On Rereading and Rewriting Before You’re Done

My fiction writing unpopular opinion

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

There are two intersecting, commonly espoused pieces of novel writing advice I see online that I disagree with.

One — Don’t reread your novel while it’s in process, just keep writing!

And

Two — Don’t rewrite anything in your novel while it’s in process, just keep writing!

I can understand the philosophies behind these. Purely guessing, these might have some roots in NaNoWriMo novel-writing practices, where the focus is lots of words and forward motion. This also can be good advice for writers who struggle with finishing their novels, instead of focusing on just polishing up the beginning or starting new projects whenever the lumps of a novel’s forward progress get in the way. So it’s not that this is bad for all writers on all occasions, just that its general pronouncement as writing advice for all, as it is often framed, is wrong. I, personally, have rewritten and reread in ways that have helped me overcome writer’s block and even finish my novel drafts.

When to reread your in-progress novel

1 ) When you’ve hit a writer’s block. Not a temporary writer’s block of an hour, or a day or two, but a long-term one. Rereading what you’ve written thus far can provide clarity. It reminds you of what you’ve written, for one, and can provide inspiration. In a reread perhaps you’ll see a plot threat you dropped that you now want to pick back up. Perhaps a throwaway detail becomes a clue to a new twist in the story.

2) Just “maybe sometimes” during the novel-writing process, *if* you find that rereading benefits you as a writer as opposed to the other option of just barreling ahead. Novels are long and often complex with characters, subplots, and themes; they often take long periods to complete. Sometimes the writers need to review what they’ve written thus far just to keep themselves abreast of it all.

When to rewrite your in-progress novel

1)For immediate small corrections. Practice cycling (a concept I picked by from Author Dean Wesley Smith’s blog (link)) in which you write some, then ‘cycles’ back to reread, add, and…