Well, maybe not thoroughly complete, but I've finished incorporating edits from my print-out of Starcaster, along with some fairly significant rewrites. My enthusiasm in this novel is now back up, but I still need to rewrite the ending. I had written an ending about six months ago, but I always felt it wasn't quite enough. I also thought that it had a deus ex machina-type revelation, and so I'm going to squash that.
Right now, I got Tory against an impossible-to-solve situation. I have no idea how she's going to get out of this one. As a reader, I love that. In my previous draft, she pulled a power out of her hat. I didn't like it even as I was writing it. It would make everyone way too powerful in future books (always look ahead). I think she's going to have to solve this one without her magic. A bullet? Maybe. Something clever? A strong possibility.
I also wrote down all my "unused guns" (I read somewhere that if you have a gun on the mantle, at some point in the story, the gun will have to be used) to see if I can either find a use for them, or delete them from the story. I'm also exploring unexpected relationships between several of my characters.
I still love revising!
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You're using your guns -- good girl. ; ) As an editor, I enjoy the revision process best, too.
ReplyDeleteLisa
Reading your writing blog I find I have temporary burst of writing energy. After my recent unpleasant experience with my 'publisher', I've been a bit down in the dumps and have been taking it out on my writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks to you both!
ReplyDeleteLisa, I know your experience was rough, and I'm glad to see your writing energy pick up. Blog on your writing sometime so I know what you are up to!
I just checked, haven't written since the end of February! I've been busy though. Wait, does writing an article for a website count?
ReplyDeleteOh, I love writing my characters into corners. I just hate that I am responsible for getting them out.
ReplyDeleteStupid characters, not doing things for themselves.
I just remembered -- Lisa Shearin is the one who wrote about the unused guns in her blog! Thanks, Lisa.
ReplyDeleteAs for Lisa N, I think writing articles count! They also usually pay Actual Money!
When you say 'second draft' is that to say this is only your second pass through?
ReplyDeleteThat is, did you plow through and write the first 'draft' or was the first carefully written?
My drafts are really raw. I work to get the idea out. Regardless of my efforts to at least release the story from my head, I'll still spend time fussing over ideas, sentences, paragraphs that may well be removed later!
It was the second time I went through the whole thing, revising from start to end. I marked it up with a red pen, and then incorporated those red pen changes into the manuscript.
ReplyDeleteWhen I write, I'm careful about the plot and character development--everything but description. I do bare-bones description on my first draft. Subsequent drafts really help me flesh the world out.
do you always revise on paper?
ReplyDeleteBTW - to those who have avatars, how do you get them to appear when you post?
I just tried adding one to my profile but there wasn't a spot for a 'avatar' only a photo. So I added it there.
For some reason, there are certain problems that only become clear when I see it on a printout. I printed Forging a Legend twice, and I'll probably print Starcaster twice.
ReplyDeleteI also read the entire draft aloud at least twice! Certain OTHER problems only seem to become evident when I read aloud. Altogether, that equals five major drafts, which sounds about right.