Congratulations, you’ve finished writing a book. You’ve invested weeks, months, or maybe even years, but it’s done. That was the hard part, right? Wrong!
The definitions for editing and rewrites seem similar, but they’re not.
- Editing: I thought that editing would go like this – I’d take away a comma here and there, make a few dashes in the right places, and add/delete a words every now and then. I would change a few sentences, and then I’d be done. I would find a publisher who would want to buy my books, and I’d be living the life like Emily Giffin and Danielle Steel. I was wrong, so very wrong!
- Rewrites: I think that this is the most important part in the writing process, at least for me anyway. Rewrites are where you delete parts of your work and write it again in a different way. This means either changing around the dialogue, what the MC does or the situation he/she’s in . It can also mean that you’ll need to do a rewrite to strengthen or explain certain scene(s) in more detail. Authors go through many rewrites, and mean a lot of them! This is okay — it’s normal!
Yesterday I finished my rewrites to give to my editor. It was the first time that I’d ever really done anything close to rewriting a part in my first book, Redefined Dreams. When I sat down to do my rewrites, I was nervous. I wanted these to be perfect, but I realize that in the writing world there is no such thing. I’m looking forward to more rewrites, not just “editing!”
Tell me your editing and/or rewriting story! I’d love to hear it!