Re-writing

Just curious to know if anyone has any advice about re-writing material. I have 6 minutes of sketch comedy I'm going to animate next year and I keep hearing that you need to re-write, re-write etc. And that re-writing is the most important thing in writing!

But I'm not sure if I do it. My usual thing is to just keep editing the document until I'm happy (does that count as a re-write?). But someone told me you should start a new document and re-write it completely from scratch. I'm not sure if he meant from memory too!

So, sorry if it's an obvious question but thoughts please

Quote: ShoePie @ December 21, 2007, 6:31 PM

Just curious to know if anyone has any advice about re-writing material. I have 6 minutes of sketch comedy I'm going to animate next year and I keep hearing that you need to re-write, re-write etc. And that re-writing is the most important thing in writing!

But I'm not sure if I do it. My usual thing is to just keep editing the document until I'm happy (does that count as a re-write?). But someone told me you should start a new document and re-write it completely from scratch. I'm not sure if he meant from memory too!

So, sorry if it's an obvious question but thoughts please

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Don't bother starting again.

I just re-read and make changes, That, to me, is re-writing.

I read it to see what bits I like or don't like, and I change them accordingly. There's not set rules. I think of it as versions, rather than drafts. It's like removing bugs from software.

Only start a new document if you're changing it massively. I recently did a re-write at the request of a producer where the sitcom changed location, and yeah, I started a new file as it's vastly different.

Just do what you do until you're happy - don't get into thinking there are set laws that if you don't follow you'll get expelled from the Comedy Circle.

Just re-write until you're happy with every word ~I would think.

Best thing to do is leave that piece for a while (the longer the better I find) then you can go back to it with a fresh set of eyes and notice things that are funny and things that fall a bit flat.

That's what I'm doing with my NaNo novel. It was intense for 30 days then I'll go back to it sometime - hopefully next year.

Quote: paul watson @ December 21, 2007, 8:09 PM

Best thing to do is leave that piece for a while (the longer the better I find) then you can go back to it with a fresh set of eyes and notice things that are funny and things that fall a bit flat.

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Yeah, that's great advice too.

Ok cheers guys, I guess I'll give it another look over after Christmas and keep tweaking it.

Quote: ShoePie @ December 21, 2007, 9:30 PM

Ok cheers guys, I guess I'll give it another look over after Christmas and keep tweaking it.

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So you're not bothering about the sketch then.

Quote: David Chapman @ December 21, 2007, 10:44 PM

So you're not bothering about the sketch then.

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Quote: ShoePie @ December 21, 2007, 6:31 PM

...My usual thing is to just keep editing the document until I'm happy (does that count as a re-write?)....

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Sure it does.

There is this idea dating back before word processors that a writer wrote a first draft and then corrected the pages with pencil and retyped it and if it didn't stand up, then a 2nd draft would be started and so on, and so forth.

My writing procedures change from project to project, but it seems as I get older I tend to work on a page until it's finished and then move on. I used to erupt like a volcano and fill up hundreds of pages and then start at page one and comb the sentences, brush out the tangles and knots, and do that with every page until the last one and then start at page one and do it again & again until it sparkled.

So yea, man, editing the doc until YOU are satisfied is definitely a modern day version of rewriting.

If you just puke out a first draft and do nothing to it either along the way or afterwards, then you are not rewriting.

Rewriting is combing the sentences with the intention of making them as kick ass as possible. You add & delete and remove the clunky bits. You sift the lines until they are as fine as silky powder. You give it your all.

As has been said, just look at it with fresh eyes and see if you can make it tighter and sharper. That bit where you've got a character saying three lines. Could it be done in two? You've just got to look at things and say 'Do we need?'

The best example of re-writing I've seen was in the Friends London episode. The first scene had them coming into the coffee shop and talking to each other about going to London. But the script editor suggested having the first scene pacier and have them packing, excited and hours away from the flight. It was so much better.

Occasionally I write a lyric or a few lines of script or anything which just comes out right but I would say 90% of what I write get's re-written, sometimes into oblivion! It used to be scribbles and crossings out and then a neat copy written out. But now it's MSWORD all the way! It's a lot easier!

I just re-read and edit bits as I go along. The pace and flow of my dialogue is always a little clunky on my first drafts, but I usually aim to just get the general beginning, middle and end sorted on the first go. Then I'll re-read and tighten up the dialogue. Other laughs then reveal themselves. I wouldn't bother about starting afresh.

No one should ever see your first draft. A first draft (of anyone's output) is never genius. The real genius is found in the refining process called editing.

Agree with Seefacts, Skibb and Paul, on their various points especially on what editing means in today's word-processor world. Most of my stuff is read and touched up 20 or 30 times before it goes out the door. When that includes 70k+ word projects, it's a bind but each stage in writing is progressively harder. The last part is the hardest part of all and relies on both luck and talent: getting the bloody thing commissioned.

Yup I have a first draft I have left for nearly 4 weeks now... It's terrible and too short at the moment but I intend to go back to it next year and really go to town on extending the story and adding more gags.