Franken-Story
How to Revise without Feeling Awkwardly Stitched Together
It’s not always easy raising a manuscript from the dead. A great way to revive an old decaying story is to combine it with another buried tale.
One way to do this is to take a character from one story and plop them into the setting of another. Or take a problem and give it to characters from another story.
Sometimes when we take the body of one story and combine it with pieces of another (a character, a theme, a foot…a brain), we end up with the dreaded Franken-story.
It’s Alive!
These pieced-together stories might be surging with electricity but they can also struggle to make sense. As they recklessly stumble about, the voice, or theme, or transitions may get jumbled. I have assembled many Franken-stories myself. They can get pretty scary.
So, how do we combine ideas without giving the story a stitched together feeling? This is a question that often comes up in critiques with my clients. We have all written at least one Franken-story. Time and time again turning a Franken-story into a living, breathing creation boils down to the same few elements:
1. Voice – often when we piece stories together, they already have their own unique character or narrator voices. The phrasing, sentence length, tone, or word choices can compete, making the story sound disjointed and dissonant. Choose one consistent voice for the whole story. Rewrite the whole story in that voice.
2. Tense & Point of View (POV) – Some stories work better in past tense, some in present, some with a first person POV, some in third person POV, etc. But when we combine stories, merging the tense and POV can get…gory. All of a sudden, we feel like the head is not on straight or the POV sees too much or too little of the story. If our narrator becomes unreliable then our reader becomes distracted. Sometimes we slip from past tense to present when we stitch stories together. Choose on tense and POV and stay consistent.
3. Missing Pieces & Transitions – sometimes we make giant leaps in stories to tie them together – when a character changes too quickly or resolves an issue too easily it doesn’t feel natural. That’s how Franken-stories are born. We can’t skip over the growth process or throw in a mystery character 2/3 of the way through the story to wrap it all up in a nice bow. The character arc and transitions from scenes need to feel natural and organic. Not laboratory-made.
4. Lastly – MURDER – yes, every good Franken-story requires at least one murder. That darling phrase, or character, or scene that worked so well in the original manuscript does not make sense anymore in this revision and sadly, must be CUT!
"You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature." – Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
"You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature." – Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Yes, dear friends, I am a murderer of sweet darlings and you must be too.
The part of your first story that you loved so much may not work in this revived revision and if you force it in there, it falls flat…and must be taken out. Do not fret, you can keep a file of these darlings for later. A nice pile of body parts that might fit better with another character.
This fall I have a book coming out that combines Halloween and Valentine’s Day. I wrote the beginning and end and then had to piece together the middle, making sure to keep the same voice, style, and tone. The result: NO LOVE POTION (coming in September 2026) a witchy tale about how an unexpected act of kindness and a chaotic explosion turn a No Love Potion into a Valentine’s Stew for two.
I’ve got a file of struggling stories waiting for the element that will bring them back to life. I’m sure you do too. So, pick two or three of your dying stories to stitch together, and declare your seamless revision “ALIVE!”
Which manuscript do you want to bring back to life? Join the conversation at Kidlit Zombie Week Bluesky and Kidlit Zombie Week Instagram. It’s electrifying!
Be sure to invite your writing friends to participate in Kidlit Zombie Week 2026, where revision experiences are shared, practical tips are offered, and creative ideas are suggested. And don’t forget to check out the amazing Kidlit Zombie Week Prizes donated by generous Kidlit community members!
Rooting for you and your revisions,
Thank you to the the rest of the Kidlit Zombie Week Team and Hosts!