Hello everyone!
Just an update here about my progress on the book. As I come to a close on the second and what will most likely be the final iteration of “The Steel Sentinel” I’ve been asking writing groups I’ve joined how many times they rewrite a novel before it’s finished. As the answers came in, I was shocked to find answers between five and ten rewrites over the course of sometimes a decade or more! While taking formal writing classes has inspired me to rewrite my flagship series and after doing so I’m much happier with what the series is becoming that many rewrites seems very unnecessary. While I’m critical of my work and listen to my beta readers’ comments I feel like it’s a dangerous cycle if you allow yourself to be stuck.
So many writers get stuck in a never-ending cycle of rewrites to the point where no one will ever see the work because the author won’t allow the story to be told. I always encourage writers to tell their story to the best of their ability, but for that to happen you must tell the story.
When you find yourself on your next rewrite, I encourage you to ask yourself these questions:
Have I trapped myself in the rewrite cycle?
Am I adding anything of value to the story when I rewrite it?
Am I being too critical of my work?
Am I happy with the story I’m telling?
What is the next step I can take toward publishing my story?
Being able to tackle these questions in your own way can be a crucial step to giving the best possible story to your readers.
I’ll be going into detail about all of these questions in the weeks to come to keep with the theme of short easily digestible content on this blog.
To my fellow writers,
I want to see you discuss in the comments about your experience rewriting your novels. If you’ve done 5 or more rewrites why have you?
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