I've been going along, working on my WIP. Reading through what I have and trying to add a little bit more here and there. Then BAM, the dreaded epiphany. This isn't working! The timeline isn't right. The continued connection (i.e. why the hero and heroine are still interacting) doesn't fit. The conflict isn't quite right. It's just not fitting together as well as it should.
I'm about 3/4 of the way through the story at this point. It's light on words because I'm dialogue heavy in my first draft, I need to layer back in the internals, setting, etc. So 3/4 of the way through I get this epiphany. Granted, I'm glad I've had the epiphany. It will make the book better, but goodness gracious I just want to get the draft done!
I can't in good conscious continue with the draft the way it is now. I'd be knowingly making a ton more work for myself. But I also don't want to go back and rewrite what I have, to fit into my new idea. I just want to cross that finish line. But it seems odd to finish the book pretending that the first part of it matches in storylines.
Have any of you faced this problem before? What did you do - rewrite it before continuing, or just fix it all later?
Also, is anyone up for kickstarting some sort of writing challenge or doing some goal-setting? Either a short month-long thing, or for the rest of the year, or just the fall?
7 comments:
Hey Lisa!
Well as for the rewriting. After sending "Perfectly Good Nanny" to Harlequin, they said they didn't do stalker stories, that they were old and no one wanted to see them any more. So I pulled out all the stalker elements and put in the miscarriage elements. I had to rewrite the whole thing from the beginning. But it made a better book.
I don't think I've been 3/4 of the way through a first draft and changed directions... I can't think of one anyway. Not sure which way to tell you to go.
As for the challenge- I'm ready! I need to do some serious writing if I can ever get rid of company! mBut a challenge would make me carve out more minutes to myself.
Lisa, with this deadline looming and another one after that, count me in for a writing challenge, any kind or length you want, I'll make it fit what I have to do.
Meanwhile, back at the book (btw, may I say this is one good reason for -- yes, I am going to say it, hold onto your bonnet -- writing a synopsis? Problems like time lines and motivations tend to get worked out in a synopsis before you've invested 3/4 of a book in tripping merrily down the wrong path. Not always, mind you, put often. Okay, stepping off that little box and setting both feet back on the ground...)
Personally, I could not go on writing the book pretending the first part is okay. I do know of people who do this, however, but with a caveat and that is they make notes about what has to change and the rest of the book reflects the changes then they go back and rewrite it. Ack! Impossible, I say.
A little experience has taught me that the changes you are probably thinking of, while major, might not be as hard as you think. I suggest you start at the beginning and make the changes, rereading things with your new sensibilities. Give it a try and see if it doesn't start coming together much faster than you anticipate. Since most of it will occur in dialogue as you mentioned that's mostly what you have, it ought to be fun, as well! The differences nuance makes in conversation is amazing, is it not?
Have I done this? Not as extensively as it sounds you need to or want to, but yes, I reread and add and tweak and change and subtract constantly. I am all the time dropping the tension ball, going back to see where I left it and picking it up and rewriting everything after that point. I'm not a big fan of crossing the finish line no matter what -- what's the point if you win the race while dragging a dead horse behind you?
What you're learning by doing this is helping you become the writer you want to become no matter what the outcome. But I can't see how you can write blindly on when you know everything you're writing supports a house that has already lost its foundation.
Loved your blog.
Okay, jumping on the soapbox with Alice re: synopsis. Writing one is HARD, but that's where you find a lot of structural snafus before committing pen to paper, uh, fingers to keyboard.
What's happening to you happened to me and I scrapped the book and started from scratch. I kept the characters, just repurposed the motivations and replotted. It wasn't that tough a decision to make because I was really unhappy with how the book was turning out.
I'll be up for a challenge by mid-september, so if you start one now I'll jump in later. 8^)
Ditto to everything Alice said. ;)
Welcome to the world of writing. Or, as the case may be, rewriting.
I cannot write blindly on either. If I know something's not working, I HAVE to go back and fix it. Take for example the wip...there's this darn dagger that's important to the story. I wrote it in, then got to a point where I was like, "duh, now I know why it's so important." I could go on from here and keep writing, knowing what I know now, but am I? Nope, because that dagger (and what happens with it) is CRUCIAL to the clues the characters need to figure out the treasure hunt element of the story (and the suspense angle as well). So I've been going back and fixing the errors, red herrings, what-have-yous with this darn thing. It's the only way I can get the rest of the story to work.
Writing for me is a two-steps-forward, one-step-back kind of thing. Like Alice, finishing isn't much of an accomplishment for me if I know nothing's really done. Does that make sense? I rewrite as I go, so if something's not working, I immediately go back and fix it. Likewise, when I get stuck, I know it's usually because I've gone off on a tangent and turned down a road I shouldn't have. Stopping, going back and fixing what's causing trouble always works for me.
We all write in different ways. Alice mentioned writers who write blindly and go back and fix everything when they finish the first draft. I've tried it, doesn't work for me. I end up so confused I can't remember what I was trying to do in the first place. That's not to say one way of writing is better than another. Only you can decide which way will work for you.
Oh...and I'm up for a challenge too. :) My deadline's looming as well, then I have my option book to flesh out and get busy on the proposal. So count me in.
Right before you got back from Italy, I posted with a very similar dilemma. It's really hard to make the decision to restart, or massively rewrite, or go a new direction, or simply leave the story behind. I KNOW how hard it is to want to cross the finish line, but I think I'd either:
a) go back and fix
b) write the ending with the epiphany and THEN rewrite the beginning--this assumes that you can write out of order--I just can't
c) go to your #2 idea that you were buzzing about when you returned, do a very, very quick draft of that and then return to fix this one
I think I'd go with a) or c) and probably a). Just bite that bullet. I'm right with you on that.
I'm game for a challenge!
As others have already said, every writer is different. What works for someone else might not work for you.
That said, I'm with Alice. :-)
If it were me, I think if the problems were big enough I'd feel compelled to fix them before continuing on.
And I'm up for a challenge, too. I need something to rev me up!
Well I brought it on myself...I had plotted the main points of the book and created a timeline that made perfect sense. Well, that was until I went to Italy and learned more about the British education system from the Edinburghians. My hero is British and the story revolves around his being in the U.S. for a degree. Except for the fact that things are much different over there than I expected and the degree completion times are much shorter, which throws off the age thing. Oy! My bad... :)
Paty, that is so frustrating (what Harlequin said). We're always being told they'll consider anything, but that's never true! Publishers are always making blanket statements about not taking certain types of stories. That sounds like a frustrating change, but I'm glad you feel good about doing it.
Alice, thank you! Fabulous advice, I appreciate it. Synopsis?!? Gasp! ;) I need to write one as practice. I've been using Excel documents to do some basic plotting, but written out like a synopsis would be a better exercise. I'm going to do it!
Karen, I've been thinking about keeping the characters and scrapping everything else too. I don't want to write to market, but on some level I need to be conscious of where I could try to sell this, and I don't think the story as it is would sell. It's shaping up to be category, but doesn't quite fit the lines as it stands.
Eli, it makes perfect sense (about the finishing isn't satisfying if it's not done). That's been bugging me about this one too, and why I really do think I need to go back and fix. And it will make the edits a bit less awful when all is said and done. Two steps forward, one step back - that's a great way to think about it.
Wavy, I'm leaning toward A too. It just makes the most sense and might as well fix it while it's in my head. How is it working out for you since you had the dilemma?
Deb, I'm feeling compelled too, haha! It's comforting to come to the blog and have people confirm thoughts. To know that it's a method that's worked for other people and there's not some method that I'm blind about.
Thanks everyone! You all rock, as usual! ;)
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