The agony and the editery
Jan. 2nd, 2006 03:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pjthompsonI've mostly taken a vacation from The Novel while I've been on vacation from work. I hammered out the structural problems I had with the three timelines early in the vacation so that when I get back to work on it tomorrow, I should have a much clearer roadmap. I feel good about that, but I thought the time off would do me good, much as I want to get it over and done with. And generally, I feel real good about the prospect of getting back to it. I'd started to dread it before the vacation.
Instead, during my time, off I've concentrated mostly on working on older stories, novelette length, trying to whip them into shape. Working on short stories, after that first burst of writing, the visionary stage, is always an agony for me. I get so confused about what to cut and what to leave in—what if I cut the one thing that will make people gasp? I know this is irrational, but when it comes to editing short stories, I find myself spinning in circles, uncertain which way is true north, often giving up and trunking the thing out of sheer confusion.
(And thanks to those who read one of these stories and were so helpful.)
I don't have anything like this problem when I'm editing my novels. I tend to throw everything but the kitchen sink into the first draft, knowing even at the time that some of it is going to come out. But the first draft is the working out phase, where I begin to feel the true shape of the novel inside me, where the plot twists one way, then another, and one direction finally settles into place. With novels, I do most of my agony up front and get it out of the way, and that process in and of itself points me to true north. When it comes time for subsequent drafts, I still have that sense and it becomes readily apparent what needs to go and what must stay, what was a tangent and what was vital background. One pass through to cut those unnecessary scenes, another pass through to cut fat language and rambling descriptions, etc., and that word count starts coming down. Third drafts are harder because that's where I have to go after the darlings of scene and the darlings of language—and I may be a grownup girl and able to accomplish these things, but it ain't always easy.
And sometimes they don't work. Sometimes I have to throw them into a trunk for a long time and move on to the next project before I can see what's wrong. It helps to have a number of novels under my belt; it helps to have several in various stages of completion in the pipeline. It does get easier with time.
But it's almost impossible for me with short stories. Those are all "agony after" because I haven't had time during the writing to find true north. I have to discover that by chipping away and pulling apart, in running from them in panic. Sometimes I edit them for years and trunk them for long periods in between, feeling helpless. Which doesn't do a hell of a lot for my short story career, I can tell you.
Instead, during my time, off I've concentrated mostly on working on older stories, novelette length, trying to whip them into shape. Working on short stories, after that first burst of writing, the visionary stage, is always an agony for me. I get so confused about what to cut and what to leave in—what if I cut the one thing that will make people gasp? I know this is irrational, but when it comes to editing short stories, I find myself spinning in circles, uncertain which way is true north, often giving up and trunking the thing out of sheer confusion.
(And thanks to those who read one of these stories and were so helpful.)
I don't have anything like this problem when I'm editing my novels. I tend to throw everything but the kitchen sink into the first draft, knowing even at the time that some of it is going to come out. But the first draft is the working out phase, where I begin to feel the true shape of the novel inside me, where the plot twists one way, then another, and one direction finally settles into place. With novels, I do most of my agony up front and get it out of the way, and that process in and of itself points me to true north. When it comes time for subsequent drafts, I still have that sense and it becomes readily apparent what needs to go and what must stay, what was a tangent and what was vital background. One pass through to cut those unnecessary scenes, another pass through to cut fat language and rambling descriptions, etc., and that word count starts coming down. Third drafts are harder because that's where I have to go after the darlings of scene and the darlings of language—and I may be a grownup girl and able to accomplish these things, but it ain't always easy.
And sometimes they don't work. Sometimes I have to throw them into a trunk for a long time and move on to the next project before I can see what's wrong. It helps to have a number of novels under my belt; it helps to have several in various stages of completion in the pipeline. It does get easier with time.
But it's almost impossible for me with short stories. Those are all "agony after" because I haven't had time during the writing to find true north. I have to discover that by chipping away and pulling apart, in running from them in panic. Sometimes I edit them for years and trunk them for long periods in between, feeling helpless. Which doesn't do a hell of a lot for my short story career, I can tell you.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-02 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-02 06:19 pm (UTC)Yeah, exactly, and I think that's why I always know where true north is by the end of a novel--I've gotten to know the characters. And once you've gotten to know them, you do what they want, and you always know where you are. :-) Like Buckaroo Banzai said, "No matter where you go, there you are."
no subject
Date: 2006-01-02 06:09 pm (UTC)With novels, there's so much stuff going on you can lose a few 'important' things and still get your point across. With short stories... not so much.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-02 06:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-03 11:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-03 01:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 12:45 am (UTC)Unfortunately, so do I. :(