Edit or Restart?

[noraina]

Assalamu alaykum,

I thought I could do with the advice of the amazing writers here ;)

I adore writing. I used to like starting on writing a novel - but I am the kind of person who gets 'writer tantrums' and end up throwing an entire story away and deleting it forever if I don't like how it is turning out - and I've always deeply regretted the decision later on.

I have a novel I wrote a couple of years ago. It isn't complete, it is around 120 a4 pages long and I haven't worked on it for aaaaages. I was flicking through it yesterday and I still love the idea and characters of it - however my writing style has matured since I was 15 and I find it a little 'clumsy' in places. The question is, do I edit it or restart?

I'm a little daunted tbh - I'm attached to the idea of it, but I wouldn't now where to start if I had to edit that many pages, and nor am I looking forward to rewriting it completely....what should I do? If decide to rework it, it'll be once my exams are over....seems like loads of work :(.

[*charisma*]

Assalamu Alaikum

You can continue to work on it until you finish it, and then take it day by day editing it. Or edit it before you finish because sometimes editing creates more clarity and helps with the idea development. OR you can find someone who is in as much love with reading as you are with writing, and ask them to go through and edit it as they read along lol.

Don't ask me though cuz I hate reading :p

IF you really love your story I think you should finish it. We are our best critics. Sometimes when we reread something over and over again (especially our own work) it gets so mundane and you start hating and being even more critical with your work. It's best to let things sit for a while after editing and then read it again with fresh eyes, at least that's what I do.

[Serinity]

:salam:

I like to write in chapters - to keep it clean. Mine are usually Fantasy. :)

Like

Chapter 1

..............
..............
..............
..............

Chapter 2

..............
..............
..............
..............

[noraina]

Hmmmm, I suppose completely restarting wouldn't be a good idea. I do have someone who wouldn't mind reading it for me and giving their advice, I just want it to be as perfect as possible before I give it to someone else to read. I do have a problem with, as you said, that within reading it a couple of times I find it boring.

I also find I can't stop 'editing', I will have short stories and poems I wrote years ago and when I reread them now I have to edit them. I think I have the ideas, but I cannot quite translate them from my mind to the paper as eloquently as I'd like to.

Ahhh, yes chapters. I don't write in chapters at all, which I think I should do to break it up a little inshaAllah, to edit in sections.

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[strivingobserver98]

:wa:

The difference between a writer and author is getting THINGS done.

however my writing style has matured since I was 15 and I find it a little 'clumsy' in places. The question is, do I edit it or restart?

Write down everything that comes to your mind until it's COMPLETE. Okay? That's your first mock up lol. Depending on how fast your working, lock up your book in the cupboard for one month and do something else. Then after 1 month has passed, get it out from the cupboard, and read it all :O.

Now time to to prepare your ARMY!

Arm your self with all different coloured highlighters.

What will you use them for? One colour to mark errors, typos, inconsistencies, grammar and double words.

FOCUS on one colour at a time, in solving that problem. After that's done, that's your first draft ;).

Sorry Noraina's book... but put it back in the cupboard for another month. Rinse and repeat the process until your satisfied with your book :statisfie.

PS: You could work faster, making it 1 week instead of 1 month. Also while your in the waiting process.. read plenty of books, watch plenty of media :ia: that should help.

[strivingobserver98]

I'm a little daunted tbh - I'm attached to the idea of it, but I wouldn't now where to start if I had to edit that many pages, and nor am I looking forward to rewriting it completely....what should I do? If decide to rework it, it'll be once my exams are over....seems like loads of work .

If your interested in being an author sis, you could work on mainly on writing.. While I talk to all the publishers, get your book design up to scratch and so on :O. I can see you being an excellent author benefiting the Ummah.

I know this sis, she's done well. Successful blog and a book :ma:.

http://www.fajr-literary.com/

[noraina]

The difference between a writer and author is getting THINGS done.

That's true, I have been procrastinating way too much .:skeleton:

Your plan sounds good bro, I think as you and sis Charisma suggested I should write it down completely and actually finish it before I move on to editing it inshaAllah - and give myself breaks in between so I don't get bored of my own words.

(- and break it up into chapters).

[Arfa]

Sis why not focus on editing more then restarting?Most importantly don't write a novel to get end results which is why a lot of writers miss out on their creativity as feeling pressurised to complete a task makes you obligated to do something.If your sincerely passionate about writing then you should know clearly what kind of message you are portraying through your work.

