Advice/Tips on re-writing stories

[Monk_Origins]

'Ello folks, I have been contemplating about taking the (metaphorical) pen again by re-writing a story of mine that has been on hiatus for some time.
Story had couple issues, gaps and fallacies. But mainly, I had over estimated my capabilities and underestimated the difficulties of writing on 1st POV. But that is neither here or there.

So, do you have any tips or experience on re-writing stories? What are the pitfalls I or other beginners should watch out for? Any advice on how should I approach it?

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

'Ello folks, I have been contemplating about taking the (metaphorical) pen again by re-writing a story of mine that has been on hiatus for some time.
Story had couple issues, gaps and fallacies. But mainly, I had over estimated my capabilities and underestimated the difficulties of writing on 1st POV. But that is neither here or there.

So, do you have any tips or experience on re-writing stories? What are the pitfalls I or other beginners should watch out for? Any advice on how should I approach it?

If you don't cut 50% of your word count, it is not a proper rewrite.

 

[Plantorsomething]

Idk, underwriters def exist too

 

[LotsChrono]

Oh now this is interesting. I've rewritten my stories a number of times. One of which was an actual webnovel work, rewritten still in the same point of view, but with a far better handle of where I wanted the story to go. And another, which might shine more light for you, was a 15 chapter short story, rewritten from third-person POV into 1st person POV.

I think the biggest thing you have to decided is the intent of the story. Do not ever, in my opinion, rewrite a story simply because it is 'old and jaded' and doesn't reflect your new writing skills. You're just wasting your time there, and you will soon get sick of it. You might as well just write a new story, perhaps one that takes inspiration from the old. If you're going to rewrite a story, make sure its so that you can pull out the intent of the work better.

I rewrote my short story into first-person because it became a deeply introspective work, where the character was always thinking about the world and people around her, and herself. It simply seemed more fitting to be in the head of the character at all times, and I'd say it came out rather candidly.

Now, for clear tips that worked for me:

• Read what you have written previously from the point of view of a humble reader and criticize it. See what works and what doesn't. You might need to take notes on parts that are weak, and parts that are just downright terrible. As well, watch the MC and the other characters closely while thinking about what you had in mind for them.
  • This is simply so that, when you actually start rewriting, you know your direction better.
  • I would say look at reviews but, if you do the step right, you really shouldn't need to. In my experience, reviews tend to bog things down more than help.
• Read what you have written and see what works. AKA, what you'll be keeping or simply improving/expanding upon. After all, for a rewrite, there's gotta be things that hardly need any changes, right?
• The most important chapter you're gonna rewrite is your first. If you're smart about it, you're gonna find new ways to say more with fewer words. If you're smart about it, you're gonna find ways to improve upon the entire book with just the first chapter's rewrite. If you're smart about it, you're gonna say the same thing, but better.
• And that's about all I've got. Everything else I can think of is more instictual.

 

[Monk_Origins]

Oh now this is interesting. I've rewritten my stories a number of times. One of which was an actual webnovel work, rewritten still in the same point of view, but with a far better handle of where I wanted the story to go. And another, which might shine more light for you, was a 15 chapter short story, rewritten from third-person POV into 1st person POV.

I think the biggest thing you have to decided is the intent of the story. Do not ever, in my opinion, rewrite a story simply because it is 'old and jaded' and doesn't reflect your new writing skills. You're just wasting your time there, and you will soon get sick of it. You might as well just write a new story, perhaps one that takes inspiration from the old. If you're going to rewrite a story, make sure its so that you can pull out the intent of the work better.

I rewrote my short story into first-person because it became a deeply introspective work, where the character was always thinking about the world and people around her, and herself. It simply seemed more fitting to be in the head of the character at all times, and I'd say it came out rather candidly.

Now, for clear tips that worked for me:

• Read what you have written previously from the point of view of a humble reader and criticize it. See what works and what doesn't. You might need to take notes on parts that are weak, and parts that are just downright terrible. As well, watch the MC and the other characters closely while thinking about what you had in mind for them.
  • This is simply so that, when you actually start rewriting, you know your direction better.
  • I would say look at reviews but, if you do the step right, you really shouldn't need to. In my experience, reviews tend to bog things down more than help.
• Read what you have written and see what works. AKA, what you'll be keeping or simply improving/expanding upon. After all, for a rewrite, there's gotta be things that hardly need any changes, right?
• The most important chapter you're gonna rewrite is your first. If you're smart about it, you're gonna find new ways to say more with fewer words. If you're smart about it, you're gonna find ways to improve upon the entire book with just the first chapter's rewrite. If you're smart about it, you're gonna say the same thing, but better.
• And that's about all I've got. Everything else I can think of is more instictual.

Thank you, it was veery helpful!
The problem with my story was that is was a political story written on 1st person view, so I couldn't clearly explain what needed to be. I don't think it worked very well.
On another note, I have an advantage of my story getting very high amount of constructive criticism, to a point where one my dearest readers saying that it was "one of the most nit-picked story on the website". They have pointed out to what felt underwritten or unclear.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Print it out and actually re-type the whole thing.

