What do you consider enough for a rewrite?

Anon_Y_Mousse

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So, 90k words into my web serial and I've been feeling like rewriting it because the magic system had a plothole that I've created through the latest chapters.

Anyways, I'm not gonna ask for feedback on that since I doubt anyone who sees this has read my story or cares. So instead, I'll ask this:

For you, at what point do you consider "Enough is enough. Imma have to rewrite this shit." or something like that for the story you're writing? Maybe you just drop it or go ahead regardless?
 

SailusGebel

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To me, it's finishing the story as is and taking a couple of years off to write something else. Even though my story probably needs an urgent rewrite, I'm too stubborn to do it. Plus, only after writing it all will I see all the hidden problems that came out. If it isn't finished, you will inevitably fuck up again. It's valuable to have your mistakes documented. Looking at your writing to compare it to how it was a few years ago is extremely helpful. As we learn, we gain something, but we as well lose something.
 

EternalSunset0

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I have lots of plans of rewriting stuff right now but I want to see the entire story through since I'm at the halfway point anyway. But it's a case-to-case basis, I think. Because on your case, you need to redo an entire magic system. In my case, the general direction of the plot will remain the same, it's just some of the characterizations and the "how to get there" that will likely be changed.
Plus, only after writing it all will I see all the hidden problems that came out. If it isn't finished, you will inevitably fuck up again. It's valuable to have your mistakes documented.
This as well as to why I want to see the entire thing through before attempting a major rewrite/polish.
 

K5Rakitan

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Personally, I go through my work several times and spend so much time editing it that when I'm done, I'm DONE. If I ever need a rewrite, I'm handing it to someone else.
 

Paul_Tromba

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I just finished the first draft of my story. There are a few plot holes I know about and probably a few that I don't. Though I just started rewriting it. I figured that once I finished the first draft then I could look at it from start to finish to see how I should go about rewriting it.
 

Anon_Y_Mousse

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To me, it's finishing the story as is and taking a couple of years off to write something else. Even though my story probably needs an urgent rewrite, I'm too stubborn to do it. Plus, only after writing it all will I see all the hidden problems that came out. If it isn't finished, you will inevitably fuck up again. It's valuable to have your mistakes documented. Looking at your writing to compare it to how it was a few years ago is extremely helpful. As we learn, we gain something, but we as well lose something.
Yeah, I completely agree with finishing things first before making a draft(unless everything has already gone to shit and there's no recovering), it's just that it did get me thinking since I've already got a sequel planned for it. So I don't want people going back and seeing that the source material is garbage. Thankfully it doesn't affect the characters, just the worlduilding, spent the last few weeks mapping out the plot of the series to it's end so I hope there's less problems popping up now that I'm not pandering.
 
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For you, at what point do you consider "Enough is enough. Imma have to rewrite this shit." or something like that for the story you're writing? Maybe you just drop it or go ahead regardless?
When you run out of bandages for any plot hole that pops up. I'd say finish first before rewriting because otherwise you'd be in a constant cycle of writing, not being satisfied with what you've written, and rewriting.
 

SailusGebel

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Yeah, I completely agree with finishing things first before making a draft(unless everything has already gone to shit and there's no recovering), it's just that it did get me thinking since I've already got a sequel planned for it. So I don't want people going back and seeing that the source material is garbage. Thankfully it doesn't affect the characters, just the worlduilding, spent the last few weeks mapping out the plot of the series to it's end so I hope there's less problems popping up now that I'm not pandering.
Welp, if there is a sequel in the plan, it does change everything. You should've probably stated it before. I do want to write a sequel as well, but there are so many other things I want to write, and I have so little time. I don't know. IMO, but writing a sequel as soon as you finish your story kind of kills the purpose of the sequel. Just continue the story if you are going to write the sequel right away. Enough time should pass for people to start missing your story and your characters. And while they wait, there is enough time to rewrite the original and write something else.
 

Anon_Y_Mousse

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Welp, if there is a sequel in the plan, it does change everything. You should've probably stated it before. I do want to write a sequel as well, but there are so many other things I want to write, and I have so little time. I don't know. IMO, but writing a sequel as soon as you finish your story kind of kills the purpose of the sequel. Just continue the story if you are going to write the sequel right away. Enough time should pass for people to start missing your story and your characters. And while they wait, there is enough time to rewrite the original and write something else.
Nah, my "sequel" isn't a direct continuation, the world is entirely different and the only reason it's a sequel is because it's a continuation of what the previous protags couldn't accomplish (can't really explain this without spoiling). In fact, it may as well be an entirely different story with the previous as lore. That's why the plotholes are probably less likely to influence it anyways

It's gonna take a while for a character from the "prequel" to pop up so I think it should be ok to start it a few months after I end the first series.
 

