P.S. The Rewrite
Jul. 5th, 2004 01:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pjthompsonAnd oh yeah, that's going well. I'm progressing slowly—a chapter a day—because I'm reading through the first time and making changes based on my own instincts as an editor. Then I'm going through and rereading the OWW reviews for the chapter and incorporating where appropriate.
Since I posted this thing between Feb '03 and March '04 [7-6-04: oops--got my dates wrong] (and I'm sure it seemed much longer to those few intrepid souls who stuck with me all the way—thanks people), some of those crits were like a walk down memory lane. Some of those critters are no longer with OWW and I miss them. Some of the people who still crit my stuff started with chapter one of Shivery Bones, so it's like seeing them for the first time all over again. (Hi, Kev.)
And I was really lucky in my crits. I got, for the most part, thoughtful and helpful input. Back in those early days of the novel, I got a ton of crits, too, so going through them does take some time. That will change as I get further into the novel. The crits were just as thoughtful, there just weren't as many of them. I'd rather have a half dozen thoughtful crits then a dozen piffling ones, though.
My sense always was that the front end of the novel would need the least amount of work, and that seems to be holding true. My sense was that chapter 5 would need some work, and it did. So, my sense is that the middle part will probably need a lot of work. We'll see if my instincts hold true there. I imagine I might slow down as I approach those pesky chapters.
One of the cool things: my subconscious is definitely on the job. I had a piece of writing that I'd moved from a late chapter to chapter five, but I wasn't sure it worked there. I knew for sure it needed to come early rather than late, but I didn't know if five was the place for it. I woke up yesterday morning and knew exactly what to do with that piece of writing. I moved it to chapter ten, which at this juncture seems the perfect place for it. I hope my right brain continues to stay on the job. Thanks, unconscious.
And thanks again to all the people who reviewed Shivery Bones. Your help was invaluable.
Since I posted this thing between Feb '03 and March '04 [7-6-04: oops--got my dates wrong] (and I'm sure it seemed much longer to those few intrepid souls who stuck with me all the way—thanks people), some of those crits were like a walk down memory lane. Some of those critters are no longer with OWW and I miss them. Some of the people who still crit my stuff started with chapter one of Shivery Bones, so it's like seeing them for the first time all over again. (Hi, Kev.)
And I was really lucky in my crits. I got, for the most part, thoughtful and helpful input. Back in those early days of the novel, I got a ton of crits, too, so going through them does take some time. That will change as I get further into the novel. The crits were just as thoughtful, there just weren't as many of them. I'd rather have a half dozen thoughtful crits then a dozen piffling ones, though.
My sense always was that the front end of the novel would need the least amount of work, and that seems to be holding true. My sense was that chapter 5 would need some work, and it did. So, my sense is that the middle part will probably need a lot of work. We'll see if my instincts hold true there. I imagine I might slow down as I approach those pesky chapters.
One of the cool things: my subconscious is definitely on the job. I had a piece of writing that I'd moved from a late chapter to chapter five, but I wasn't sure it worked there. I knew for sure it needed to come early rather than late, but I didn't know if five was the place for it. I woke up yesterday morning and knew exactly what to do with that piece of writing. I moved it to chapter ten, which at this juncture seems the perfect place for it. I hope my right brain continues to stay on the job. Thanks, unconscious.
And thanks again to all the people who reviewed Shivery Bones. Your help was invaluable.
A chapter a day is slow?
Date: 2004-07-09 12:24 pm (UTC)Re: A chapter a day is slow?
Date: 2004-07-09 05:04 pm (UTC)I never thought I'd be able to keep up with a chapter a day. I was fairly confident the opening chapters would hold up, but I knew I'd come into trouble at some point. I've just reached the point in the ms. where I've got to start reshuffling and realigning. This part's going to go much slower.
>>I'm also admiring your 3 completed books.<<
Eh, well, you know... Thanks. But the first was written a long time ago and was definitely a learning experience. It'll never see the light of day. The second really sings in places, but is deeply flawed, I think. It's going to take a lot to fix it and I've already tried many times so I'm going to let it be for the time being. I got some positive feedback from an editor recently, but she agreed with my assessment that it was flawed. In a weird way, I was glad for that. It made me feel not-quite-so-bad about trunking it and devoting my full attention to the latest novel.
Say, nobody told me this novel writing stuff was so hard! ;-)