I know, I know, I've been neglecting this blog. Truthfully, I've been neglecting writing lately, which meant I had no real content for the blog. Since no one likes to read "Yeah, nothing's really changed, but I'm here just to babble" posts, I just ... haven't posted.
The reasons for the neglect are numerous and all sound like bad excuses. At the beginning of the year, I had a really stressful couple of months, which left no energy or even real interest for writing. Then when things calmed down in my personal life, I found myself writer's-blocked. Nothing came out the way I envisioned, I didn't like the sound of anything I wrote, the whole shebang.
So I took a break. Breaks not of my own choosing are frustrating, to be sure, but sitting there hating everything I wrote was even more so. The hardest part of any break is getting back into the swing of things, but I knew that if I didn't, I never would.
I like writing, so the thought of not being able to make myself sit there and do it made me sad. So tonight I kicked my own behind, put my headphones on, and tried to work on my epiphany. I'd written the new prologue a couple of times already, but it never sounded ... right. And I can't really explain what "right" is; I just knew that what I had wasn't it.
Tonight? I'm cautiously optimistic that I got it right. Cautiously because I tend to like the things I write the day I write them but then I look at it more objectively the next day and see all the problems. We'll see if I still like it tomorrow, but I like it a lot tonight. The tone, the voice, a nice balance of exposition in the prose and in dialogue ... I kinda think I nailed it.
Showing posts with label rewrite. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rewrite. Show all posts
Sunday, April 17, 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.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Problem: Recognized (I Think)
I know I've said this many, many times (more times than I want to count, really), but I think I've figured out part of my problem with my voice in The Witch of November: I feel like I'm being too verbose.
When I read through the first chapter, I get this, "Get on with it" reaction. Which, clearly, is not the reaction I want. I feel like it's too much exposition and not enough action, even though the exposition is kind of necessary.
Like before with my needless drama issue, I now have to figure out how to provide enough exposition so that my eventual readers will have some clue as to what's going on, but not enough to bog down the whole chapter.
Wish me luck.
When I read through the first chapter, I get this, "Get on with it" reaction. Which, clearly, is not the reaction I want. I feel like it's too much exposition and not enough action, even though the exposition is kind of necessary.
Like before with my needless drama issue, I now have to figure out how to provide enough exposition so that my eventual readers will have some clue as to what's going on, but not enough to bog down the whole chapter.
Wish me luck.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Writer's Block ... Of a Sort
I think it's time to admit that I have writer's block.
Well, sort of. I've mentioned before that I've only had one real case of writer's block where I just could not write a single thing, and that the block lasted close to two years. I'm not at that point right now. Where I am right now is a kind of burnout.
I've written and rewritten and reworded my first chapter so many times that I've honestly lost count. Nothing's coming out the way I want. It's not bad, per se, just ... not what I want.
I can't keep writing it over and over to make it come out the way I want. Especially since I don't exactly know what it is that I want. I just know that what I have now isn't it.
What do I usually do in cases like this is work on something else. Something new, maybe, just to spend time on something different in an effort to get the creative juices flowing again. I don't have any new plot ideas at the moment, so I'm embarking on a rewrite project.
Here's hoping that by the time I'm done with the rewrite, things will flow better in my main project.
Well, sort of. I've mentioned before that I've only had one real case of writer's block where I just could not write a single thing, and that the block lasted close to two years. I'm not at that point right now. Where I am right now is a kind of burnout.
I've written and rewritten and reworded my first chapter so many times that I've honestly lost count. Nothing's coming out the way I want. It's not bad, per se, just ... not what I want.
I can't keep writing it over and over to make it come out the way I want. Especially since I don't exactly know what it is that I want. I just know that what I have now isn't it.
What do I usually do in cases like this is work on something else. Something new, maybe, just to spend time on something different in an effort to get the creative juices flowing again. I don't have any new plot ideas at the moment, so I'm embarking on a rewrite project.
Here's hoping that by the time I'm done with the rewrite, things will flow better in my main project.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Change is a Good Thing ... Sometimes.
Remember what I said before about change being necessary in the writing process? Yeah. It still stands.
I’ve thought of a workaround for my problem in the beginning of The Witch of November, namely the whole bunch of drama that ultimately goes nowhere. And that fix (at least I hope it’s a fix!) involved lots and lots of change.
