Dealing with Multiple Drafts During Revisions

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

During a revision, trying to piece together all the best parts of your novel and still make the story feel cohesive can be a challenge.

Some novels are really hard to revise. The story goes through multiple drafts and there are strong scenes in each one—but no one draft that works on its own. The only way to save the story and craft the novel you know you have in there somewhere, is to pick the best scenes and smoosh it all together.

Which can be good, or lead to a Frankendraft. 

Don't fret though—you can turn all those drafts into a novel worth reading. It just takes a little more work and a lot more focus.

When dealing with multiple drafts of a novel, the first step is to clarify what you have that works, and what you have that doesn't.

Make a list of your scenes allows you to identify which pieces contribute to your core conflict and which don't. Note the critical details in all the scenes you plan to use and see how they flow together. Maybe even craft a one-line summary of each scene that describes the plot movement so you can see how they connect to the overall story arcs.

Once you know what you want to keep and what you can get rid of, create a new file and start pasting in all the scenes you want in the order you want them in. 

The story won't make a ton of sense since the scenes will likely be disjointed, but they'll be in the right place and will give you a better sense of how they flow and work together (and let you see where you might need to write more or cut back). 

For those using the Three Act Structure, the turning points and story beats are quite helpful in determining where your major set pieces fall, and if the right scenes are in the right places. You might find you have too much set up and not enough for Act Three (or vice versa), and will need to adjust.

Here are some pitfalls and trouble spots to keep an eye out for:

Your Darlings: Those Scenes You Love, but no Longer Work

In multiple drafts, it's easy to have favorite moments you want to include, and you'll probably work hard to get them to fit. But just because it's a great scene doesn't mean it's great for the final story or plot. 

When I'm trying to fit a favorite bit into something I'm writing, the difficulty fitting it is a big red flag that it might not be the right scene for the book. Forcing a scene almost always ends with a big stumbling block for the reader as soon as they hit it. It doesn't flow, it doesn't quite make sense, it doesn't really advance the story.

This doesn't hold true for every tough bit to fit, and once in a while, I come up with a seriously cool way to make it work that I wouldn't have thought about otherwise. But I'll be honest and say this is rare. If you find yourself beating your head against a scene, it might be time to file it away and save it for another story.

Things to Look for:

• Does it advance the core conflict in some way?
• Does it offer new and relevant information?
• Does it flow with the story or feel forced in?

(Here's more with No Pain, No Gain: Killing Your Darlings)

That Looks Right, but: Leftover Information That’s no Longer Relevant

I call this "revision smudge." These are bits that get left behind that reference something no longer in the story. Maybe you changed which character was in the scene with your protagonist, or you changed the location, or the goal shifted slightly, or the stakes altered. Reading these scenes feel "right," because you know what they're referring to or how they originally fit. But when you look closely, you realize that part of the story is no longer there. That reference was cut, or changed, or was even moved to a new location.

Things to Look for:

• Are there any leftover names or details that don't belong?
• Is anything referenced that is no longer there, or has changed?
• Does the protagonist still want the same thing?
• Are the stakes the same?
• Does the antagonist still want the same things? Has their plan changed?
• Are there extra characters that aren't anywhere else now?
• Is the information revealed new, or has it been added elsewhere?

(Here's more with Oh, Now I Made it Worse: When Editing Goes Astray)

Didn’t They Say That?: Information Stated in Multiple Scenes

Description and backstory are two more spots that can cause trouble. A scene that introduced a character in chapter one might now be in chapter five, and readers already know who they are. Search for each character's name (or a key detail of backstory) and see what information you reveal first, then every other time that name/detail is mentioned. This can be time consuming, but you'll know exactly where you say what about a character, and I've caught many a repetition this way.

Things to Look for:

• Does anything sound familiar as your read? Has it been said elsewhere?
• When is background information revealed?
• Do readers have what they need when a character is first introduced?
• Will readers understand early scenes based on the details revealed in those scenes?
• Are characters making logic leaps based on information that's no longer in the story, or has been moved to after they make the leap?

(Here's more with 5 Ways Repetition Is Hurting Your Novel)

Dress Rehearsal: Revise Chronologically to Ensure Everything Tracks

Revising chronologically also helps see the story as it unfolds, since you can easily flip back and double check details. And having just read it, the actual text will be fresh in your mind. You might even make an easy-to-check list of things you changed that need to be edited overall.

Things to Look for:

• When is the first time critical information is revealed or stated?
• When do important plot events happen?
• How much time do scenes and actions take?
• Is the timetable working and plausible?
• Where are the clues planted?

(Here's more with Game On: Staying Organized During Revisions)

One of the hardest aspects of revising from multiple drafts is not getting caught up in what you wrote. You can't keep it all, even if the scene is good. You need to be ruthless and only choose the scenes that fit where the story needs to go.

Piecing together multiple drafts can be tricky, but a little pre-planning can save you a lot of time and effort.

It'll also help you get some distance from the story, which will help you be objective about what can stay and what can go. and you can always save those deleted scenes for extras for your newsletter, or even turn them into a novella or short story to use as a reader magnet.

EXERCISE FOR YOU: Pick your favorite structure and identify which scenes best fit the major turning points and beats. That will make it easier to tell what scenes fit the new flow of the plot. 

Have you ever pieced together several drafts? Or tried to combine two story ideas into one? What pitfalls did you stumble into? 

*Originally published October 2009. Last updated December 12, 2022.

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Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

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