[Scimitar]

http://www.writingforums.org/ :)

Scimi

[noraina]

Yep, going to try to create a draft first which I can then edit inshaAllah. I agree it is important to not finish for the sake of having completed something - so much can be lost on the way. I've decided not to restart completely :) - I was trying to figure out how to get back into writing after a long hiatus of about a year.

I am writing about things which are close to my heart and which I identify with as a Muslim - it isn't fantasy but is fictional. I am also trying to stick to one project at a time, I have many ideas which I would like to build upon but I need to learn to do them one-by-one. ;)

[Serinity]

I usually start with an amaaaazing Idea. my main character is usually revenge driven and has immense hidden potential but that is shadowed by his flaws.. coupled with his amazing personality and bravery. my main characters snap internally while externally look 'calm'. :/ They can look quite arrogant, but inside they are kind lol.

Oh. I should try to provoke my main character to the point of breaking, and prevent him from going rage mode.. It will build up, and taste bitter. :P
They are more or less like a sage. :D my main character is always on a deeper level while the side characters always look 'paper' like or something.. They have not much depth.

[noraina]

I usually start with an amaaaazing Idea. my main character is usually revenge driven and has immense hidden potential but that is shadowed by his flaws.. coupled with his amazing personality and bravery. my main characters snap internally while externally look 'calm'. :/ They can look quite arrogant, but inside they are kind lol.

They are more or less like a sage. my main character is always on a deeper level while the side characters always look 'paper' like or something.. They have not much depth.

You should post some of your work here, :D your main characters sound like they would have a lot of depth, a protagonist with flaws or a 'dark side' is interesting to explore.

[Serinity]

You should post some of your work here, :D your main characters sound like they would have a lot of depth, a protagonist with flaws or a 'dark side' is interesting to explore.

Oh definitely! In one mini story the main character ended up killing his whole clan and a woman reaching out to his dark heart, while he cold-heartedly (with emotion added) killed her. Greed and power seem to take over my characters. :/

I like unexpected, emotion-filled - packed with a story (makes it extra spicy) where the person goes all "I don't care, this is it" kills everyone on sight.

I should work on their flaws tho.. their lust for power seem to overshadow their flaws.:/

But some were written when I was a bit (or quite) ignorant of Allah SWT.. Perhaps you could check them? They are very old, tbh. I am, In shaa' Allah, much better now.

[noraina]

Well, those do sound interesting - I suppose if you pull it off without making the main character seem like a villain it would have a lot of depth and be very gripping.

And it happens, lol, it almost amazes me how much my perspective of some things has changed over time. Writing is a reflection of your thoughts, and to see how these thoughts develop is so interesting.

If you want to share your work, then you are more than welcome to do so inshaAllah :) - we'd love to read it.

[Serinity]

Well, those do sound interesting - I suppose if you pull it off without making the main character seem like a villain it would have a lot of depth and be very gripping.

And it happens, lol, it almost amazes me how much my perspective of some things has changed over time. Writing is a reflection of your thoughts, and to see how these thoughts develop is so interesting.

If you want to share your work, then you are more than welcome to do so inshaAllah :) - we'd love to read it.

I have edited them a bit to make them more halal. (it didn't affect the story)

Is it halal to have stories that predict the future 100%?

[Bhabha]

Don't restart -_-; Just work through different sections, little by little and keep the process consistent >_>;

If anyone is interested we can collaborate on each others books - peer EDITING is the best by the way, because when you are editing your own things... it makes sense in your head, but when someone else reads it, being able to get feed back is super important. Ill be done with my thesis on June 15.. >_>

[noraina]

Don't restart -_-; Just work through different sections, little by little and keep the process consistent >_>;

If anyone is interested we can collaborate on each others books - peer EDITING is the best by the way, because when you are editing your own things... it makes sense in your head, but when someone else reads it, being able to get feed back is super important. Ill be done with my thesis on June 15.. >_>

Yep, peer editing is really useful. From personal experience, someone else can find very obvious mistakes which for some reason you fail to notice at all. And sometimes it can especially happen that you understand your idea/topic so well in your own mind that you fail to explain it enough in writing - I remember writing an article once, and giving it to my friend to read beforehand who didn't know about the subject, she told me straight out what she didn't understand and I was able to correct it.


btw, bro @Serinity , I am not sure actually, but I think as long as you make it obvious that you are writing fiction and it is not to be taken seriously, then writing stories which are set in the future (such as most science fictions ones) would be okay. Allahu alam.