Step One was to split Chapter Two into two separate chapters (because that shit was freakin’ long). So now instead of ghosts and 911 calls and ambulances and hospitals and doctors, it’s ghosts and 911 calls and ambulances. The hospitals and doctors come later, in the new Chapter Three.
Step Two was a complete rewrite. I decided to take out all indications that Charlie had been physically attacked. No bruises, no bumps, nothing. The kid is just unconscious. That step was both practical and creative: practical because it cuts out the whole “we have a person attacking kids in an abandoned house” line of thinking for the adults, thereby cutting the police investigation out of the story entirely, and creative because it’s more mysterious to have Charlie perfectly fine one minute and in some kind of ghost-spell-induced coma the next.
I also had Allie refrain from telling the paramedics that she’d seen the ghost standing over Charlie. The way I’d had the story originally, the adults figured Allie had seen Charlie being attacked and, in her trauma, confused the town legend with what she actually saw. This way, if she doesn’t tell them she saw anything, they have no reason to question her. Charlie could have fallen in the house, hit his head, or he could have just come down with some bizarre illness like on an episode of House for all they know.
And yes, Allie struggles with keeping information from the adults that could help her friend, but she’s old enough to know that a group of doctors and concerned parents are not exactly going to believe, “The ghost did it!” coming out of the mouth of a hysterical child.
Step Three is combining and rewriting my old Chapters Three and Four. Most of the old Chapter Three no longer applies, since that was when the detectives come to interview Allie. So that all has to just get deleted, which will severely cut into my word count (sadness!).
I’m hoping it’ll flow better now that the necessary-but-unnecessary drama is out of the story. It was necessary because of the way I’d set things up, but it wasn’t central to the premise. And because it wasn’t central, it had no real resolution: clearly the police were not going to find Charlie’s attacker since the attacker was a ghost. So why introduce a plot point you can’t resolve? Out it had to go.
So, yeah. I am cautiously optimistic that I’ll start liking it a lot better now.
I’ve thought of a workaround for my problem in the beginning of The Witch of November, namely the whole bunch of drama that ultimately goes nowhere. And that fix (at least I hope it’s a fix!) involved lots and lots of change.
Step One was to split Chapter Two into two separate chapters (because that shit was freakin’ long). So now instead of ghosts and 911 calls and ambulances and hospitals and doctors, it’s ghosts and 911 calls and ambulances. The hospitals and doctors come later, in the new Chapter Three.
Step Two was a complete rewrite. I decided to take out all indications that Charlie had been physically attacked. No bruises, no bumps, nothing. The kid is just unconscious. That step was both practical and creative: practical because it cuts out the whole “we have a person attacking kids in an abandoned house” line of thinking for the adults, thereby cutting the police investigation out of the story entirely, and creative because it’s more mysterious to have Charlie perfectly fine one minute and in some kind of ghost-spell-induced coma the next.
I also had Allie refrain from telling the paramedics that she’d seen the ghost standing over Charlie. The way I’d had the story originally, the adults figured Allie had seen Charlie being attacked and, in her trauma, confused the town legend with what she actually saw. This way, if she doesn’t tell them she saw anything, they have no reason to question her. Charlie could have fallen in the house, hit his head, or he could have just come down with some bizarre illness like on an episode of House for all they know.
And yes, Allie struggles with keeping information from the adults that could help her friend, but she’s old enough to know that a group of doctors and concerned parents are not exactly going to believe, “The ghost did it!” coming out of the mouth of a hysterical child.
Step Three is combining and rewriting my old Chapters Three and Four. Most of the old Chapter Three no longer applies, since that was when the detectives come to interview Allie. So that all has to just get deleted, which will severely cut into my word count (sadness!).
I’m hoping it’ll flow better now that the necessary-but-unnecessary drama is out of the story. It was necessary because of the way I’d set things up, but it wasn’t central to the premise. And because it wasn’t central, it had no real resolution: clearly the police were not going to find Charlie’s attacker since the attacker was a ghost. So why introduce a plot point you can’t resolve? Out it had to go.
So, yeah. I am cautiously optimistic that I’ll start liking it a lot better now.
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