: Resurrecting a story: Rewrite or Edit? I started a book about 2 years ago, got about halfway through, and then got sidetracked. I know this is a typically bad habit of novelists... Fortunately,

Vote Up Vote Down

I'm sensing two structural problems. So let's tackle those first.

For any story you work on, you should have:

An outline of the story.

In your outline, you should know, chapter by chapter, what is going on. This can be as detailed or as vague as you want, but to your eyes it should be a play-by-play.

Character bios.

Every character that appears (though more detailed for protagonists and somewhat less for main supporting characters) should be described. Their personality (psychology), their look (biology), their flaws, and their strengths. Everything should be described, even if it's as simple as (looks like 'Neo' from the Matrix).

A reference bible!

Building on the previous point, you should have some kind of documentation describing everything in your book. From the scene locations, to the items being used. This can be as vague as "Scene location: rural America", to as detailed as "Three mahogany trees lined up in the back yard, interspersed with herbs and vegetable gardens". The more fantastical the setting (ie. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, or even historically accurate) the more accurate you need to be with your details. So if you describe or refer to something in your book, you need to get the details right every time.

Now, having said that. I would have to agree with the other answer(er)s, mostly. If you feel you've improved as a writer, then rewriting might make more sense. If you feel the story itself can improve with a rewrite, then this shouldn't be a discussion.

Don't toss the old, though! Keep it as reference material.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

I wouldn't rewrite it if you don't have to. Perhaps you could start by reading your existing draft and making notes, perhaps in the form of an outline, as you go along. If you didn't leave yourself an outline of the second half before you set it aside, then it might be helpful to make an outline before digging in to writing the second half.

You might even want to experiment with leaving a gap of time between the first half and the second half. It could be rather fun.

Of course, if you find that a rewrite is necessary, that's okay too. But at this stage it might be helpful to crank out some sort of draft of the second half before getting too involved in making improvements to the first half.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

Rewrite it. If you feel you're a better writer now, two years later, you'll waste too much time editing and fiddling around trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Don't be afraid to toss something in the trash and retry the idea with a new perspective and voice.

I was in a similar situation with an old completed novel and decided to just "fix" what already existed. Ended up cutting half the book and it changed so much I might as well have rewritten it.

(0)