Uh-Oh, Editing & Rewriting!

Sometimes you're writing and writing and writing, and you realize what you've written previously doesn't work. Maybe plotholes are blooming all over the page; maybe you've just got a tough inner critic. (Oh man, what if that picky inner critic is right?!) You hate the idea of scrapping it all and starting over, or you hate the idea of picking over your words to be sure you said what you meant to say (surely everything you write comes out baby-perfect?). But it's okay. Editing and rewriting can and must be done.

In my case, I can't always get the perfect word to come to mind at the "write" time. (Yeah, dumb pun. You got me...I'm sorry.) Sometimes I even get the meaning totally wrong. When I read over older passages, I catch awkward phrasing and and overuse of the same words. Sometimes a passage is clear to me, but upon re-reading, I realize it wasn't written clearly at all. On the days when I don't feel like working on something new, I go back to what I've already written and examine it. It requires my editor's eye to be alert, of course, but editing something that's already written is easier than filling up a blank page.

During my writing process for The Fracture of a Dream, I had to change several scenes because Dek, the protagonist, was not the dynamic character he needed to be. Too often, he was passive, allowing things to happen to him and finding himself in situations rather than putting himself into them. I would personally hate reading about such a milquetoast character ("Do SOMETHING, man!"), so I knew this wouldn't do for my precious Dek.

I deleted some scenes entirely, changed the way his behavior and reactions were described, and reversed the dialogue for some of the other characters. The way the final scene plays out changed significantly.

You may not agree with what Dek chooses to do in the end, and your interpretation of who he is as a man may vary, but at least Dek isn't the lost soul being pushed around by fate that he was before.

Back to work, friends!

Ren D.