To rewrite or not to rewrite

Well, here I am back from five days in the Isle of Man, where I’ve been soaking up the atmosphere for the chapters I’m writing now, which are set around Jurby parish.

There’s nothing quite as inspiring as being able to write in the middle of your setting and I did get quite a lot of writing done, though not quite as much as if I’d been on my own. I had to spend some of the time with my partner and the dog and anyway there’s a limit to how many hours a person can write. I find three hours at a stretch is my max, after that I’m braindead, even though I feel like carrying on. Really envy those people who seem to be able to write all day. Now, although I actually wrote a lot, a lot of it seems very rushed, I was so excited about where the plot was going, I didn’t get in much detail and realised I also needed to put in more essential information. Looking at my synopsis, I really need to go back to the beginning and get the whole thing into good shape before going on any further even though I’m itching to get on with it. It’s the source of a good deal of debate whether to edit as you go along, or just get the story out and edit later. I’m reminded of someone who told me recently that they create points in the manuscript to stop, go back and check that it actually all does make sense, because if you don’t, you may end up having to do major rewrites once you’ve finished. I think in my heart I know I have to do some work on it before I’m ready to go on, so this week I’ll be trying to get my nose to the grindstone. Problem is, when you’ve been away for a week, there are so many tasks to attend to when you get back and I’ve workshop material to prepare for my new course which starts in a couple of weeks. Anyway, aiming to revise and straighten up the five chapters I’ve done so far and plan out the sixth this week.