Without further ado, here's Alison!
Since Carol’s blog is titled Women of Writing, I thought I’d stay on topic. Recently, my debut
novel, Random Acts, was released. I
also finished reading the ARC for my August release, Too Close to Home, so I was getting itchy to submit a new project
to my agent. I’ve been working steadily along on a brand-new project, but a
not-too-old manuscript has been calling my name. This begs the question: Should
you rewrite an old manuscript with the hopes of selling it?
I think you’ll hear all sorts of opinions on that. Some say
to forget about it and move on. Others will tell you they can’t bear to let a
project go. I’ve already worked on it for
a year! (Or two or three or five!) My
opinion lies somewhere in between. I have known writers who work and re-work
one project and never try writing anything else. This is not a productive use
of time. I think they’re just spinning their wheels. Sometimes it takes working
on something new to see the light with an old project.
I will give you some suggestions on how I decide if I’m
going to rework an old manuscript and what to do once I’ve decided to give it a
shot:
(1) Download
your manuscript to an eReader and read it through. There’s a good chance if
this is truly an old manuscript, you’ll be able to read it with a fresh
perspective. In my case, I hadn’t looked at this particular manuscript in two
years.
(2) Keep
a notebook nearby and jot down things that work or don’t work for you. Don’t
get caught up in making edits now. Just take notes and keep reading. You want
to get a sense of the manuscript as a whole. One note I made to myself was to
make sure I establish the setting clearly at the beginning of each scene. Since
this was the first time I was rereading my manuscript in a long time, I could
clearly see some of my scenes started too abruptly and were disorienting. Prior
to giving myself some “distance” on the project, I couldn’t see some of the
problems with the manuscript. In many
ways, I felt like I was reading someone else’s work. I think you can spot a lot
of areas that need improvement this way.
(3) After
you’ve finished the book, decide if it has merits or if it should be shoved
back under the bed forever. Did you like the characters? What about the
premise? In my case, I liked certain
aspects of the story, but parts of it were too similar to books I have already
written.
(4) In
the end, I decided it was worth reworking. I made notes on what I liked and
what I didn’t like. For example, I liked the heroine, but I didn’t like the
reason she had returned home. I really liked the hero. He was once engaged to
the heroine, but I started to think maybe I wanted the hero and heroine to have
never dated before. When writing, I ask
myself, “What If…” and the creative
juices start flowing. Then I listed the
characters and their goals, motivations and conflicts according to my vision
for the new and improved manuscript. When I started doing this, all the pieces
of the revised book started to fall into place.
(5) Create
a new Word file of your story. I never tweak the original file. Go scene by
scene and decide what stays and what goes. I create another Word file for all the
cut scenes. I know I could refer to the original file to see the cut scenes,
but I like having all these scenes together in one file. I can see how many
words I cut this way. (Maybe that’s not
always a good thing!)
(6) In
a separate Excel or Word file I create a short description of each scene that lists:
POV Character; Day/Time (to keep story timeline straight); Other Characters in Scene (especially helpful in romances because
you want the hero and heroine together as often as possible; Purpose/Goal
of Scene; and finally I add a column for Random Notes. This file lets me see my story at a glance.
(7) Then
I start rewriting the manuscript from the beginning. I tend to be a linear
writer and the above outline helps me keep track of everything. The outline
usually changes as I write the book, but that’s perfectly fine.
I realize the above could probably be chopped into seven
separate, lengthy blog posts, but I just wanted to give you a brief overview of
how I go about deciding if I want to rework an old project. Use my suggestions
as a stepping stone. You’ll discover what works best for you. There is no one “right
way” to write.
A major part of writing, is rewriting. I am a major
rewriter. J
But I think the key for writers is to know when a story should be shelved or
when it can be reworked. Or sometimes it just needs to be put away for now. At some point in the future,
you might be able to look at your work more objectively and make the necessary
changes to make it a better manuscript.
Have you ever had any luck rewriting an old manuscript? I’d
love to hear from you in the comment section. If you get a chance, please check
out my new release, Random Acts, a
romantic suspense with a sweet romance.
Thanks for hosting me, Carol.
Author Bio:
Alison
Stone graduated with a degree in industrial engineering from Georgia Tech.
After working in Corporate America for a number of years, she retired to raise
her young family. Soon the writing bug bit. After years of conferences,
critique groups and writing, Alison sold two manuscripts that will be released
in 2012. She claims it was easier to earn her engineering degree. Random Acts is her debut novel. To learn
more about Alison Stone please visit www.AlisonStone.com.
Blurb:
Second
chances can have a terrible sense of timing.
As
a child, watching her mother always pick the wrong man left Danielle Carson
wary of opening her heart to anyone—except Patrick Kingsley. But circumstances
came between them and left Danielle with a broken heart. Now she buries the
pain of what might have been by channeling all her energy into her career. When
a family crisis brings her back to her hometown, she is forced to face the
past—and the disturbing fact that her sister’s car accident was staged to mask
a brutal beating.
A
police officer and widower, Patrick guards his heart as fiercely as he guards
his beloved daughter. Seeing Danielle again unexpectedly reignites their old
flame, but no way will he introduce a woman into his daughter’s life. Certainly
not one whose values on faith and family are so different from his own.
Despite
their best intentions, they are drawn together—until Danielle learns Patrick
had a hand in putting her sister in harm’s way. Her fragile trust is crushed,
but Patrick is the only man who can help her stop the villain before everything
they both love is destroyed. Faith, family…and their second chance at forever.
Random Acts available at:
Samhain Publishing: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/alison-stone-pa-1705.html
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Random-Acts-ebook/dp/B00795G1X4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334076604&sr=8-1
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/random-acts-alison-stone/1108890294?ean=9781609288242&itm=1&usri=alison+stone
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Random-Acts/book-OSXUgDoMQ0aVm-JoFxmVXg/page1.html?s=QoeSfSCRk0m4in6w2_-prQ&r=1
Also available
at Sony and iTunes.
