What Is The Rewriting Process Like For You?

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Originally Posted by 2x3x29x41

Years.

That doesn't include the considerable time (usually more years) mulling over a concept, maybe even just a single scene, wondering how - if - it might fit into some larger tale.

[This process might overlap with another project. I have spent the last 6-9 months outlining a novel, mostly in my head, that I'll be starting as soon as finish a current rewrite. That outlined idea is an expansion of a 'scene' or scenario or 'what if ____ happened?' thought that I've had for many years.]

Then I write. My stories are novel-length. After writing for a time, I'll pause and spend more time thinking about where the narrative has gone, where it is going, and how precisely it will get there. Often I have scenes that I intend to serve as waypoints on that route to the story's destination, and I have to figure out how I'll get them in there - or, sometimes, I'll conclude that either they don't belong in the story or are unnecessary or both.

I've just started writing seriously in the last year or so (although mulling over concepts has gone on for quite a while... those seeds tucked in fertile ground, if only they could be watered). It's taken me 2 months to write 4,000 words of a comedy that was supposed to be just an exercise.

My fingers get the better of me... I'll plan out scenes in my head, a trajectory, key points... and then I get to writing and it all takes on a life of its own. Some of the better ideas spring up directly on the paper, it seems, and then I work them in to the overall narrative. It's constantly evolving as I go, so the rewriting process is part of the development of the story. I don't know if that is a good thing, but at least it keeps me going.