ARGH.
I have a problem. I may have written seven novels, and some of them had engaging characters, and interesting plots, but I can't seem to make the endings works. This was the problem with Evolution of a Wolf, where the ending was big and dramatic but it did grow organically from the beginning and middle of the story. I may have gotten too committed to what happened with Alice and Ian to really comprehend how it was not right and now, they seem stuck in that space. I can't get my brain to work.
Anyways, so I decided to just scrap the whole thing and start something new, because I was getting itchy. I plotted something out -- and it was cool. It was heading towards clockwork punk, with a bit of space western thrown in, but I have had the hardest time STARTING it, because I know the ending doesn't work.
I thought it was first draft fatigue -- thought it was the rush to get through the end, but I can't even plot an end that makes sense. WHAT THE HELL SELF.
Well FINE I AM JUST GOING TO WORK ON IT.
*stomps off to do so*
Showing posts with label editing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label editing. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
The Writer
Having re-read my novel after giving it a rest, I feel pretty good about it. Unfortunately, in the interlude I have once again started up again with tBoG which is actually going along swimmingly, now I've sorted a few things out about it. Yes, tBoG is a twelve book series, but I really am enjoying just writing the first book.
Speaking of enjoying things: I love my kindle dearly. I was reading Things White People Like and something that keeps coming up is that every 'white person' (meaning, middle class, with a college degree) wants to write a novel. Now, I have always been of the opinion that anyone can write -- fiction that is -- but for some reason, this comment about how so many people want to write a novel, or have one kicking around in their head, upsets me. Analyzing it, I know I am upset for selfish reasons (mostly), but it doesn't stop me from being upset.
Here's how the logic works:
I have had many conversations with people about the books they want to write. I love these conversations -- they are the times when I am happiest, getting to expound upon the meaning and structure of novels is one of the great joys of my life -- and I want to have them... oh all the time.
Now this is the part that depresses me -- nothing comes of these conversations for the other people. No one goes home, sits down and bangs out a novel. Oh they get a few thousand words in, determine that they've written enough and never go back to it. They don't go through the fanatical high that is the end of a book, or flounder through the middle, trying to figure out if they are boring themselves, let alone the reader.
Why does this upset me? Part of it, I will admit, is liking the idea of helping people -- but the majority of it is about the fact that I want people who have experienced this in my life. I want to be able to talk about what it means to end a book. I want to find people who know what I mean when I talk about characters going off and doing things that I never expected -- you can't get that in the first five thousand words (mostly).
I suppose what I mean is, I want to start a writers group for novelists, but I don't know how to differentiate between the people who think like me (not in everything, but have the same intensity towards writing as myself) and those that are merely tossing around an idea that they will never complete. And a writer's group is only good for people who are committed, sure and ready to work with one another to produce the best work possible. I just wish there was a litmus test for this...
Speaking of enjoying things: I love my kindle dearly. I was reading Things White People Like and something that keeps coming up is that every 'white person' (meaning, middle class, with a college degree) wants to write a novel. Now, I have always been of the opinion that anyone can write -- fiction that is -- but for some reason, this comment about how so many people want to write a novel, or have one kicking around in their head, upsets me. Analyzing it, I know I am upset for selfish reasons (mostly), but it doesn't stop me from being upset.
Here's how the logic works:
I have had many conversations with people about the books they want to write. I love these conversations -- they are the times when I am happiest, getting to expound upon the meaning and structure of novels is one of the great joys of my life -- and I want to have them... oh all the time.
Now this is the part that depresses me -- nothing comes of these conversations for the other people. No one goes home, sits down and bangs out a novel. Oh they get a few thousand words in, determine that they've written enough and never go back to it. They don't go through the fanatical high that is the end of a book, or flounder through the middle, trying to figure out if they are boring themselves, let alone the reader.
Why does this upset me? Part of it, I will admit, is liking the idea of helping people -- but the majority of it is about the fact that I want people who have experienced this in my life. I want to be able to talk about what it means to end a book. I want to find people who know what I mean when I talk about characters going off and doing things that I never expected -- you can't get that in the first five thousand words (mostly).
