Yesterday I talked about the Creation of a story, today I will talk about the Recreation of a story.
When you've gone from start to finish, it's time to start over again...and again...and again...and again. And when you think it's perfect, go through it again. And then you let others read it, and you go through their comments, and change what you think needs changing.
and then, guess what? You do it again.
The book I've worked the most on to perfect, Mending Fences, I've done twelve rewrites/edits. And you know what? I'm starting another. And every time you go through it, you'll find mistakes, and things that need changing.
I've added characters, cut characters, added and cut scenes, made it more literary, less literary, added more action, changed the ending, changed the beginning, etc. etc.
A tip I have when you revise, is I change the name as if it's a new version of software. So right now I'm on Mending Fences 13.0. I have Dena Powers 3.0, What Gets You In 2.o, and Lockdown 2.0. It makes it less confusing when trying to find the right version of what you're working on.
Writing/revising is a never ending process. Eventually you have to stop of course, otherwise you'll make yourself crazy. It's hard though, to reach the point when you say, "okay, I think it's finally done."
I should have done that with my naming... In fact I think I will adopt it, as of NOW. It's too late for CONFUENCE (though I have versions on CD with dates and I know anything in Works is old)... And I LOVED yesterday's post, though you don't seem to fly by the seat of your pants nearly as much as I do... I may have to think about that...
ReplyDeleteHa. Thanks. I actually sounded more organized in yesterday's post than I am. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of 2.0, 3.0, etc. I will definitely use it on my rewrites. I'm intimidated by the revision process that's looming this summer. Right now I'm just trying to get it all out without losing my mind...
ReplyDeleteGood luck. It's a difficult process for sure. :)
ReplyDeleteA good trick for rewriting: My editor pointed out that all my scenes were the same length. The problem with that was that some scenes are stronger than others. Face it, we write better on a particular scene when our area of expertise or passion is being explored, and write weaker when we don't really know about a subject.
ReplyDeleteSo, I was told to lengthen the strong or unique scenes as a way to minimumize the weak scenes. Make sense? That was easy to do because adding to your favorite scenes is actually fun because those are the scenes you are more passionate and knowledgable about anyway.
Oh, by the way, congratulations on advancing in the Amazon contest. I'm green with jealous envy, but I'll get over it. Probably. Someday, maybe. Not today, but tomarrow for sure. Good luck! I'll follow your contest advancement vicariously.
Thanks Walter. I appreciate it, and your post. :)
ReplyDelete