice is to think about your idea and try to see what other books are similar to it <click to tweet>. Study how the author handled the characters and the pacing. When did the romance start? When did the trouble come? How long are the chapters? How much description was used? Is it a quick read or a slow-paced work? By seeing what worked for other authors, that will help you know what will work for your novel, too. Then . . . sit down and write!

What’s your next book or project?

I’m currently working on the true story of Ora Jay and Irene Eash. The Eash’s inspired my novels set in the West Kootenai area. Their true story is even more amazing than fiction, and I’m excited to share! The title of the book is A Simple Hope, and it’ll be out in 2014.

Do you have any questions for me? Leave them in the comments!

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