I've been busy these last couple weeks. Not so much writing, but more thinking. Trying to understand things that I'll never be able to understand no matter how much I try. It gets a little frustrating, knowing that I'm never going to arrive at an answer, but it's entertaining enough.
This thinking has also pulled me away from editing. Or maybe that's just an excuse.
I'm actually afraid to edit. A few weeks ago when I was actively editing, I started coming up with all of these ideas, all of these different directions that I could have taken the book, and I couldn't decide whether any of them actually fit with the book. It almost felt like I was adding in entirely new plotlines. And it was starting to become a little bit unrealistic because my MC was starting to have nothing good in her life. She was fighting with friends, she lost everything that she depended on, and all of this crazy stuff.
So I cut one of the subplots that I'd added in.
As refreshing as this was, I couldn't help but feel that I had completely wasted my time working on this subplot. But I didn't because this subplot gave me the idea for another subplot, which I kept.
I'm planning to start editing this week. But I want to start working on specific scenes, specific paragraphs, and specific sentences, rather than the whole book.
Wish me luck! And good luck to all of you as you embark on your own writing adventures. Are any of you having the same problems I am?
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
I Did It!
I few weeks ago - or something like that... - I posted about struggling to write from the POV of one of my characters, whose name is Rebecca.
Well, as I was sitting in Starbucks the other day (Starbucks always helps me concentrate) I found out some very interesting stuff about Rebecca's past. See, I always thought Rebecca was mean because of _______, but I found out that it's actually because of _________ and _____________, although _____________ is also important. And I think I'm getting closer to who Rebecca is because of this realization.
What did I learn from this? I learned that when I'm having trouble with something in my book to give it time. I had to work out all of the details in my head and connect them. Also, going to Starbucks never hurts :)
I also mentioned posting part of one of my WIPs. I'll try to do that soon.
Well, as I was sitting in Starbucks the other day (Starbucks always helps me concentrate) I found out some very interesting stuff about Rebecca's past. See, I always thought Rebecca was mean because of _______, but I found out that it's actually because of _________ and _____________, although _____________ is also important. And I think I'm getting closer to who Rebecca is because of this realization.
What did I learn from this? I learned that when I'm having trouble with something in my book to give it time. I had to work out all of the details in my head and connect them. Also, going to Starbucks never hurts :)
I also mentioned posting part of one of my WIPs. I'll try to do that soon.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Which Story?
Only about a month on this blog and I'm already having trouble finding time to post! There are many reasons for this. There is the fact that I decided to follow far too many other blogs and find that it takes me well over half an hour to read them, then I have a bunch of homework, and plus I'm also working on about... a million and two writing projects.
I've mentioned how I'm editing Keeping up the Sun. I really like editing, but I've gotten to this part where it feels like one of those Valentine's Day crossward puzzles that teachers give you because they just want to assign you something (Speaking of which, Happy Valentine's Day!). It feels like such busy work. Because now I'm smoothing out the transition into and out of the new part of the book that I just added and while some of the little scenes I'm adding now are cute, they don't have the same excitement as the other scenes I've written.
Another reason that editing isn't going very well is that I figured out how to make one of my novels that I'm about halfway done with work, so I've been trying to spend some time working on that which is going slowly, but steadily.
And then there's another reason. Do you even feel like, when you're overworked and you've been using all of your creativity on one manuscript or you're spending all of your time doing something such as studying, you get more ideas? I don't understand how this works, but it always happens. After cranking out about 50 pages in a week or two, I suddenly found all of these other ideas popping into my head. I got an idea for a new novel and I've gotten ideas for a couple of short stories which is scary because I don't write short stories. I'm horrible at them.
Anyway, it's been hard to decide what I should spend the most energy on - the novel that I'm editing, the novel that I'm working on, or the new ideas that I'm really excited about?
When it comes to these decisions, I tend not to go with the new ideas because whenever I start workng on a new idea and I stray from one novel, I end up forgetting about it and abandoning it. So, as for right now, I will not be starting a new novel. Working on a few short stories is okay, I've decided, but no new novels. And the rest of my energy? Well, I'm dividing it between editing and writing.
That, or I decide that I don't have energy at all and I go to sleep.
What do you guys do when you have multiple ideas/manuscripts/stories-that-suck-away-your-nonexistent-free-time? Have any advice?
I've mentioned how I'm editing Keeping up the Sun. I really like editing, but I've gotten to this part where it feels like one of those Valentine's Day crossward puzzles that teachers give you because they just want to assign you something (Speaking of which, Happy Valentine's Day!). It feels like such busy work. Because now I'm smoothing out the transition into and out of the new part of the book that I just added and while some of the little scenes I'm adding now are cute, they don't have the same excitement as the other scenes I've written.