I suppose what I mean is, I want to start a writers group for novelists, but I don't know how to differentiate between the people who think like me (not in everything, but have the same intensity towards writing as myself) and those that are merely tossing around an idea that they will never complete. And a writer's group is only good for people who are committed, sure and ready to work with one another to produce the best work possible. I just wish there was a litmus test for this...
Friday, March 18, 2011
In the Interlude
A lot of books on writing suggest you put a manuscript to bed for a little while before beginning to edit. This gives you a little distance from the work, and the first blush of love you feel for any novel you've written, fades giving you the ability to 'kill your darlings' as it were.
I used to think this was hogwash -- shouldn't you know exactly what happened in your novel in order to go back and edit as soon as possible? As I've grown into the writer I am now, I find though, that I come to things with fresh eyes if I just give a little time for the novel to breathe. New ideas occur to me, I watch a new show and discover something that I want to add into my novel. Its a calming period, when I can think about what I have written and how to make it better.
I am in the waiting period, letting EoaW (I wrote out the title recently and realized to my horror that there was an 'a' in the title) settle into what it will become in my mind. There are things that have to change about it, I know, but for now I am letting it rest.
But just because I'm letting something rest doesn't mean I don't have a million other ideas. Two things have happened since I finished my novel that are related to this: one, I attempted to plot the next five books after Pawn and I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Pawn is troubling to me because I don't know exactly where its going. The unfortunate thing about knowing how tropes work is that I know the expected path for a story like Pawn, and know that you can only deviate from it somewhat without violating the agreement with the reader -- to tell a story that is different yet the same in exchange for their willing suspension of disbelief. But I don't like the expected path, and to be honest the whole thinking about the whole series has made me slightly disappointed that it appears to have a moral.
This leads to a niggling, scary thought, that I am going to have to re-write a large portion of the backstory, and probably the majority of the story. While I know that this probably will be the result, I don't think I can handle re-writing the story right now. I'm in the middle of editing EoaW and I need that energy for the editing process.
Anyways, so that has me a little stumped. I think though, that the second thing that happened has opened up something for me.
The Hunger Games was given to me by a resident last night and I read it in one giant gulp. I don't remember the last time I read something new like this. I mean, I read The Dark Jewels trilogy like this, and Harry Potter, but even for authors I love, it usually takes me a couple of days to get through a book -- partly because of a decreased attention span and partly because -- well I get ideas and head over to word to start writing.
I suppose the last new book I read like this was The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and that was almost five years ago now (ignoring the Harry Potter books, because those were expected). Part of this is due to being in college, and finding less and less time to read, and part of this is the fact that it doesn't happen often me me.
The Hunger Games was another wonderful example of pacing done right. It had captivating characters and the narration -- wow the narration was done brilliantly. You are swept alone in Katniss's world, and feel the same confusion about characters, the same little loves and joys as her. It was extremely well done. But I don't want to spoil it right now. I have to read the next two books and see what happens and then I'll probably do a giant recap post.
Anyways, if you haven't read it, I definitely recommend it. At least the first book.
Anyways, The Hunger Games made Alane pop up again. Probably because I have twelve books to fill with her, but almost anything can happen in Alane's books, I just have to create a sequence and follow my larger plot driven arcs. The point being, the idea of an arena, fighting, lead me to the beginning of Alane's story -- something I had been trying to find for a long time.
So, in the interlude between finishing and editing, I am going to keep on writing... its all I know how to do.
I used to think this was hogwash -- shouldn't you know exactly what happened in your novel in order to go back and edit as soon as possible? As I've grown into the writer I am now, I find though, that I come to things with fresh eyes if I just give a little time for the novel to breathe. New ideas occur to me, I watch a new show and discover something that I want to add into my novel. Its a calming period, when I can think about what I have written and how to make it better.
I am in the waiting period, letting EoaW (I wrote out the title recently and realized to my horror that there was an 'a' in the title) settle into what it will become in my mind. There are things that have to change about it, I know, but for now I am letting it rest.
