In Theory

I do a lot of rewriting. The first drafts of my stories have, as one beta reader puts it, a tendency to jump off cliffs. I leave stuff out. I put the wrong stuff in. I struggle for language, and fall flat on my face. All I can say is, thank goodness for rewriting.

Writing first drafts takes talent. It taps the instinctive, creative, spontaneous part of the mind. Rewriting takes skill. To rewrite well, you have to understand what you're doing. You have to be able to analyze what's working and what's not, and figure out how to change it. So it's not surprising that many writers, even wonderful writers, find rewriting hard. But there's good news: because rewriting is a conscious skill, it can be learned.

There are three basic levels to rewriting: mechanics, style, and substance. Each level takes a different approach. Checking pure mechanics requires you to see the story as purely functional language: did I use this semicolon correctly? Did I use "lay" when I meant "lie"? Checking style means seeing it as poetic language: is this voice appropriate to the character? Is this construction awkward? And finally, checking substance requires that you re-engage in the story as a story, but one in which you ask yourself a constant stream of questions: is it clear why the character did that? What does he want now? Is the ending satisfying? Why not? Because the process is so different at each level, I recommend rewriting in three separate passes: once each for mechanics, style, and substance. And I recommend doing it in reverse order. Do the big stuff first, because you'll want to check the style and mechanics of any new material you might add to get the substance right.

The best way to learn how to rewrite is to find a good beta reader. Actually, find several. Find someone who will look at mechanics, someone who will look at style, and someone who can look at the big picture. And if you're lucky enough to find someone who can see things you can't, and who can explain herself clearly, hang on her every word and shower her with gratitude. This person is your lifeline.

Once you've found a good beta reader and have received her comments on a draft of your story, the fun begins. Yes, fun. Rewriting can be fun, too. First, give yourself a chance to read over the comments. Pat yourself on the back if your beta liked something. Do your damndest not to get defensive about the critical comments. Take a deep breath. Wallow for a moment if you have to. And then let it go. Here's the secret: those comments are not criticisms of your brainchild. They're the key to making it better. And isn't that the goal, after all, to make the story as good as you possibly can?

Dealing with mechanics is easy: correct typos, spelling errors, and grammatical mistakes. If you think you disagree with your beta's comment, look it up. I recommend the Chicago Manual of Style for basic mechanics, and there are any number of good grammar references out there, both in print and on the web.

Dealing with style comments is a little harder. You have to judge whether your beta is trying to fundamentally alter your style, or simply trying to make it more consistent, or smoother, or less awkward. If your beta gives you specific suggestions for wording, read them over carefully. Do they match your voice, or your character's voice? If not, don't reject them out of hand. Instead, find a third phrasing that's less awkward but still in voice.

Dealing with substantive comments is the most difficult, and also the most fun. When you are adding, deleting, or rewriting sentences, paragraphs or sections, it is important to get back into "writing mode" rather than "editing mode." Stop thinking about how to fix it. Instead, try to re-envision the part you're working on as if you were writing it for the very first time. See it, hear it, feel it all over again. Get back into your voice. Get back into the moment. Live all the stuff that makes writing fun in the first place, and *then* get to work. See? I told you rewriting could be fun.

In Practice

"Okay, okay," you're saying. "So what do I do? How do I tackle this daunting task, which you have the nerve to call 'fun'?" Well, here's my advice on the subject, for what it's worth.

• Don't overwrite. This is the easiest rewriting error to make. When your beta says that something (like character motivation or character reaction) is unclear, it's tempting to explain everything in the same sort of language you'd use when talking about the story to a friend. But fiction isn't explanation. Even when rewriting, it's important to show rather than tell. Don't shoehorn an explanation into the text. Instead, add in fictional clues, make your character's motivation clear from how he acts, what he says, or what he thinks rather than by simply telling the reader.

• Internalize beta comments. Read what your beta wrote, and then think about it. It's not enough to understand what she said; you need to figure out why she said it. Case in point: a beta reader responded to a scene by telling me it was too emotional, and I should tone it down. But looking at the story structure, I realized that that scene was pivotal. It had to be emotional, strongly emotional. But this didn't mean my beta reader was wrong -- she was telling me the emotion was unearned because it was out of proportion to the character's thoughts. So I went back through the story and traced the character's thoughts and realized I'd goofed ten pages earlier -- I'd had him already come to the realization that led him to be devastated later, which meant he was having one heck of a delayed reaction. No wonder my beta thought it didn't work! So I took out the earlier realization, made it clearer how he drew that conclusion in the pivotal scene, and suddenly I could see it -- the emotion made much more sense. My beta reader didn't catch the earlier mistake because she couldn't see the part of the story structure that was still in my head rather than in the text. But her comment led me to realize exactly what the problem was.

