During a revision, trying to piece together all the best parts of your novel and still make the story feel cohesive can be a challenge.
Some novels are really hard to revise. The story goes through multiple drafts and there are strong scenes in each one—but no one draft that works on its own. The only way to save the story and craft the novel you know you have in there somewhere, is to pick the best scenes and smoosh it all together.
Which can be good, or lead to a Frankendraft.
Don't fret though—you can turn all those drafts into a novel worth reading. It just takes a little more work and a lot more focus.
Don't fret though—you can turn all those drafts into a novel worth reading. It just takes a little more work and a lot more focus.
When dealing with multiple drafts of a novel, the first step is to clarify what you have that works, and what you have that doesn't.
Make a list of your scenes allows you to identify which pieces contribute to your core conflict and which don't. Note the critical details in all the scenes you plan to use and see how they flow together. Maybe even craft a one-line summary of each scene that describes the plot movement so you can see how they connect to the overall story arcs.
Continue Reading