SpiraSpira

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So, 90k words into my web serial and I've been feeling like rewriting it because the magic system had a plothole that I've created through the latest chapters.

Anyways, I'm not gonna ask for feedback on that since I doubt anyone who sees this has read my story or cares. So instead, I'll ask this:

For you, at what point do you consider "Enough is enough. Imma have to rewrite this shit." or something like that for the story you're writing? Maybe you just drop it or go ahead regardless?
If I ever write myself into a corner and it seems pure hell writing myself out of it I will consider it. Basically if the effort involved in fixing my problems is more than that of a rewrite, definitely. Plus there is an enjoyment factor, I find writing myself out of corners much less enjoyable than even editing or rewriting.
 

SailusGebel

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Nah, my "sequel" isn't a direct continuation, the world is entirely different and the only reason it's a sequel is because it's a continuation of what the previous protags couldn't accomplish (can't really explain this without spoiling). In fact, it may as well be an entirely different story with the previous as lore. That's why the plotholes are probably less likely to influence it anyways

It's gonna take a while for a character from the "prequel" to pop up so I think it should be ok to start it a few months after I end the first series.
So, a shared universe? This is actually another thing that I don't understand. Why write a shared universe story while you didn't finish another one? You just going to get tired of this particular universe much faster. And when you try to bruteforce through this tiredness, mistakes are bound to happen. But it's my opinion; you do you. Good luck with your writing or rewriting, whatever you decide to do.
 

CupcakeNinja

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So, 90k words into my web serial and I've been feeling like rewriting it because the magic system had a plothole that I've created through the latest chapters.

Anyways, I'm not gonna ask for feedback on that since I doubt anyone who sees this has read my story or cares. So instead, I'll ask this:

For you, at what point do you consider "Enough is enough. Imma have to rewrite this shit." or something like that for the story you're writing? Maybe you just drop it or go ahead regardless?
When your readers complain your MC became too much of a manwhore and supposedly started mistreating their favorite girl when I dont really agree that was the case at all.

But I like the new version better anyway so fuck it i guess.
 

Anon_Y_Mousse

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So, a shared universe? This is actually another thing that I don't understand. Why write a shared universe story while you didn't finish another one? You just going to get tired of this particular universe much faster. And when you try to bruteforce through this tiredness, mistakes are bound to happen. But it's my opinion; you do you. Good luck with your writing or rewriting, whatever you decide to do.
Thanks, nah I'm taking it one at a time, personally I find it easier to have a shared universe so I don't have to build the lore from the ground up, there's a lot to expand on so I don't really get tired of it.
 

LostLibrarian

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I try to plan a lot to avoid the biggest plotholes. For rewrites, I more or less go by arcs/volumes. I'll do smaller edits when an arc/volume is finished and I know things that could have been better or the moments that are a bit rough. I also have plans for rewrites but that is honestly something I will do on the side when I have time and just publish it volume by volume afterwards...

I had one bigger problem due to changes in my system, but for that, I just added an author note to a new chapter ("From here on out, this: XY") and I'll go back and rewrite the chapters setting the system up later...
 

CupcakeNinja

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So, a shared universe? This is actually another thing that I don't understand. Why write a shared universe story while you didn't finish another one? You just going to get tired of this particular universe much faster. And when you try to bruteforce through this tiredness, mistakes are bound to happen. But it's my opinion; you do you. Good luck with your writing or rewriting, whatever you decide to do.
Well when the "universe" part comes into play, you do have more options. Its usually just a shared world, which is very limiting. But you can have multiple stories within the same universe as a whole, too

I mean we have fuck tons of stories about other worlds and gods and demons and all this shit. The isekai genre in itself. Why cant that be expanded upon?

The premise between each story can be different, within different worlds. Just with a shared universe. Maybe the MCs grow so strong other MCs hear tale of them on other worlds, even.

I mean for example, Battle Through The Heavens and Wu Dong Qian Kun are shared universes, and The Great Ruler takes place after the events of both and has the MC meeting the daughter of at least one of the previous MCs.

All three of them can be read as standalone stories, however, and each has a fairly different cultivation system. The names of the realms, at least, arent the same, and the MCs dont use the same methods of getting stronger.