But just because I'm letting something rest doesn't mean I don't have a million other ideas. Two things have happened since I finished my novel that are related to this: one, I attempted to plot the next five books after Pawn and I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Pawn is troubling to me because I don't know exactly where its going. The unfortunate thing about knowing how tropes work is that I know the expected path for a story like Pawn, and know that you can only deviate from it somewhat without violating the agreement with the reader -- to tell a story that is different yet the same in exchange for their willing suspension of disbelief. But I don't like the expected path, and to be honest the whole thinking about the whole series has made me slightly disappointed that it appears to have a moral.
This leads to a niggling, scary thought, that I am going to have to re-write a large portion of the backstory, and probably the majority of the story. While I know that this probably will be the result, I don't think I can handle re-writing the story right now. I'm in the middle of editing EoaW and I need that energy for the editing process.
Anyways, so that has me a little stumped. I think though, that the second thing that happened has opened up something for me.
The Hunger Games was given to me by a resident last night and I read it in one giant gulp. I don't remember the last time I read something new like this. I mean, I read The Dark Jewels trilogy like this, and Harry Potter, but even for authors I love, it usually takes me a couple of days to get through a book -- partly because of a decreased attention span and partly because -- well I get ideas and head over to word to start writing.
I suppose the last new book I read like this was The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and that was almost five years ago now (ignoring the Harry Potter books, because those were expected). Part of this is due to being in college, and finding less and less time to read, and part of this is the fact that it doesn't happen often me me.
The Hunger Games was another wonderful example of pacing done right. It had captivating characters and the narration -- wow the narration was done brilliantly. You are swept alone in Katniss's world, and feel the same confusion about characters, the same little loves and joys as her. It was extremely well done. But I don't want to spoil it right now. I have to read the next two books and see what happens and then I'll probably do a giant recap post.
Anyways, if you haven't read it, I definitely recommend it. At least the first book.
Anyways, The Hunger Games made Alane pop up again. Probably because I have twelve books to fill with her, but almost anything can happen in Alane's books, I just have to create a sequence and follow my larger plot driven arcs. The point being, the idea of an arena, fighting, lead me to the beginning of Alane's story -- something I had been trying to find for a long time.
So, in the interlude between finishing and editing, I am going to keep on writing... its all I know how to do.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
How to Prove You're A Nerd
Sooooooo, I finished my first draft. :D
Of course my first thing to do is to find out some stats about my novel.
105,784 words in total.
2,394 paragraphs.
Of the three main characters, Molly's name is used the least at 1278, while Ian is at the most with 1374, and Alice coming in at second with only fourteen more then Molly at 1292. The three minor characters who have the most used are Alex (277), Owen (262) and Clara (261), impressive for Owen considering he was barely in the rough draft.
Here is a wordle without the names:
Of course my first thing to do is to find out some stats about my novel.
105,784 words in total.
2,394 paragraphs.
Of the three main characters, Molly's name is used the least at 1278, while Ian is at the most with 1374, and Alice coming in at second with only fourteen more then Molly at 1292. The three minor characters who have the most used are Alex (277), Owen (262) and Clara (261), impressive for Owen considering he was barely in the rough draft.
Here is a wordle without the names:
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Distractions
I feel pretty good about the past week. There was a ton of stuff I should have done (read: studying for my immunology exam on Thursday, applied for more jobs, read my magazines, ect.) and I didn't complete all (or any?) of my goals, but I still feel pretty good. The novel editing is still going well, despite a definite slow down. I have something like five or six scenes to write left and I'm going to try and get them done before break ends so I can feel like something was accomplished. I managed to clean my room thoroughly for the first time since before break (I clean often, don't worry, its more about organization and things like that).
Having said that there were plenty of distractions this week, despite not having a social life. I didn't really want to see many people this week; not because I don't love people and spending time with them, but because I wanted to recharge and feel like myself again and I needed to do that alone. It was good in that respect because most of my floor was gone and I worked late shifts at the desk (though ahaha, 40 hours of work means PAYDAY). So it wasn't people who distracted me.
The obvious: TV. I started watching the British version of Being Human (and am annoyed that the American [well Canadian] version is set in Boston and I want to watch it now, but don't know if I can handle the changes) and loved it. Fantasy/Sci-fi shows are a place where you can have the sort of drama you get over loaded on in other TV. There are so many great elements to Being Human, and considering my novel, it is actually really helpful in making me think about other considerations for what's going to happen (vague enough for you?). Still, its distracting to have a new show, even a British show that isn't as long as the American half season. I haven't gotten half way through season 2 though, because I keep stopping and going and writing.
