Recently, when I mentioned to some writer friends that I was using NaNoWriMo to rewrite a rough draft of a novel from two years ago, the reaction was, “Rewrite? Why not just edit?” That brought to mind a workshop I’d presented at a virtual writing conference in early 2022, “Self-Edit vs Rewrite? That is the Question.”

Before I proceed, though, let me reemphasize the importance of hiring a professional editor at some point before publication for independent or self-publishers. Self-editing has its place; I do it all the time, but to give your work some gravitas in competing with traditionally published work, professional editing is key.

However, that’s not the subject of this week’s blog post. I’m talking about figuring out what a rough or first draft needs to move along in the publishing process.

What is Self-Editing?

Well, the obvious is that it’s editing your own work yourself. Whether you realize it or not, you self-edit a lot. Every time you read a section of one of your drafts and made changes, you’re self-editing. At this stage, you’re correcting obvious spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors. You may evaluate the flow of the story or plot, but this is mostly “prettifying” your manuscript.

For example, when I finish a NaNoWriMo project on November 30, I put it aside for several months. That gets it out of my head, and when I look at it again, it is with fresh eyes. Meaning the typos and grammatical gaffes are more obvious. It also means I’ve had some time to think about the story. So, this “self-edit” usually means I make notes on plot gaps and one-dimensional characters as well as needed scenes. Then, I go back and fix these things.

This doesn’t mean that though this rough or first draft has been improved that it’s presentable. It’s likely not.

What is a Rewrite?

A rewrite is when you, the writer, decide that a draft has to be set aside and that the story idea needs to be rewritten anew. That can mean you don’t use the previous draft as a reference at all. I honestly have never rejected one of my own rough drafts. I use them as somewhat of an outline for a rewrite.

That fits well with my rough draft creation style. I have the story concept, and scenes come to mind. When they do, I write the scene. What I end up with is a collection of scenes that have no transitions, little expository content. That much is obvious. I have been lucky on a few occasions that self-editing can flesh out a rough draft to the point where it’s ready for beta readers or a critique group. Most of the time, however, I decide I have to rewrite the story fully.

That collection of scenes for me, then, becomes an outline for the rewrite. Hey, on occasion, I like the way I’ve said something, so why discard it?

In reality, in deciding whether or not to do a rewrite, it’s because in reviewing that rough draft, I’m either adding scenes to fill plot holes or I may delete scenes or even chapters, only to find that affects later scenes that may be needed. Now, the story doesn’t make sense. Or I recognize that the story doesn’t flow but rather “darts” from place to place. In one recent instance, I decided the story would work better if I switched from a third person POV to a first person POV (or vice versa). All of these are reasons to consider a rewrite over a self-edit.

But don’t take my word for it. Toni Morrison has said, “I rewrite a lot, over and over again, so that it looks like I never did. I try to make it look like I never touched it, and that takes a lot of time and a lot of sweat.”

There is no set rule to decide on a rewrite. Certainly if you’re spending more time self-editing than it took to write the draft in the first place or if you’re unhappy with the result of a self-edit, rewriting may be the best choice.

Don’t Throw it Away!

If you opt for a rewrite and don’t want to use a draft of the work as a basis, keep that draft anyway. As you rewrite, you may find a place for key scenes from the rough draft. Or you could mine that rough draft for short stories or reader magnets.

I’ve kept every version of every one of my published works, and sometimes it’s amusing to go back and compare the rough draft to the published work to see how different the two are. Yes, there’s a reason writers are considered eccentric.

Early in his career, Stephen King tossed a draft of a novel in a trash bin. His wife fished it out, held onto it, and gave it back to him after he’d had some success. He rewrote it, and it was a best-seller. I believe the manuscript he threw away was eventually the novel, Carrie.

Review

Self-edit if you only need to make simple corrections, to fix typos, or when you only need to add a few sentences to a scene, and/or if the story makes sense as is.

Rewrite if you have to add multiple scenes or chapters as transitions, if you find a huge number of plot holes, if you have to change POV, if the story is disjointed, or if the story doesn’t make sense at all.

Back to the rewrite of mine I mentioned in the beginning. Why did I decide to rewrite it?

First, the antagonists were one-dimensional. I had to give them depth so the reader can understand their motivations. In the rough draft I’d tried to hide which character was a betrayer, and that simply didn’t work. I wasn’t able to drop hints about this character’s actions without giving away who he was. Now, it’s working better for readers to know up front what he’s doing and to show that Mai Fisher and Alexei Bukharin suspect him, but mission priorities prevent them from confronting that character about their suspicions. That adds to the tension. Also, I’d made so many notes on where new scenes were needed and where I had to do more research, that I knew I’d end up with an incomprehensible jumble.

A rewrite was the only way, and I’m using the original draft as an outline I can refer to for sequencing of events. And, frankly, there were scenes in the rough draft that were good, really good, and I didn’t want to lose them. In truth, I usually end up doing a total rewrite of the majority of my published works. For me, it’s the only way I can feel proud of what I’ve done.