Rewrite, edit, or continue on at end of arc?

What do?

  • Rewrite

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Edit

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • Move on

    Votes: 11 84.6%

  • Total voters
    13

hrhngnbrbhgrng

Active member
Joined
May 30, 2019
Messages
6
Points
43
Heyo, it's me, a person who doesn't know what to do.

To sum things up, I've just finished the first arc of my story, Cata Maestra. At this point, I'm stuck between the options of rewriting, editing, or just moving on.

To go in a bit more in depth, I have just completed the Forest Arc, which serves as somewhat of an introduction into the story. Introductions are important, right? So I want to make it as good as possible to set up a good foundation for the rest of the story (also, first impressions are key).

I don't know whether or not the state it's in would be best dealt with by rewriting, editing, or leaving it as is.

Any answer would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
 

javert

Active member
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
10
Points
43
I think you should continue on. It's better to have more progress on a story than it is to endlessly edit the beginning, which is a trap that people get sucked into often. Save editing for once the story is complete, imo.
 

Kotohood

Noob Author
Joined
May 17, 2019
Messages
263
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103
Finishing a story takes priority imo. Once you are done, you can always rewrite/edit to your satisfaction.
 

S-Scherr

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2019
Messages
40
Points
58
I completely understand your trepidation at the start of something, and that you want it to leave that good 'first impression' by making sure it reads well. However, beginning a story is like pushing everything uphill. Once you get past the foundation stage the last thing you want to do is stop and lose all that momentum you've built. Keep writing. Plan ahead and pick an off day or two when you wouldn't be writing anyway to go back and edit that first arc if it makes you feel better. I've often gone into the next few arcs and discovered events that lend to editing earlier arcs. You may find that to be the case.
 

Storymask

New member
Joined
Mar 4, 2019
Messages
19
Points
3
Going to agree with others and say just keep going forward while the ideas are still fresh in your mind and flowing. I was like you with my story, where I to had to decide whether to revise and edit what I've written (I noticed I tend to do a lot more "Tell, than show" and grammar) or move forward and continue writing.

I decided on a mix: If the ideas are flowing, then I write like mad to get them on paper (so to speak). Heck, even if the ideas are for chapters way in the future and not the current one I'm working on... I go where the inspiration sends me. I can always write my story to lead to that spot later.

When the ideas aren't flowing so well, I'll go back and first edit grammar (I use that Grammarly program to do that since my grammar isn't the greatest I confess). This really doesn't take long thanks to the said program I use (which is why I did grammar edit all my chapters in one go but I didn't revise/rewrite them all in one go I went to the next step). The next step is I just revise one chapter every day or so because doing them all at the same time would just really kill my creativity and bog down my drive. My focus is mainly on taking 4 to 6 tells in the chapter and changing it to shows since that's my personal greatest weakness at this time... which feels a lot like I'm giving myself homework. Either way, this is what seems to work for me.
 
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S-Scherr

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Joined
May 22, 2019
Messages
40
Points
58
That 'show vs tell' dilemma is something many of us strive to get better at. Just remember, sometimes 'telling' is not a bad thing. There are times when we need to get straight to the point, where as, all that showing tends to slow things down and eat up words counts... lol. Also, editing is a continuous venture. Just when we think we've got that chapter all squared away, we look elsewhere for a while, then return and see so much more work to do. If writing a serial novel is a marathon... then editing is a decathlon. I hope you enjoy the new journey into the second arc of your story ;)
 

Storymask

New member
Joined
Mar 4, 2019
Messages
19
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3
That 'show vs tell' dilemma is something many of us strive to get better at. Just remember, sometimes 'telling' is not a bad thing. There are times when we need to get straight to the point, whereas, all that showing tends to slow things down and eat up words counts... lol. Also, editing is a continuous venture. Just when we think we've got that chapter all squared away, we look elsewhere for a while, then return and see so much more work to do. If writing a serial novel is a marathon... then editing is a decathlon. I hope you enjoy the new journey into the second arc of your story ;)
Your words are so true. One does not want the "Show vs. Tell" Pendulum to swing too far to either side. Striving for a balance that fits the style of the story is what I am aiming for (for me that balance is around 60% tell and 40% show). Too much show definitely makes the word count skyrocket. Sometimes simply saying: She/He smiled. Is the right choice and has a charm of its own.

And editing and revising prior chapters to give them a little more polish does seem to be constant. So I do limit myself to 1 chapter per day or so (for the most part). Especially since you never know when inspiration for future chapters may strike and think... hey if I got back to so and so chapter and add a line or two of foreshadowing it would make the story even better when the cause for said inspiration is revealed.

Took me a while but I made my own steps for writing:
1. Write - Basically start writing my story and keep writing while the thoughts, ideas, and images in my head are flowing.
2. Quick Revision of what I'm about to post - See if I can turn 4 or so Tells into Shows.
3. Quick Edit - As I said, my grammar isn't the greatest so I use that software program to do it for me. It's not perfect, but its better than me lol And gets the job done quickly.
4. Publish - I think that's pretty self-explanatory ;)

And that's about it. Only thing I'll note is that if I'm in the middle of writing a chapter and inspiration strikes for a future chapter, I'll go where the inspiration takes me and write that future chapter first and then come back to finish the chapter I was in the middle of... wherever inspiration burn brightest I'll follow like a moth to the flame. Then I'll go back into appropriate past chapter/s and drop some lines of foreshadowing here and there.
 
Joined
Jan 15, 2019
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I think, after an Arc, you may want to rest and chill a bit first :D

Maybe start a draft, write whatever you want and get yourself a buffer time.

When your juice is back, it may give you clarity on how to progress the story.
 
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