Another reason that editing isn't going very well is that I figured out how to make one of my novels that I'm about halfway done with work, so I've been trying to spend some time working on that which is going slowly, but steadily.
And then there's another reason. Do you even feel like, when you're overworked and you've been using all of your creativity on one manuscript or you're spending all of your time doing something such as studying, you get more ideas? I don't understand how this works, but it always happens. After cranking out about 50 pages in a week or two, I suddenly found all of these other ideas popping into my head. I got an idea for a new novel and I've gotten ideas for a couple of short stories which is scary because I don't write short stories. I'm horrible at them.
Anyway, it's been hard to decide what I should spend the most energy on - the novel that I'm editing, the novel that I'm working on, or the new ideas that I'm really excited about?
When it comes to these decisions, I tend not to go with the new ideas because whenever I start workng on a new idea and I stray from one novel, I end up forgetting about it and abandoning it. So, as for right now, I will not be starting a new novel. Working on a few short stories is okay, I've decided, but no new novels. And the rest of my energy? Well, I'm dividing it between editing and writing.
That, or I decide that I don't have energy at all and I go to sleep.
What do you guys do when you have multiple ideas/manuscripts/stories-that-suck-away-your-nonexistent-free-time? Have any advice?
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Dreams
One of my favorite bloggers Jennifer Hubbard did a post today on character's dreams. I thought I would follow that up with a post on our dreams. The author's dreams.
I'm sure you've all heard the story about how Stephenie Meyer got the idea for Twilight from a dream. From what she's said, she dreamed one scene and that very same day began writing the book. I'm not saying that she's my favorite author, but I don't think anyone would disagree with me if I said that that approach was successful for her, right?
I find that if I'm going to use a dream as the basis for one of my ideas, it requires a little more work than just copying my dream down.
The first problem I have with this is that I usually only remember a scene or two from my dreams and the rest is a complete blur. Sometimes I'll have one crystal clear image but I'll have no idea what was going on in the rest of my dream. So my first step is always to figure out what exactly is going on in this dream and why this scene is so important.
Another thing is realizing that the scene might not fit with the storyline that I've set up exactly. Keeping up the Sun, my WIP, was based off of a dream. I remember two scenes from the dream. The first scene was when this girl was in a car and she didn't know how to drive and the guy in the seat next to her had to explain to her how to drive. That was fine and all, except that when I started writing the manuscript, I found out that the MC was only 14 and therefore couldn't drive. So that needed to be worked out for a while, but I found a way to make it work.
Finally, sometimes this scene turns out to be not so important after all. The scene mentioned above was actually one of the last scenes that I wrote in the first draft. I had actually forgotten about the scene that the whole novel had been based off of. If I went back now and took the scene out, it probably wouldn't affect the novel all that much. It certainly adds to the suspense, but it's not a necessary scene.
So my opinion on taking ideas from dreams? Do it. But when you do get an idea from a dream, don't immediately run to your notebook or your computer and start writing. Give the idea some time and figure out what's happening in the scene.
Now, you tell me... have you ever taken an idea from a dream? How did it work out?
I'm sure you've all heard the story about how Stephenie Meyer got the idea for Twilight from a dream. From what she's said, she dreamed one scene and that very same day began writing the book. I'm not saying that she's my favorite author, but I don't think anyone would disagree with me if I said that that approach was successful for her, right?
I find that if I'm going to use a dream as the basis for one of my ideas, it requires a little more work than just copying my dream down.
The first problem I have with this is that I usually only remember a scene or two from my dreams and the rest is a complete blur. Sometimes I'll have one crystal clear image but I'll have no idea what was going on in the rest of my dream. So my first step is always to figure out what exactly is going on in this dream and why this scene is so important.
Another thing is realizing that the scene might not fit with the storyline that I've set up exactly. Keeping up the Sun, my WIP, was based off of a dream. I remember two scenes from the dream. The first scene was when this girl was in a car and she didn't know how to drive and the guy in the seat next to her had to explain to her how to drive. That was fine and all, except that when I started writing the manuscript, I found out that the MC was only 14 and therefore couldn't drive. So that needed to be worked out for a while, but I found a way to make it work.
Finally, sometimes this scene turns out to be not so important after all. The scene mentioned above was actually one of the last scenes that I wrote in the first draft. I had actually forgotten about the scene that the whole novel had been based off of. If I went back now and took the scene out, it probably wouldn't affect the novel all that much. It certainly adds to the suspense, but it's not a necessary scene.
So my opinion on taking ideas from dreams? Do it. But when you do get an idea from a dream, don't immediately run to your notebook or your computer and start writing. Give the idea some time and figure out what's happening in the scene.
Now, you tell me... have you ever taken an idea from a dream? How did it work out?
Friday, January 28, 2011
The Write Song
Haha, do you get it? It's the right song, but it's also the write song!
Okay, maybe that's not that funny.