 

[Monk_Origins]

Print it out and actually re-type the whole thing.

Thats a lot of printer ink.

 

[atgongumerki]

maybe not rewrite from the beginning, but you should throw your old chapter-structure out
Restructuring/rewriting your story means some things can change place in the canon of your story
and clinging to your old chapter titles and your old cliffhangers can really bog you down

 

[LotsChrono]

Thank you, it was veery helpful!
The problem with my story was that is was a political story written on 1st person view, so I couldn't clearly explain what needed to be. I don't think it worked very well.
On another note, I have an advantage of my story getting very high amount of constructive criticism, to a point where one my dearest readers saying that it was "one of the most nit-picked story on the website". They have pointed out to what felt underwritten or unclear.

Seems like a good reason to rewrite, then. I’ll wish you the best of luck~

 

[CupcakeNinja]

'Ello folks, I have been contemplating about taking the (metaphorical) pen again by re-writing a story of mine that has been on hiatus for some time.
Story had couple issues, gaps and fallacies. But mainly, I had over estimated my capabilities and underestimated the difficulties of writing on 1st POV. But that is neither here or there.

So, do you have any tips or experience on re-writing stories? What are the pitfalls I or other beginners should watch out for? Any advice on how should I approach it?

Depends how extensive it is. If I was doing a full rewrite of a story that is over 20 chapters, I would re write everything from scratch.

If its shorter, I would just edit the chapters to my liking and reupload them.

If you want to change POV I would do the first thing too. Cuz it's hard to change it to a different POV all through editing alone. You would make mistakes.

Also a rewrite like the second option is easier but can get you confused depending how how different the second version is. If it's just adding stuff then you dont have to worry. But changing characters or plotline is different as it effects the whole story.

It would take more work long term, but a complete rewrite from the ground up would allow you to more easily manage your story. Its a fresh start so you wont be bogged down by what you already wrote.

 

[ConTroll]

I would suggest finishing the story first.

The last thing you want is to get into the habit of restarting/rewriting your story to the point that it never finishes.

As an aside, I too have contemplated many a time of rewriting my story. Instead, I've chosen to continue it until the bitter end, changing my writing style as I go and having fun with it.

 

[Wintertime]

Just do it good breh.

 

[Jemini]

Print it out and actually re-type the whole thing.

What exactly is it you would be trying to accomplish with this? The only reason I can think of is having some sort of record of what you did before, but you can accomplish that just as easily by saving the re-writes as a separate document. (That's what I always do actually.)

 

[Deleted member 45782]

What exactly is it you would be trying to accomplish with this? The only reason I can think of is having some sort of record of what you did before, but you can accomplish that just as easily by saving the re-writes as a separate document. (That's what I always do actually.)

I think its bc sometimes it may help for some if they take their eyes off screen. Sometimes its nice to proofread by hand instead of always staring at the screen monitor and less distracted more focused, etc.

Ofc, nowadays most people prefer typing it up and writing on computer. Though there are still some that like doing it that way.

 

[K5Rakitan]

What exactly is it you would be trying to accomplish with this? The only reason I can think of is having some sort of record of what you did before, but you can accomplish that just as easily by saving the re-writes as a separate document. (That's what I always do actually.)

It forces you to actively rethink things and cut parts that just weren't that good. Personally, I write my first draft by hand in a paper notebook and edit as I type.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

It forces you to actively rethink things and cut parts that just weren't that good. Personally, I write by hand in a paper notebook first and edit as I type.

Nice. I mostly scatter my ideas on notes, notebooks and paper. Even though I always eventually return back to typing something up, its harder to come up with ideas staring at screen and easier for me to just write it out real quick on paper whatever my thoughts are. Plus, I get distracted really easily.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Nice. I mostly scatter my ideas on notes, notebooks and paper. Even though I always eventually return back to typing something up, its harder to come up with ideas staring at screen and easier for me to just write it out real quick on paper whatever my thoughts are. Plus, I get distracted really easily.

The internet is a siren.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

The internet is a siren.

Its calling me again...

 

[AliceShiki]

I think the one advice I can give, is that you should keep an open mind.

You may be rewriting an old story, but you're no longer writing that story... It's a new thing. A rewrite is a new story. So like... Keep your mind open.

Maybe during the rewrite you might feel like completely changing some plotlines or some character interactions, maybe you might want to change your intended ending, maybe you might want to completely change the main character's personality... Do it.

It's a new story, you're doing things anew on the same concept, you don't need to keep things the same as they were before. Keep your mind open and change things as you see fit to make the story as good as you can make it~

 

[Jemini]

It forces you to actively rethink things and cut parts that just weren't that good. Personally, I write my first draft by hand in a paper notebook and edit as I type.

I see. My method for accomplishing the same thing is to go line by line and attempt to come up with new ways to re-word every single sentence in the chapter. The effort to think up new ways to express the same idea, so long as you are doing it with an active mind and not just going through the motions mechanically, also helps you to realize which lines are completely useless and don't need to be there. I have cut out entire paragraphs while in the process of doing this.