Since I watched Harper's Island this weekend, we're jumping back into that universe for this week's exercise. Honestly, I'm debating polishing this up a little bit and publishing it as a ficlet! It wound up being double the size of the other exercises (though still shorter than my typical one-shot stories, hence "ficlet"). Oops!
As before, the following vignette spoils the end. Click the jump at your own risk. Also, I am aware that this reads as a little disjointed. It's intentional.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
On Rewrite Projects, and Why They Help
I've mentioned before that when I get stuck/frustrated, I sometimes work on a rewrite project to help get the creative juices flowing again. I don't believe I've ever actually sat down and explained the rewrite projects, though, so here goes:
It's pretty much what it sounds like: I take a story I've written previously and completely rewrite it, from beginning to end. The pieces I choose are usually years old and have problems that I didn't see when I was writing it the first time.
For instance, my most recent rewrite was on a Supernatural story I wrote in 2007 called "Child's Play." It's a pre-series story about a young Sam and Dean meeting the ghost of a little girl who's haunting the motel at which John left them during his hunt. Over the course of the rewrite, I tightened up the language and also changed two things: how little Lucy was killed in the first place, and why neither Sam nor Dean told anyone on staff at the motel about the kidnapped child staying in one of their rooms.
I changed Lucy's manner of death because, in all honesty, it was too hard to prove and thus seemed too convenient that John and Dean caught onto it relatively quickly. I originally had the kidnapper drugging her food and overdosing her by mistake. Since a five-year-old (for that's how old Lucy was) wouldn't understand much other than "This tastes funny and makes me sleepy," it was just really convenient that she not only described it like that but also that John made the leap from funny-tasting food to drugging food to overdose as quickly as he did.
The whole thing with Sam and Dean not telling anyone in charge about Lucy was something I never thought of at all during the initial drafts. Because, well, I knew that Lucy was a ghost. It wouldn't have mattered what Sam or Dean told anyone because Lucy had been dead for eleven years. But when I was doing the rewrite, I realized that I at least needed to acknowledge the thought process of people who don't yet know that she's a ghost. So I had Sam offer to go tell someone and Lucy beg him not to, and I had Dean on his way to tell someone when John came back and the two of them figured out that Lucy was a ghost. So the intent was there, at least, even if neither of them managed to follow through.
The rewrite project I want to do now is on a Charmed story I wrote back in 2004 called "With a Vengeance." The basic premise of the story, that a demon/bad person/whatever wants to turn the Charmed Ones by using Prue's guilt over Andy's death as a way in, has a lot of potential, but the execution of it was ... not so good. There are too many things I spelled out way too much and too many things I didn't spell out enough. There are bits that are clunky and bits that are melodramatic and bits that are rather good. Basically, I want to even it out, and I think the distance from the piece will help a lot with that.
Now, as to why these little projects help with the current one. There's a lot less pressure on the rewrites, because the story's already done. It was posted in various places many moons ago. I only update my own personal files/archive with the rewrite information, so mostly they're for my eyes only. Because there's less pressure, the words usually wind up flowing nice and easy. And when the words flow, it loosens you up. Makes you realize that yeah, maybe you can do this after all.
Then, when the rewrite is finished, you have gained not only a little bit of distance from the project on which you were stuck/burnt out, but also a little more confidence in your talent and abilities. You're closer to and more in tune with your own style.
In a way, it's kind of a palate cleanser, a chance to clear out the cobwebs so you can return to your current project bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready for anything.
It's pretty much what it sounds like: I take a story I've written previously and completely rewrite it, from beginning to end. The pieces I choose are usually years old and have problems that I didn't see when I was writing it the first time.
For instance, my most recent rewrite was on a Supernatural story I wrote in 2007 called "Child's Play." It's a pre-series story about a young Sam and Dean meeting the ghost of a little girl who's haunting the motel at which John left them during his hunt. Over the course of the rewrite, I tightened up the language and also changed two things: how little Lucy was killed in the first place, and why neither Sam nor Dean told anyone on staff at the motel about the kidnapped child staying in one of their rooms.
I changed Lucy's manner of death because, in all honesty, it was too hard to prove and thus seemed too convenient that John and Dean caught onto it relatively quickly. I originally had the kidnapper drugging her food and overdosing her by mistake. Since a five-year-old (for that's how old Lucy was) wouldn't understand much other than "This tastes funny and makes me sleepy," it was just really convenient that she not only described it like that but also that John made the leap from funny-tasting food to drugging food to overdose as quickly as he did.
The whole thing with Sam and Dean not telling anyone in charge about Lucy was something I never thought of at all during the initial drafts. Because, well, I knew that Lucy was a ghost. It wouldn't have mattered what Sam or Dean told anyone because Lucy had been dead for eleven years. But when I was doing the rewrite, I realized that I at least needed to acknowledge the thought process of people who don't yet know that she's a ghost. So I had Sam offer to go tell someone and Lucy beg him not to, and I had Dean on his way to tell someone when John came back and the two of them figured out that Lucy was a ghost. So the intent was there, at least, even if neither of them managed to follow through.
