So, I'm through with the second draft of my novel (+/-133,000 words) and I think I'm in danger of "fixing it until...

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So, I'm through with the second draft of my novel (+/-133,000 words) and I think I'm in danger of "fixing it until it's broken."  I'm going through it a third time just to make sure it flows properly and I find myself making changes I wonder if they really need to be made.

I'm having a friend test read it here shortly. She doesn't typically read the genre but she's a stickler for grammar and detail. 

Does anyone else run across this? "Fixing it until it's broke?"

Comments

Rasana Atreya said…
I do that all the time. That's why it takes me 3 years to write a novel! Good or bad, that's the only way I can do it.
May 17, 2014 at 11:22 PM
David Burton said…
Yup.

I've been re-reading short stories where I was previously happy enough with them to submit to online publications, but now I want to include them in a collection I'm re-reading, and anything from an alternate word choice to a disappearing paragraph are still happening now.

I even tweaked one that was good enough to be published online and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

I guess there are no "perfect" combinations of words, so something slightly different tomorrow can scan just as well as what we decided on today.

Plus, if you read a traditionally published book very slowly (as if it were your own and you were redrafting/editing) I can often see little things I would tweak there.
May 18, 2014 at 2:23 AM
Brittany Constable said…
That's why it's important to have multiple readers with different perspectives, because while you're tweaking word choice here and there, you may not realize that, say, the pacing isn't working or you didn't properly set up a major plot point.

I generally do a second draft where I fix the things that I already know are broken, spotted either while drafting (I keep a running list of things to fix or verify) or on that first re-read. That's the point where I need to get it in front of other eyes, because I'm just not going to be able to bring more to the table on my own.
May 18, 2014 at 5:55 AM
Earl Sewell, MFA said…
As an author who has published nearly thirty books I'd like to offer my viewpoint. When I first began writing back in the 80s, I had the same issue. The issue of writing and rewriting and editing and editing more and then reading and re-reading---You get the point. My problem was fear. Fear that the world would call my baby ugly. Fear that the world would point out some error. Fear that some reader would rip me a new A-hole for wasting their brain cells reading my work.  I had to get inside my own head and give fear the middle finger before I kicked its ass. I had to tell myself that my work was worthy and that someone would say my work helped to transform their life or that they couldn't put it down. I had to tell myself that one stranger was out there waiting for my work to cross their path and they'd be grateful that they found something that spoke to them.  At some point, you must learn to let go. Your baby, your creative work, needs to be set free.
May 18, 2014 at 6:58 AM
MLBanner said…
I didn't hear you say the magic word "editor." Perhaps you've done this already, but you have not, make sure you hire a good professional editor. He/she will make sure your draft is polished. Then, after your final re-read/polish, it's time to let it go.
May 18, 2014 at 7:27 AM
Eduardo Suastegui said…
Not necessarily "fixing it until it's broke" but fixing it ad infinitum, which is entirely possible -- especially with my writing -- since perfection is not attainable. What's that cliche, perfection is the enemy of good enough. At some point I tell myself "it works" and push the publish button. Getting there is a process full of self-doubt and self-questioning, though.
May 18, 2014 at 9:22 AM
James Koss said…
Fixing it, until it's perfect. Sometimes, scrapping it is perfection. :=D
May 18, 2014 at 9:54 AM
Bruce Burns said…
Some published pros that I respect do three edits.  A revision for story, then a revision for style, finally a read-through edit that catches the things others don't.  But I regularly write 150-250k so I know how burdensome that can be.  (Ack, a nominalization...)
May 18, 2014 at 11:27 AM
Jefferson Smith said…
Two points. First, you know you're done when your changes only make it different, not better.

Second: when you can't tell which is which from point #1, it's time to bring in an editor.
May 18, 2014 at 12:58 PM
R B said…
Maybe give it a cooling off period and go back to it. Sometimes that helps me alot
May 18, 2014 at 3:52 PM
Daniel Benfield said…
A book is never really "finished" because as writers we can always add or edit things out. Eventually you have to drop the pen/pencil/keyboard and let the novel go.
May 18, 2014 at 8:24 PM
Rasana Atreya said…
I forgot to add - after I'm satisfied with draft, I send it out to my beta readers who, in turn, give me more feedback. I fix that, then finish off with a professional editor. A very long process
May 18, 2014 at 9:23 PM
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