Monday, February 12, 2018

What's to HATE About Writing?

Writing is easy and fun.
Yes, really.
All those ideas rolling around in my head flow through the keyboard to the page and it's almost like living in another world for a while.
Bliss.
Sometimes the plot is torture or the characters go in the wrong direction, they don't listen, they go off script, but overall, it's fun. I like that other world. The world where I drift off into a place only I know, with people I created from all the good and the bad of every experience I've ever had.

Then comes the edit.
(Cue music from Jaws)
First edit, not so bad. Correct a few plot points, spelling, word swaps. Go over with a critical eye. Knit it back together, take out the nicey nice and put in some raw stuff.

Put it on the shelf.
Second edit; I want to rip out every other page and end up rewriting and rewriting. How did I miss this...this....this TRASH?

Back on the shelf.
Third edit. That's where I am now with Threshold to Midnight.
And.
its.
torture.
I know this story so well that I could recite it in my sleep. Then all these ideas come into my head to make major plot changes which means go back and change other stuff so it matches the new changes.
After awhile....it's like rewriting the whole book. Then I want to change it back.

One bright point? I got an idea for a sequel, took a break, and mapped that out.

So, how do you attack that dreaded edit? How many edits do you go through before publishing?

Last Day of NANOWRIMO --- Oh No!

 Where did the month go?  Certainly not on the page. I have an outline, some character sketches but mostly I have a lot of research notes.  ...