The rewrite project I want to do now is on a Charmed story I wrote back in 2004 called "With a Vengeance." The basic premise of the story, that a demon/bad person/whatever wants to turn the Charmed Ones by using Prue's guilt over Andy's death as a way in, has a lot of potential, but the execution of it was ... not so good. There are too many things I spelled out way too much and too many things I didn't spell out enough. There are bits that are clunky and bits that are melodramatic and bits that are rather good. Basically, I want to even it out, and I think the distance from the piece will help a lot with that.
Now, as to why these little projects help with the current one. There's a lot less pressure on the rewrites, because the story's already done. It was posted in various places many moons ago. I only update my own personal files/archive with the rewrite information, so mostly they're for my eyes only. Because there's less pressure, the words usually wind up flowing nice and easy. And when the words flow, it loosens you up. Makes you realize that yeah, maybe you can do this after all.
Then, when the rewrite is finished, you have gained not only a little bit of distance from the project on which you were stuck/burnt out, but also a little more confidence in your talent and abilities. You're closer to and more in tune with your own style.
In a way, it's kind of a palate cleanser, a chance to clear out the cobwebs so you can return to your current project bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready for anything.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Writing Exercise #8
I don't mind telling you that I'm incredibly frustrated. Nothing's coming out the way I want it to, and I'm beginning to wonder if I need to do a rewrite project just to take a step back for a week or two.
(I also may be working on a post to explain the rewrite projects and why they help.)
Of course, that is a discussion for a different post. The point of this one is to share the results of the eighth writing exercise. More original characters!
Prompt: ancient
Fandom: original characters (The Witch of November)
Character(s): Allie Sullivan, Charlie Davis
-----
“Do you want to see it again?” Charlie Davis excitedly asked his best friend. He held out his hand, palm up, under her chin.
Her nose wrinkling, Allie Sullivan backed away slightly from Charlie’s outstretched palm. “No.” She’d already seen it. Three times. How the heck many times did he expect her to look at it?
A pout turned down the corners of Charlie’s mouth for a fraction of a second. Then he covered, rolling his eyes at her before returning his attention to the object in his open palm. “Whatever. Your loss.”
“It’s a penny!” Allie cried in exasperation. Really, if you've see one penny, you’ve seen them all.
“It’s an ancient penny,” Charlie corrected her.
“It’s not ancient.”
“It’s from 1909, Allie. It’s older than our grandparents. That makes it ancient.”
Allie sighed. This happened every single time that Charlie found a new coin for his collection. For a couple of days, he’d stare at it and then put it in his pocket only to take it out and stare at it again. Then he’d drop the coin into the tin with the rest of them and then forget about the whole collection until he found another coin. Lather, rinse, repeat.
And since all his coins were found money--coins he found in the street or got back in change--most of them weren’t even worth much more than face value! Allie didn’t understand his fascination with the stupid things in the slightest.
Charlie, sensing Allie’s disdain, took her hand and dropped the penny into it. “Think about it like this. That little penny has been held in human hands for over a hundred years. It’s seen the sinking of the Titanic and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was minted sixty years before anyone ever set foot on the moon. This one little piece of metal has survived it all.”
A smile curled onto Allie’s lips despite herself. All right, maybe she could understand Charlie’s fascination with the old coins. If she thought about it, they were like mini history lessons that fit into the palm of her hand.
(I also may be working on a post to explain the rewrite projects and why they help.)
Of course, that is a discussion for a different post. The point of this one is to share the results of the eighth writing exercise. More original characters!
Prompt: ancient
Fandom: original characters (The Witch of November)
Character(s): Allie Sullivan, Charlie Davis
-----
“Do you want to see it again?” Charlie Davis excitedly asked his best friend. He held out his hand, palm up, under her chin.
Her nose wrinkling, Allie Sullivan backed away slightly from Charlie’s outstretched palm. “No.” She’d already seen it. Three times. How the heck many times did he expect her to look at it?
A pout turned down the corners of Charlie’s mouth for a fraction of a second. Then he covered, rolling his eyes at her before returning his attention to the object in his open palm. “Whatever. Your loss.”
“It’s a penny!” Allie cried in exasperation. Really, if you've see one penny, you’ve seen them all.
“It’s an ancient penny,” Charlie corrected her.
“It’s not ancient.”
“It’s from 1909, Allie. It’s older than our grandparents. That makes it ancient.”
Allie sighed. This happened every single time that Charlie found a new coin for his collection. For a couple of days, he’d stare at it and then put it in his pocket only to take it out and stare at it again. Then he’d drop the coin into the tin with the rest of them and then forget about the whole collection until he found another coin. Lather, rinse, repeat.
And since all his coins were found money--coins he found in the street or got back in change--most of them weren’t even worth much more than face value! Allie didn’t understand his fascination with the stupid things in the slightest.
Charlie, sensing Allie’s disdain, took her hand and dropped the penny into it. “Think about it like this. That little penny has been held in human hands for over a hundred years. It’s seen the sinking of the Titanic and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was minted sixty years before anyone ever set foot on the moon. This one little piece of metal has survived it all.”
A smile curled onto Allie’s lips despite herself. All right, maybe she could understand Charlie’s fascination with the old coins. If she thought about it, they were like mini history lessons that fit into the palm of her hand.
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