The not so obvious: Reading has not gone as well as I would have liked. I mean, I ripped right through The Art of War for Writers (a really good book for writers. Bell described it was filling in bits from his other books on writing, but to me it was a condensation of all the best tidbits about writing that I needed), but the fiction reading didn't go so well. Part of this is due to the fact that I would start reading at 4 am and then want to sleep, and part of it was due to wanting to write myself, and part of it, a small part of it, is that I can't read fiction the way I used to. Anyways this leads to disappointments in books that I think I would have liked before, but now find trite and unfortunately cliche (even when most would say they aren't). Certain plots gets under my skin in the annoying way, and I find it hard to focus on what is good.
And disappointment leads to other things. Two years ago I decided to use NaNoWriMo's deal with Amazon to get a proof copy of my novel that year (the book is called Pawn) and I picked it up yesterday and started reading. I picked it up because I was trying to get into the headspace of an action novel and I feel as if Pawn despite certain other flaws, has a lot of exciting and emotional action (one of my favorite scenes in it is an intense action sequence), and its probably my best action writing thus far. So I started rereading it.
I was surprised to find how complete Pawn was. My current project, EoW, is very incomplete -- it needs (needed) a lot of restructuring to make it novel shaped. Pawn read like a real novel. Sure things needed fleshing out, there were many spelling and grammar mistakes, and issues on that level, but it felt like the story was complete when I got to the last page (well ish, it ends on a cliffhanger).
So I'm having a minor crisis about EoW. I am suddenly unable to deal with the fact that its not complete and there was a section in the middle that I just didn't write because I was bored. If I'm bored writing it, how could anyone be interested reading it? (I qualify this by saying the actual scene writing isn't boring, but it takes a lot of effort for me to get into the right mindset to be writing these scenes and I feel as if overall plot has slowed down too much. I don't know how to fix this but will be examining it). Pawn never slows down. Its one thing to another to another, with lots of fighting, action, running, jumping and climbing up trees (one of the characters is a squirrel after all). Admittedly, Pawn is a children's (12+) book, where as I think that EoW despite its lack of sex and gore (some blood), is not a children's book (more an emerging adult, you know the 20-somethings generation), and the distinction makes me uncomfortable (I read young adult novels because they are better).
Anyways, this second distraction is what is stopping me from finishing the last five/six scenes of EoW and making me unsure I'm focusing on the right book...
Or maybe I'm handicapping myself.
Having said that there were plenty of distractions this week, despite not having a social life. I didn't really want to see many people this week; not because I don't love people and spending time with them, but because I wanted to recharge and feel like myself again and I needed to do that alone. It was good in that respect because most of my floor was gone and I worked late shifts at the desk (though ahaha, 40 hours of work means PAYDAY). So it wasn't people who distracted me.
The obvious: TV. I started watching the British version of Being Human (and am annoyed that the American [well Canadian] version is set in Boston and I want to watch it now, but don't know if I can handle the changes) and loved it. Fantasy/Sci-fi shows are a place where you can have the sort of drama you get over loaded on in other TV. There are so many great elements to Being Human, and considering my novel, it is actually really helpful in making me think about other considerations for what's going to happen (vague enough for you?). Still, its distracting to have a new show, even a British show that isn't as long as the American half season. I haven't gotten half way through season 2 though, because I keep stopping and going and writing.
The not so obvious: Reading has not gone as well as I would have liked. I mean, I ripped right through The Art of War for Writers (a really good book for writers. Bell described it was filling in bits from his other books on writing, but to me it was a condensation of all the best tidbits about writing that I needed), but the fiction reading didn't go so well. Part of this is due to the fact that I would start reading at 4 am and then want to sleep, and part of it was due to wanting to write myself, and part of it, a small part of it, is that I can't read fiction the way I used to. Anyways this leads to disappointments in books that I think I would have liked before, but now find trite and unfortunately cliche (even when most would say they aren't). Certain plots gets under my skin in the annoying way, and I find it hard to focus on what is good.
