One-third
Posted by CM under Ornithology, Writing on Mon 1 Jan 2007
wish I could write as fast as Eve does. But for a number of reasons, which I won’t enumerate here, I can’t. Alas.
Nonetheless, I have finally connected one of the first discontinuous chapters that I’ve written, and I’m now going through and painstakingly changing all the things that have changed as I’ve written the book. The heroine’s looks. The size of her dowry. The objectionable nature of her initial suitor. The motivations of a number of people who were intended to be antagonists, but who simply refuse to follow suit. The hero’s last name–which has changed four or five times, and which I refuse to change any longer.
I’m one third done, and it’s a natural stopping place in the narrative. It’s a natural stopping place for two reasons. One, it’s a moment of realization (and transition) for the hero. Two, I have no idea what happens in the next chapter.
I mean, I know generally what must happen over the next two-thirds of the book. But specifically? Who knows. In any event, it’s time to reread the first third and make conforming changes, and see if anything in particular jumps out at me as really objectionable.
Hmm….
January 1st, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Is this a revision to get things going again, or did you finish the rough draft?
Alice
January 1st, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Whaoh! When did you change the look of your blog? I like it.
Alice
January 1st, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Be careful, though - I spent a lot of time going back and making things conform to an altered premise. And then I changed my mind again, and all that effort was wasted. No more big revisions for me until the whole thing’s drafted.
and you write much faster than I do. You just have less time. We should both be envying Beverley, who is at 90,000 and counting.
January 1st, 2007 at 6:56 pm
I go back and do this too, just primping and pulling, when I’ve hit a blank spot. It keeps you in the water; you may just be treading, but you’re still wet in your own words and voice. You may find that you’ve even laid clues for yourself subconsciously.
I’m afraid I’m not much of a plotter (except I know there’s going to be a HEA!) and am in awe of people who do outlines and flow charts and family trees. I also find it hard to write sequentially. I’ve spent all day tinkering in the 30,000 word hole that’s in the middle of my WIP!
January 1st, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Well, I think I’ve really just decided to leave the last name as is. And right now, the amount of Claire’s dowry fluctuates wildly, and I can never remember what I called Claire’s aunt.
Plus, I keep thinking of these things I have to add in, and if I wait the few months until I finish it.
You and I have had the “who writes faster” argument before. Until we’re plopped down in equal situations, we’ll never really know, of course.
Additionally, my last two chapters haven’t been great, and I wanted to remind myself that there are good chapters in my manuscript.
Nonetheless, I am 33% done. Yay!
January 1st, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Congrats at the 1/3 mark. It’s an accomplishment. When I don’t know where exactly my next chapter is going to go, I do a “what if” with the worst case scenerios I can think of. Luckily I haven’t killed off a heroine yet, but there’s certainly been some close calls!
Love the look of your new blog too!
January 1st, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Oh, OK then - I suppose we need to take our laptops to Starbucks and duel it out.
January 4th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
I’m with both Tessa and Maggie. I stopped and revised and then stopped and re-revised and then stopped and re-re-revised…Then one day I decided to trash the entire subplot and 80% of my book went out the window. Now, instead of going back and revising a million times, I am working on two projects. Then we only move forward!
I like your blog, too!
January 4th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
What all of you said. I wrote, and rewrote, and rewrote, and rewrote (you get the idea) my first ms over 13 months. I finally got to a point at about the ten month mark when I said, “no more” and vowed to just finish it. I did on Nov. 1 and then chucked it aside while I worked on book number 2. I started that in mid-November and am almost to the halfway point. I swear it comes faster/easier the second time. When I’m done with the first draft, I’ll go back to the first book and hopefully revise it into something that at the very least reads like it was written by one person.
I say do what you gotta do while you learn your own process. I’m a pantser, but I outlined the plot for book 2 and it helped a lot. I realized I thought of great scenes but that they didn’t necessarily flow together (Like some of you, I’ve been known to write future scenes as they come to me - order, schmorder). So, now I guess I’m more of a plantser.
Darcy