INTERACTION

This has surely been asked before, but I can't find it.

Anyway, when anyone here rewrites, redrafts or edits, how much, roughly, of the original draft do you find yourselves keeping?

I ask in large part because I suspect that 99% is probably too much.

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Anything that ended up published I edited about 5% out of it. Anything that hasn't ended up published I'm still editing and will probably never get published.

I guess the answer will be different for everyone

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www.andrew-hook.com

I take about 10% for what it's worth, but only as a general rule. Sometimes I add stuff.

I think it varies for everyone. I write very minimalist first drafts, and so usually end up with a much longer end product.

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I follow the advice of Mr King:

2nd Draft = 1st Draft - 10%

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www.rosswarren.co.uk

It varies enormously I think from book to book and author to author. Urbis Morpheos was originally twice as long, so I took 50% out of that...

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I don't think there should be a set percentage - take out what doesn't work or is unnecessary, put in what's needed.

I like Sol Stein's suggestions about editing. He recommends editing in several passes, at different levels of abstraction. He says fix the big problems first (things like characters that don't quite work, flaws in plot logic or story sequence, etc.). Next fix the medium-sized stuff (pacing issues, unnecessary/unconvincing scenes etc.). Finally, only when you're happy with the overall story structure, go in and fix the nitty-gritty details of language.

Of course, it's very difficult to resist the temptation to tinker with sentences and paragraphs as you read through something - but Stein's rationale is that you may be polishing something you're going to end up throwing out anyway.

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