Once you’ve finished the first draft, the work begins. Use this rewriting checklist for authors to help you finish your book.
The first draft of your novel is a sketch. It is a rough piece of writing where you have worked out a shape of a story. Once you have completed this, the real work begins.
Richard North Patterson says: ‘Writing is rewriting. A writer must learn to deepen characters, trim writing, intensify scenes. To fall in love with the first draft to the point where one cannot change it is to greatly enhance the prospects of never publishing.’
Many authors rewrite their manuscripts many times before they are happy to send their book to the publisher.
Michael Crichton said: ‘Books aren’t written – they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.’
If you’re about to rewrite your book, ask these 30 questions.
Rewriting Checklist For Authors
You may enjoy these useful posts:
- An Editing Checklist For Writers
- 12-Steps to Self-Editing – your stress-free guide to preparing a manuscript
- What 20 Famous Authors Had to Say About Rewriting
- How to rewrite and revise your manuscript – I’ve learnt to stop
Top Tip: Find out more about our workbooks and online courses in our shop.
You may also enjoy these posts:
- 10 Ways To Introduce Conflict In Dialogue
- Plotting – 10 Basic Do’s and Don’ts
- The Sense Of An Ending – How To End Your Book
Top Tip: Find out more about our workbooks and online courses in our shop.
9 thoughts on “Rewriting Checklist For Authors”
I think the author needs to read a few books and reevaluate this list. Try “To the Lighthouse”, “The Tropic of Cancer”, “Heart of Darkness” – characters get introduced midway, there’s very little dialogue or active voice, loads of adverbs and adjectives, no clear promise of where the book will go… Unless you are saying that this is a guide to writing a commercially viable novel which caters to a mass audience – in that case, great list!
The books you mentioned were published many years ago. The rules of writing evolve. We doubt these books would find a publisher today. We stand by our rules.
In multi-book fiction works you do find characters introduced later on in each individual book, but I can’t think of any other genre (that I’ve read) where new, major characters are introduced later than halfway through the novel.
Excellent list! As a sought-after freelance fiction editor and author of two writing guides in the series, An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction, STYLE THAT SIZZLES & PACING FOR POWER and WRITING A KILLER THRILLER, I think this advice is spot-on, and will be sending my clients here to read it. I’ve already promoted it on Facebook and will be promoting it on my blog. Well done!
I do understand the necessity of rules.When the Muse comes down, be ready to write till you’re exhausted, until you’re ready to pass out, until you are done! Then, enjoy the euphoria with the considerable hope that others will enjoy it too!
I really want to right a book about my life it has been a very hard life but now at 52 I’m ready to tell people what I’ve been through so that maybe they can understand you can through a lot and still be ok. I am glad I found this site maybe you can help me.
I think the list is okay. But there should be no rules how to rewrite and every book may and should be different. If I would rewrite my books 5 times, I would never publish because I would never be sure if I should do it a sixth or seventh or eighth time.
Mostly , i appreciate writing too many long sentences
#21 seriously?
#26 what? Used enough contractions? How many should I use? Is there a ballpark figure I need to aim for? Is there some range that is acceptable?
Sorry. I usually love this site but this list, there are way too many ridiculous items to even be taken remotely seriously.
Comments are closed.