I just finished a rewrite of Once Upon A Prince, releasing April 2013 from Zondervan. Covered nearly 87K words in two weeks.

Not my favorite thing to do – tackle a rewrite in two weeks but that’s how it worked out.

The opening needed a big change in my mind as well as my editor’s. Openings are my weakest.

I tend to tell too much story. Not back story per say, just too much “pipe” as we say at My Book Therapy. I build too much story world.

So I needed to tackle the opening and when I do that, I tend to ripe to shreds and start over. I probably rewrote the opening five times.

Here’s the danger in doing that: forgetting other correlating threads in the story. I had to line up the opening to make sense with what I’d written in chapters 2 – 30. I didn’t want to rip apart the whole thing.

I knew I wanted to JUMP into the story right away. My heroine is getting really bad news when she was expecting good.

A rewrite is your time to fix and polish your story. It’s not a time to just lightly dust it but to make sure all of your motivations work and the threads are tied up and the story question answered.

The first rule of a good rewrite is a good first write. Use all of your MBT tools to submit the best possible manuscript. Learn characterization and plotting.

This is my sixteenth novel. Two weeks was a bit of a squeeze, but doable. Because I’ve learned to submit better books the first time. Now, I still need another week to go over it and polish, but a rewrite opportunity isn’t an excuse to go shallow on the first write.

But once you have feedback and input, now’s the time to really roll up your sleeves. Time to JUMP into your rewrite.

J – Justify. Are the changes you’re considering a part of protagonist main journey? Do they align with the characters you’ve created? Every change must be justified. Ask yourself before you make plot or character changes, or as you tweak dialog, “Does this fit with the story? Is it justified?”

U – Understand. What makes your book sellable? Why is the reader going to devote eight or ten hours to your book? Do you remember and understand the book’s premise? Over all theme? Understand and justified considered changes under this story umbrella: “What is this book about?”

M – Motivation. Rewrite changes must stay within the overall motivation of the protagonist, as well as the motivation for each chapter and scene. Keep and understand the motivation of the noble quest, of the push pull, for every rewrite you make. The protagonist can’t just decide to do something you want him to or it feels cool. It has to come from internal or external motivation. The motivation has to be true to your character. Character is key to solid book. Motivation is key to a solid character.

P – Problem. Do the stakes continue to escalate? It’s easy in a rewrite to accidentally tone down a scene. Or worse, not realize a scene needs to be ramped up. I’ve gotten caught up in reading my own book and forgot to ramp up tension. Do your story threads tie up in the end? If not, give a reason why so the reader knows you didn’t forget.

Rewrites can be daunting. Like taking something apart only to be put back together again. Trust your instincts. You’re a writer, a storyteller.

***

Best-selling, award-winning author Rachel Hauck loves a great story. She excels in seeing the deeper layers of a story. With a love for teaching and mentoring, Rachel comes alongside writers to help them craft their novel. A worship leader, board member of ACFW and popular writing teacher, Rachel is the author of over 15 novels. She lives in Florida with her husband and her dog, Lola. Contact her at: Rachel@mybooktherapy.com.