Flowers for Insomniacs

Rewrite, Motherfucker
My first draft is always a surrealistic mess. I punched a hole in my head and let everything pour out. Then, before I learned how to rewrite, I said “Done!” and set the book aside to rot on a hard drive somewhere. I’ve written 9 novels but it took me 8 to learn that I had to rework the slog of a first draft into something readable. I know, I know. Rewriting is rarely an enjoyable process. Where once you were a free-reining writing mad-person you now have to shackle yourself to the desk and become your own slave.

Some rewriting tips to make the process slightly more bearable:

• Write a second draft outline, even if you abhor outlines. This will often help you find missing pieces of the story.
• Get a second opinion. Other people can point out flaws in your story that you can often miss.
• Read the story out loud. This will help you catch unnecessary parts or awkward parts. If you cringe when you’re reading a part aloud, it should probably be rewritten or cut entirely.
• Take a copious amount of psychedelics and brainstorm
• Cry into your sleeves because your book will never amount to anything. Repeat twice a day.
• Whiskey.
• Go to bed when you’re tired. There’s nothing worse than staring down the abyss of your story.
• Take a bath or shower. Don’t bring a book with you. Just sit there and stare at the water. Between waves of self-hatred you’ll most likely come up with solutions to your editing woes. The reason we often come up with ideas in the shower or when we’re about to fall asleep is because those are the few times in the day we’re not inundated by noise. So enjoy the silence.

Words are not precious, but no word ever written is a waste. Everything that is written down is a step toward writing the words that you keep. Even if you have to go through seven drafts to get there.