But, for me at least, listening to music that is connected to whatever I'm writing really helps me figure out how the characters are feeling.
For example, I'm pretty sure Taylor Swift has read the book I'm writing my first draft of. Every single one of the songs on Speak Now can relate to my book (or its unwritten) sequel in some way. Seriously.
(PS, I'm so glad I didn't post this earlier because I found something out tonight! Everybody probably knows this already, but I've always wondered why in her lyric books, there are random capitalized letters. It turns out, it's not so random! The capitalized letters spell out a secret message. So cool!)
Sometimes, a song that is totally unrelated to what I'm writing can help too. I got the free song of the week from iTunes the other night. It's called 1,000 Faces and it's by Randy Montana. I really like it which is weird because usually the free songs on iTunes aren't really my kind of songs. Anyway, it inspired a totally unrelated chapter! Weird, but it was a chapter at least.
I usually make a playlist for every book when I get halfway through and I realize that I have at least 3 songs that relate to it. Which means that I have a lot of playlists. And they usually don't even get listened to. But making the playlists is fun!
You know what else helps me write? Staring at snow. And that's pretty easy to do because this year my town is becoming land-of-endless-snow. I love snow, but I'm kind of jealous of the people who live in LA and have temperatures above 50.
Do you have songs that you like to write to? Tell me! Please!
Okay, maybe that's not that funny.
But, for me at least, listening to music that is connected to whatever I'm writing really helps me figure out how the characters are feeling.
For example, I'm pretty sure Taylor Swift has read the book I'm writing my first draft of. Every single one of the songs on Speak Now can relate to my book (or its unwritten) sequel in some way. Seriously.
(PS, I'm so glad I didn't post this earlier because I found something out tonight! Everybody probably knows this already, but I've always wondered why in her lyric books, there are random capitalized letters. It turns out, it's not so random! The capitalized letters spell out a secret message. So cool!)
Sometimes, a song that is totally unrelated to what I'm writing can help too. I got the free song of the week from iTunes the other night. It's called 1,000 Faces and it's by Randy Montana. I really like it which is weird because usually the free songs on iTunes aren't really my kind of songs. Anyway, it inspired a totally unrelated chapter! Weird, but it was a chapter at least.
I usually make a playlist for every book when I get halfway through and I realize that I have at least 3 songs that relate to it. Which means that I have a lot of playlists. And they usually don't even get listened to. But making the playlists is fun!
You know what else helps me write? Staring at snow. And that's pretty easy to do because this year my town is becoming land-of-endless-snow. I love snow, but I'm kind of jealous of the people who live in LA and have temperatures above 50.
Do you have songs that you like to write to? Tell me! Please!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Ooh, editing! How's that going?
Did you see how slyly I avoided that editing question yesterday? That’s because I decided that, rather than try and sum up how editing was going in one small paragraph, I will devote a whole post to editing today.
So… here goes.
I started writing Keeping Up the Sun two years ago and I finished the first draft August 13th, 2009. Then I took a break. A really long break. Like a 6 month long break. I’d heard authors recommend it before, and they were totally right.
During my break, I not only got to work on new things, including doing NaNoWriMo for the first time and starting a couple other books, but I allowed myself to forget about it. And it really helped. By the time I returned to the book sometime in the middle of last year, I had almost completely forgotten what happened and I got to look at it with a fresh eye. And I read through it. And I did a little bit of editing, mostly grammar wise. I also figured out what needed to be changed.
And then I took another break.
I really, really like breaks.
I finished the second draft in December of 2010. The second draft honestly wasn’t that much different than the first draft, except that I had cut about 50 pages and I had completely rearranged the plot. Yeah, not different at all.
I was kind of hoping that the second draft would be the end of the plot issues and that I could move on to more specific problems, such as my overuse of the word “really.”
After taking a break for about 3 weeks, I returned to Keeping up the Sun and started reading through more carefully, looking for grammar issues as well as “big” issues, thus beginning the third draft. Unfortunately, I found a lot more “big” issues than I would have liked to and again proceeded to tear the book apart.
So that’s where I am now. I finished my first read-through the other day and there are major, major plot holes. I mention things that I haven’t actually written yet. I still have so much more work to do, but I’ve done a lot and I’m just going to be happy with that for now.
And now, time for some fun facts!
1. Number of pages cut since 1st draft: 44
2. Number of characters added: 8
3. Number of word documents in my Keeping up the Sun folder: 10
4. Number of “really big issue” post-it’s in my notebook: 3
5. Number of “really big issue” post-it’s that have to do with setting: 2
6. Number of times I’ve rewritten the first scene: countless
Wow, 44 pages cut. And I actually cut more than that because I’ve added plenty of new scenes.
Have any of you guys done edits recently? Do you have any tips? And how many pages do you end up cutting?
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