Xiao Yan absorbed Heavenly Fires in BTTH, meanwhile the MC of WDQK found Imprints of some kind that gave him certain powers

So yeah. While they shared universes, the stories werent the same and they didnt get boring. The author had alt of freedom in what he was able to do.

Xianxia stories are like that. So many different cultivation methods and types of characters or beings and places to use. You can be very creative
 

SailusGebel

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Well when the "universe" part comes into play, you do have more options. Its usually just a shared world, which is very limiting. But you can have multiple stories within the same universe as a whole, too

I mean we have fuck tons of stories about other worlds and gods and demons and all this shit. The isekai genre in itself. Why cant that be expanded upon?

The premise between each story can be different, within different worlds. Just with a shared universe. Maybe the MCs grow so strong other MCs hear tale of them on other worlds, even.

I mean for example, Battle Through The Heavens and Wu Dong Qian Kun are shared universes, and The Great Ruler takes place after the events of both and has the MC meeting the daughter of at least one of the previous MCs.

All three of them can be read as standalone stories, however, and each has a fairly different cultivation system. The names of the realms, at least, arent the same, and the MCs dont use the same methods of getting stronger.

Xiao Yan absorbed Heavenly Fires in BTTH, meanwhile thenMC of WDQK found Imprints of some kind that gave him certain powers

So yeah. While they shared universes, the stories werent the same and they didnt get boring. The author had alt of freedom in what he was able to do.

Xianxia stories are like that. So many different cultivation methods and types of characters or beings and places to use. You can be very creative
I understand this. It's just that creating more separate universes is more fun to me, even though those universes can come out somewhat similar. But making a LOL-like or a DOTA-like universe is definitely something I would like to do in the future. Preferably in cooperation with someone else, as it's too much work to do so alone.
 

Jemini

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So, 90k words into my web serial and I've been feeling like rewriting it because the magic system had a plothole that I've created through the latest chapters.

Anyways, I'm not gonna ask for feedback on that since I doubt anyone who sees this has read my story or cares. So instead, I'll ask this:

For you, at what point do you consider "Enough is enough. Imma have to rewrite this shit." or something like that for the story you're writing? Maybe you just drop it or go ahead regardless?

I do not think there is any kind of word-limit or "% of story finished" limit to determine what's a good point for a re-write.

The conditions for when you should re-write are more to do with how different the story you have written is from the story you want to write, and plot holes are a pretty good indicator.

You absolutely want to re-write if you have discovered you are writing yourself into a corner plot wise. (Finding that it is becoming more and more difficult to justify resolving the present situation in a way that would be good for the plot, and also having a harder time transitioning into the next ideas.)

Shy of a point where you're really writing yourself into a corner or otherwise the story is stagnating though, I would actually recommend just going "screw it" in terms of the story quality and write a little more for the sake of getting more plot ideas into your head. Figuring out more of the plot you want to write will help really improve the quality of your work during the re-write. (Just be sure to tell your readers that's what you're doing, that you're going to intentionally forget about quality for a while in preparation for a re-write. That way, they won't be as put off by the drop in quality.)
 

The_3rd_Book

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I'm not a writer, but I am an artist. My philosophy on redoing something is if you can't fix it then you redo it. For instance, let's say I'm sculpting a face. After taking a step back I noticed the nose is all wrong. I could smoosh the clay and start over, but it's better just edit the nose. Now, if I look at it and decide it's impossible to fix a mistake then I restart. It's always better to salvage what you can. Usually(not always) it's less work, and you learn more on what you should have done then you would otherwise.

Summary: You learn more if you fix what you already have.
 

AKnightWithaKnife

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I would usually rewrite after I have like 30 chapters the first 5. The prologue is something most people will eventually get around to rewriting
 

Vnator

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To me, it's finishing the story as is and taking a couple of years off to write something else. Even though my story probably needs an urgent rewrite, I'm too stubborn to do it. Plus, only after writing it all will I see all the hidden problems that came out. If it isn't finished, you will inevitably fuck up again. It's valuable to have your mistakes documented. Looking at your writing to compare it to how it was a few years ago is extremely helpful. As we learn, we gain something, but we as well lose something.
Agreed! There are several major points in my first story that could be considered plot holes, plot induced stupidity/jobbing of characters, and generally poor writing. I do plan to give it a rewrite, but I want to get better as a writer first! And rather than go back and rewrite the entire thing as I was writing it, I took the time to finish it and get all of those issues (and any new ones that might've popped up in new chapters, which did) in a row for me to take on at once.
 
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