I found it. But, sorry to say, I found so much more. I'm now a little terrified to finish my SFD and begin the rewrite.
Here's what I'm sure is just the tip of the iceberg:
~ Names of characters who I only used once. They were probably meant to play some small role at some time, otherwise, why did I give them names?
~ Threads that should've gone somewhere, but are just blowing in the wind. And when I saw them, I thought, "Oh yeah, that was good."
~ Threads that should've gone somewhere, but are just blowing in the wind. And when I saw them, I thought, "What in the world was I thinking?"
~ Threads that should've gone somewhere, but are just blowing in the wind. And when I saw them, I thought, "Watching cement dry would be more exciting."
The closer I get to the end of my SFD, the more little bubbles of acid blurp up my throat.
Angst-acid.
CR: Still working on the Lisa Unger. I'm trying to reconfigure how I read books and my Kindle now that I've had LASIK.
It's all better with friends.
I'm facing the same thing, Peg. Loose threads, screwed up timeline, holes big enough for a large critter to fall through.
ReplyDeleteOh Jess, don't even get me started on my timeline problems. I'm getting paralyzer and paralyzer . . .
ReplyDeleteBtw, it's good to hear you're still in the fiction-writing game.
Those are headache-inducing indeed, Peg and Jess, and all I can say is, I feel ya.
ReplyDeleteNo, that's not all I can say! I would add that you might be surprised at the energy you have once 'the end' is scrawled because the issues you mention take a totally different type of brain strength than what I call "writing new."
Right now you are trying to do both--writing your first draft, while looking ahead to the editing phase. Once you've got one entire ms, your brain will shift into the other mode, and it will feel a little easier...or at least, I've found it that way at times. I'm probably only repeating what you already know.
And--how exciting that you're getting there!
I do know what you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteSome people hate the revisions and the edits and the rewrites. Not me, I love them.
The hard work is done. The putting together of a meaningful, interesting bit of story, with words never quite strung that way together before, is a task completed.
The revision part (though daunting because I have made such a mess of things) is where the real writing comes in. It's where I have a chance to add depth and flavor and draw out the fear. It's where I can develop the setting for character and delve into Deep POV.
Daunting. Messy. But a little like making some terrific mud pies. The mud is already there. I just have to shape it.
You, my friend, are a great encourager.
I love the mud pies metaphor! That's exactly it! One thing I have found (once I accept the heartbreaking reality that this one too isn't perfect) is that there's an awful lot of mud in my first drafts. I've called it "place holders" in the past. I write to go through the story, but so many of those scenes are eventually discarded, and new ones put in, which turn out to be the real fun, twists and turns of the plot.
ReplyDeleteAlways makes me wonder--why couldn't I just have written the good stuff first ;)
A lot of talented,multi-pubbed, writers say that the things that happen in their revision mode often completely flip the plot. Those new scenes can change everything.
ReplyDeleteI think it's because the kernel was there. The bare bones of the story (really, really bare bones) were down, providing the perfect mixture of mud and fairy dust. It's the mind of the writer, our minds, that can be open enough to not stick to the script. To let the book write a bit of itself.
At the revision stage, the pressure is off—at least for those of us who are without deadlines—and we can kick back and fully realize the "bigness" of the yarn we're spinning.
Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.