And disappointment leads to other things. Two years ago I decided to use NaNoWriMo's deal with Amazon to get a proof copy of my novel that year (the book is called Pawn) and I picked it up yesterday and started reading. I picked it up because I was trying to get into the headspace of an action novel and I feel as if Pawn despite certain other flaws, has a lot of exciting and emotional action (one of my favorite scenes in it is an intense action sequence), and its probably my best action writing thus far. So I started rereading it.
I was surprised to find how complete Pawn was. My current project, EoW, is very incomplete -- it needs (needed) a lot of restructuring to make it novel shaped. Pawn read like a real novel. Sure things needed fleshing out, there were many spelling and grammar mistakes, and issues on that level, but it felt like the story was complete when I got to the last page (well ish, it ends on a cliffhanger).
So I'm having a minor crisis about EoW. I am suddenly unable to deal with the fact that its not complete and there was a section in the middle that I just didn't write because I was bored. If I'm bored writing it, how could anyone be interested reading it? (I qualify this by saying the actual scene writing isn't boring, but it takes a lot of effort for me to get into the right mindset to be writing these scenes and I feel as if overall plot has slowed down too much. I don't know how to fix this but will be examining it). Pawn never slows down. Its one thing to another to another, with lots of fighting, action, running, jumping and climbing up trees (one of the characters is a squirrel after all). Admittedly, Pawn is a children's (12+) book, where as I think that EoW despite its lack of sex and gore (some blood), is not a children's book (more an emerging adult, you know the 20-somethings generation), and the distinction makes me uncomfortable (I read young adult novels because they are better).
Anyways, this second distraction is what is stopping me from finishing the last five/six scenes of EoW and making me unsure I'm focusing on the right book...
Or maybe I'm handicapping myself.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Editing
So my NaNoWriMo from 2009 is the novel I feel like has the best of me in it. The characters are dynamic and full of confusing emotions (for them), and want to fight and love and be. The plot also forces them to make tough decisions and the conflict comes from their own lives. Currently it is called EoW (not really, an acronym of the title) but I think I'm going to try and come up with some better title, because if this book were to lead to sequels, the series would take on that name. I'm working on it.
Anyways. I wrote this NaNo with an outline, which was ditched at about chapter 5, or half way through, which makes the first couple of chapters quite good in terms of having scenes that make sense and have action in them, but makes the last few and the middle a mess of false starts and stories that could be told but were left by the wayside. I knew when I was going to start editing I was going to need to fill in the gaping hole that was the middle because something happened with one of the main characters that was not good (in the sense that it didn't make sense) and I needed a few more scenes with the other two to explain what was going on in the middle. Indeed I thought I was going to have to write a huge portion of the middle over again. Turns out, yes I do have to rewrite the middle, and add in what happens with the character who's story got derailed, I have quite a lot of the middle.
In fact, I only have to write 21 more scenes to get to a complete first draft (I currently have a rough draft, which is the mess that doesn't have a solid plot, and has missing scenes as a result). Average word count of a scene for me is 1306 words (yes I have a spreadsheet with word counts of all my scenes, this reorganization happened in excel because I'm just that cool... and wanted to be able to do stats on my novel :P). That means, I'm about 27,000 words away from a first draft. 27,000 words is easy. I mean, if I can write 10,000 in a day, then its about 3 days. So new goal, finish the first draft this week.
I don't know if it will work but I hope it will. I've decided that I won't show anyone this novel until I'm at the second draft stage. First draft is where the kinks in terms of major overarching story are fixed. Second draft is where the fine tuning begins -- changing out parts of scenes that don't work, fiddling with the bits that almost, but don't quite work, cutting scenes that I thought were necessary that aren't.
So, second draft by June is my goal. So that I can utilize the NaNo offer and get it "printed" in book form to send to people for comments and so on for free.
I'm excited.
Anyways. I wrote this NaNo with an outline, which was ditched at about chapter 5, or half way through, which makes the first couple of chapters quite good in terms of having scenes that make sense and have action in them, but makes the last few and the middle a mess of false starts and stories that could be told but were left by the wayside. I knew when I was going to start editing I was going to need to fill in the gaping hole that was the middle because something happened with one of the main characters that was not good (in the sense that it didn't make sense) and I needed a few more scenes with the other two to explain what was going on in the middle. Indeed I thought I was going to have to write a huge portion of the middle over again. Turns out, yes I do have to rewrite the middle, and add in what happens with the character who's story got derailed, I have quite a lot of the middle.
