By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
If you're like me, things change as you write, new ideas enter your head and your draft turns out differently than your outline, even if it mostly follows it. You change motivations that fit better with an idea you have later, but there are scenes in the back half that still reflect the motivations you created in the first half.
Or, you plan to do X and then change your mind when you get there, but all the groundwork for X is still in the text.
Doing a fresh read really helps spot these story shifts and also reminds you of the story arc and where you've been. Knowing where you've been makes it a lot easier to figure out where you're going, and how you need to get there.
Another advantage, is that you usually continue to tweak and catch little things as you read, so by the time you're done with the draft, it might only need minor edits to finish off. It's like doing multiple drafts without actually doing multiple drafts.
It's also one possible way to get you jazzed about a project you might be losing enthusiasm for. Even books we love can get tedious when we've been working on them a while. Going back and enjoying them as a reader allows you to enjoy the story again.
Some days, the best editing can be done when you mix up the pages and read things out of order. But others, starting from page one and watching the story unfold as intended can remind you what you've done, so you know the best way to end that journey.
CreatingConflict
Backstory
Finding aCritique Group
Writing aSynopsis
WordCount
Plotting In Layers
What Your QuerySays About Your Book
DescribingYour Characters
Point of View& Characters
The First250 Words
PassiveVoice
Is Your Writing
Getting Better?
Findingan Agent
Tips OnWriting Action
Nice WriterSyndrome?
Red Flag: WordsThat Are Trouble
Plotting
The FirstDraft
Edit -vs- Revise:Deathmatch!
Guest AuthorClaudia Gray
On Outlining
Guest AuthorKody Keplinger
On Dialog
Guest AuthorCynthia L. Smith
On Process
Guest AuthorK.A. Stewart
On Character
Guest AuthorJana DeLeon
On Pantsing
Guest AuthorHolly Cupala
On Writing Secrets
Guest AuthorNancy Holzner
On Dialog
Guest AuthorGini Koch
On Process
Guest AuthorVincent H O'Neil
On Research
OnlineResources
Books byJanice Hardy
The Shifterby Janice Hardy
Blue Fireby Janice Hardy
8 Against Realityinc. Janice Hardy
Diagnostics:Submit Your Work
4 comments:
What a great idea to read sections out of order. What you need is a fresh eye and that's probably a good way to refresh your own.
BTW, I enjoyed yesterday's Golden Oldie. I'm glad you took my suggestion!
Me too, thanks again :) A writer friend of mine shuffles her pages and edits them totally out of order. (I think it was agent Donald Maass who suggested that in one of his books). She swears by it. Says she catches things she never would have seen reading it right through. That should be next week's RWW!
That out-of-order thing sounds good for copyedits.
I'd love to try it, except I'm still working on content edits. :-)
At any rate, I love rereading what I've already written every so often to make sure it's flowing right. It can help writer's block, too, when you have scenes or details that demand followup.
It's also one possible way to get you jazzed about a project you might be losing enthusiasm for.
*nod*
Last week I had to polish up my MS for a full request (Yay!) and, though I was editing and not simply reading, I did have a chance to experience a large chunk of it in a short amount of time, more like a reader might. I was pleasantly surprised!
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