Essays on Rewriting

Storyville: When to Be Conventional, and When to Be Weird

By Richard Thomas

In: Rewriting, Storyville, Weird

When it comes to writing, your story can be conventional or weird, but it has to be satisfying.

What To Do When Your Book Jumps the Shark

By Leah Rhyne

In: editing, Horror, Revision, Rewriting

Sometimes a story can get away from its author, going places it never should have dared. What can the author do to pull it back in and make it (hopefully) good again?

How to Persevere in Your Writing

By Beth Lewis

In: Process, Rewriting, Routine, Submissions

You've got a long road ahead of you. Here's how to persevere.

Self-Editing For Dummies

By George Cotronis

In: adverbs, editing, elements of style, Formatting, Punctuation, Rewriting, strunk

You want to edit your own writing. Here's how to get started.

NaNoWriMo Hangover: 8 Steps to Recovery

By Brandon Tietz

In: List, NaNoWriMo, Rewriting, Writing

You've just completed NaNoWriMo and have a messy first draft to show for it. Now what?

Polishing the All-Important First Fives

By Riki Cleveland

In: editing, Revision, Rewriting

Focusing on the first five pages, sentences, or even words of your manuscript can help you get noticed amid the piles of slush.

10 Reasons To Draft 10 Times

By Peter Derk

In: Drafts, List, Revisions, Rewriting

Ever tried drafting a piece 10 times? Maybe you should. Maybe you need to.

Long Story Short: 10 Tips for Trimming an Overly Long Novel Down to Size

By Susan DeFreitas

In: editing, Revision, Rewriting

Maybe you've written an epic novel that requires 110,000 words or more to tell its story. Or maybe you've written a novel that's 30,000 words too long.

So You Want to Edit A Book Part 3: The Paper Project

By Leah Rhyne

In: editing, Rewriting

There comes a time in every author's life where they get to see their book on paper...and then they tear it up, write all over it, and do it all over again. I'm there now. Let's talk about it.

So You Want To Edit A Book Part 2: The Dreadful First Rewrite

By Leah Rhyne

In: editing, Rewriting

In this installment of So You Want To Edit A Book, we talk about the first, dreadful rewrite - how I do it, what I try to fix, where I mess up, and what I intentionally leave for later.

Five Ways Scrivener Can Help Your Work In Progress

By Karina Wilson

In: List, Rewriting, Scrivener, Software, Structure, technology

Why Scrivener? What can it do for your writing? Go beyond the "click here" tutorials and consider how this software can improve your work habits and the quality of your content.

The Brick by Brick Method of Writing

By Rob Blair Young

In: Process, Rewriting, Thesis Work

I explore a central lesson I learned from writing my thesis: A "brick-by-brick" writing approach that makes projects more manageable, less stressful, and easier to complete.

So You Want To Edit A Book Part 1: The Dramatic First Read Through

By Leah Rhyne

In: editing, First Draft, Rewriting

Last fall, we (maybe) wrote a book together. Now I'm editing mine, and I'll walk you through my process, a step at a time. Hopefully I've got something to share that'll be helpful to YOU!

Giving Up the Ghost: How to Bury Dead Writing

By Leah Dearborn

In: Criticism, Death, fiction writing, Rewriting

Giving up on a piece of writing seems counterintuitive. We’re told from an early age that if we just keep trying, one day we’ll succeed. But sometimes effort just isn’t enough.

Edit My Paragraph! Episode Eight

By Gayle Towell

In: Edit My Paragraph, editing, Rewriting

This column explores the art of editing by providing detailed feedback and edits on reader submitted paragraphs.

Edit My Paragraph! Episode Seven

By Gayle Towell

In: Edit My Paragraph, Revision, Rewriting

This column explores the art of revision by giving detailed edits of reader-submitted paragraphs.

Edit My Paragraph! Episode Six

By Gayle Towell

In: Edit My Paragraph, editing, Revision, Rewriting

This column explores the art of editing by giving detailed edits to reader-submitted excerpts.

Edit My Paragraph! Episode Five

By Gayle Towell

In: Edit My Paragraph, editing, Revision, Rewriting

This column explores the art of editing by providing detailed edits of reader-submitted paragraphs.

Edit My Paragraph! Episode Four

By Gayle Towell

In: Edit My Paragraph, editing, Revision, Rewriting

This column explores the art of editing by carefully analyzing paragraphs submitted by readers.

Six Tips for Troubleshooting the Novel

By Susan DeFreitas

In: editing, Fiction, Revision, Rewriting

Every novel is a special snowflake, sure, but many go wrong in the same ways. An editor breaks down known issues at the level of plot, structure, and characterization she sees over and over again.