• Don't be afraid to re-envision. If a scene or section isn't working, don't be afraid to throw it out entirely and start over. In my longish story "True North," I had two scenes involving an original character that my beta reader didn't like -- she thought the original character was superfluous and detracted from the narrative. I read over her comments and groaned -- she was talking about deleting ten pages. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized she was right. The character wasn't adding anything to the ongoing narrative; instead I was simply using her as a plot device. That was when the flash of inspiration hit: I could do the same thing, achieve a similar moment in the ongoing plot, by using an already established character, and it would be structurally and emotionally much cleaner. I was suddenly back in "first draft" writing mode, and the scenes were deleted and re-envisioned in short order. But I had to give up my original vision in order to see the new, better way.

• Don't ignore beta comments. No beta reader is perfect, and yours will always have a slightly different view of writing than you do. But never just ignore comments. If you think your beta reader is wrong, prove it to yourself. Look up spelling or grammar. Try rephrasing something her way, try it a third way, try it a fourth before you give up and say the advice isn't helping. And don't forget to internalize and analyze the beta comments. Remember that your beta reader may be responding to something specific when the real problem is caused by something somewhere else in the text.

• Don't follow your beta slavishly. In the end, you have to trust your own judgment -- for better or for worse, you're the writer. And even good betas can give bad advice -- I certainly know I have. If you've given her comments thought, if you've tried and nothing you do seems to make it better, never write something just to please your beta. If you don't like it yourself, it's not good enough. If you find yourself grumbling and hating what you're adding in, stop. You're probably not doing your story any good, anyway.

• Don't compromise your style. Every writer has a style. Your beta reader will have a slightly different style than you do. For this reason, sometimes her suggestions won't quite match your voice (or your view of the characters' voices). Don't be afraid to alter her suggestions to match your style. That said, remember that it's possible your style has problems, too; inconsistency, inappropriate tone, or awkwardness are all style errors which can and should be fixed by rewriting.

• Don't take comments personally. Beta readers are trying to help you. Beta comments are not personal criticisms. Getting defensive will only use up emotional energy better spent on rewriting and will get in the way of your re-envisioning process.

• Do fix grammar and spelling errors. If you do nothing else, make sure your final manuscript is as clean as you can make it. This is a sign of respect to your readers -- they're devoting their time to reading your story. It's only fair not to make it painful for them.

Your Rewriting Checklist

When I rewrite, I try to remember to cover a number of areas even if my betas don't comment on them. These are my personal sticking points -- the things that often crop up as problems in a first draft. So I've made myself a mental checklist, and sometimes it even helps. ;-}

I recommend making your own personal rewriting checklist. This is mine -- presented here merely as an example of what I'm talking about.

• Emotional lines. My personal bugaboo. When writing first drafts I sometimes get sidetracked or don't envision the emotional logic clearly enough. I have to go back through every draft asking myself, "Why did he do that? Is it clear? What's he feeling now? Why? What are the consequences of that? Would he really do this if he felt this way?" and so on.

• Repetition of crutch words and phrases. Another of my bad habits. I latch onto words and use them over and over. In one story I used the word "furry" to describe a voice three times in a single scene. With such a strong word, once is sufficient, twice is mannered, and three times is just awful. ;-} Other common crutches for me: "just," sentences beginning with "and," and character-tics, like "oh dear" or "oh geez."

• Dialogue. I check and rewrite almost every line, trying to capture the characters' voices.

• Awkward language. Sometimes I just don't get the sentence out the right way the first time. If my inner voice stutters when reading over a sentence, I know it's time to reword.

• Section enders. I have to struggle with this a lot. Every time I switch point of view, I like to end the previous section cleanly and with a little punch if at all possible. I have to fight like the dickens to get these final lines to work, and sometimes I don't succeed.

• Plot logic. I tend to write with a fair amount of plot, so when going back over a draft, I have to check causality: "Is it plausible? Would this really happen because of that? Have I considered all the consequences?" And the most important (and difficult question): "Is the plot closely related to the emotional side of the story, or are there a lot of extraneous things happening that don't really matter to the characters?" The last one's the killer.

I have one final and fairly obvious piece of advice: make sure that you save drafts as you go. When you start a rewrite, always work on a copy of the original. That way if you get mired in a muddle and don't like what you've changed, it will be easy enough to go back.

Just remember, rewriting is a skill. The more you know about the writing process, the better you will be at it. To get better, try reading books on writing, talking to other writers about process, and analyzing everything you read. If a story's really great, try to figure out why. If it has problems, try to understand what they are. The more specifics you understand, the more you will be able to bring to your own rewriting.

So have fun, or at least don't panic. And rest assured that rewriting, like anything, gets easier the more you practice it.