In fact, I only have to write 21 more scenes to get to a complete first draft (I currently have a rough draft, which is the mess that doesn't have a solid plot, and has missing scenes as a result). Average word count of a scene for me is 1306 words (yes I have a spreadsheet with word counts of all my scenes, this reorganization happened in excel because I'm just that cool... and wanted to be able to do stats on my novel :P). That means, I'm about 27,000 words away from a first draft. 27,000 words is easy. I mean, if I can write 10,000 in a day, then its about 3 days. So new goal, finish the first draft this week.
I don't know if it will work but I hope it will. I've decided that I won't show anyone this novel until I'm at the second draft stage. First draft is where the kinks in terms of major overarching story are fixed. Second draft is where the fine tuning begins -- changing out parts of scenes that don't work, fiddling with the bits that almost, but don't quite work, cutting scenes that I thought were necessary that aren't.
So, second draft by June is my goal. So that I can utilize the NaNo offer and get it "printed" in book form to send to people for comments and so on for free.
I'm excited.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Spring Break
Spring break began about eight hours ago for me. I got out of Genetics lab and came home and, because I am working from midnight to 8 am tomorrow, went to sleep. When I got up four hours after going to sleep I showered, meandered the internet and then, quite spur of the moment, decided to go to Borders down the way.
The idea had been peculating for a while because Margot, who works the front desk, had been talking about going because this one is going out of business. All books were 25% off, which is an all right amount to be off, so I decided as I purused the shelves to just pick up anything that caught my interest.
My first stop in any bookshop is to go to the "reference" section. I like looking at books about writing -- which coincidentally are always next to books about science. There is something nice about the juxtaposition. I riffled through a few, and found several books that were inspirationals for writers -- exercises, and so on for people who might be a little stuck. I picked up two of them, and The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell which seemed a little more about the practicalities of writing.
Having looked in that section I went straight for fantasy, but found, in the end, nothing of interest. Its not that I don't like fantasy, but I actually prefer young adult fantasy, and that was where I found myself eventually. I picked up books that looked interesting and eventually had quite a pile which I sorted through and picked two of.
In the end these are the books I bought:
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
The Naming by Alison Croggon
The Art of War for Writers James Scott Bell
The 3 am Epiphany by Brian Kiteley
Now, spring break is a week long and I'm working at the desk for 32 hours of it, so I've decided I should attempt to read both fiction books. The other thing I've decided to do is go through The 3 am Epiphany and write something for each exercise -- at least one a day.
Now because these are exercises and not terribly likely to get published, I'm thinking about posting them up here. Just as an experiment.
We'll see.
The idea had been peculating for a while because Margot, who works the front desk, had been talking about going because this one is going out of business. All books were 25% off, which is an all right amount to be off, so I decided as I purused the shelves to just pick up anything that caught my interest.
My first stop in any bookshop is to go to the "reference" section. I like looking at books about writing -- which coincidentally are always next to books about science. There is something nice about the juxtaposition. I riffled through a few, and found several books that were inspirationals for writers -- exercises, and so on for people who might be a little stuck. I picked up two of them, and The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell which seemed a little more about the practicalities of writing.
Having looked in that section I went straight for fantasy, but found, in the end, nothing of interest. Its not that I don't like fantasy, but I actually prefer young adult fantasy, and that was where I found myself eventually. I picked up books that looked interesting and eventually had quite a pile which I sorted through and picked two of.
In the end these are the books I bought:
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
The Naming by Alison Croggon
The Art of War for Writers James Scott Bell
The 3 am Epiphany by Brian Kiteley
Now, spring break is a week long and I'm working at the desk for 32 hours of it, so I've decided I should attempt to read both fiction books. The other thing I've decided to do is go through The 3 am Epiphany and write something for each exercise -- at least one a day.
Now because these are exercises and not terribly likely to get published, I'm thinking about posting them up here. Just as an experiment.
We'll see.
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