So I did it
Jun. 24th, 2007 01:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cleolindaWow, that read-through was brutal. Actually, it was more like a skim-through, because I couldn't bear to just sit down and read it--finally I said, look, just go through and separate the scenes out. Give each one an informal title and a separate page, and that way when you print them, you can switch them around or insert new ones if you need to. And so of course, in doing that, I ended up reading most of it.
Obviously, when four years (four years!) pass, the style and quality of your writing is going to change. I think what really shocked me, though, was that I've been living with this for so long that I'd forgotten what the original project was: five Fridays, five installments, one October, do or die, just to say I finished something, no matter the quality. Except that it "died" after the third Friday and became a larger, more involved project with a cast of dozens and its own little mythology. So when I go back and reread it now--it's written in understandably broad strokes, given the constraints I chose to write it under. It's just that I've been thinking of it so differently ever since that it's weird to go back and realize that there's still a lot of the story in my head that never made it into print. Put it this way: what I wrote back in 2003, essentially the framework of the novelly thing, including a beginning, middle and end, is only 45,000 words.
So the bad news is, revising looks like it's going to be a lot of work. The good news is, I can look at the original and know what needs to be done. It's not this helpless feeling of, "Oh God, it's terrible, what do I do?" It's more like sitting down at a piano and realizing that it's way out of tune, but fortunately, you know how to tune it back up. I think once I get past the sheer embarrassment of it, I ought to be okay. Again, it's a lot of writing, but the interesting thing was that I was rereading and would think here and there, "Nell wouldn't say it that way," or "West wouldn't do that" (specifically, "He'd damn well keep his feet on the bed if he wanted to"). So one good side effect of sitting on this for FOUR YEARS, JESUS is that I feel like I know the characters a lot better now. And of course, I've plotted out three novelly things to come after this (and vaguely sketched out another four to come after those), so I know where I'm going with the whole thing; I'm also a lot more confident now about just writing out what happens and moving on and not stressing over the The Exquisite Wordsmithery That Sparkles Like Adamant in the Rays of Heaven, or whatever. So.
(Can you hear that whimpering sound I just made? Seriously.)
I'll tell you the truth, I'm going out to dinner tonight, and I honestly could not bear the thought of meeting up with people and not being able to say that I had done it. "Hi, I'm a total puss, it's nice to meet you." So, you know, I've got that going for me.
Obviously, when four years (four years!) pass, the style and quality of your writing is going to change. I think what really shocked me, though, was that I've been living with this for so long that I'd forgotten what the original project was: five Fridays, five installments, one October, do or die, just to say I finished something, no matter the quality. Except that it "died" after the third Friday and became a larger, more involved project with a cast of dozens and its own little mythology. So when I go back and reread it now--it's written in understandably broad strokes, given the constraints I chose to write it under. It's just that I've been thinking of it so differently ever since that it's weird to go back and realize that there's still a lot of the story in my head that never made it into print. Put it this way: what I wrote back in 2003, essentially the framework of the novelly thing, including a beginning, middle and end, is only 45,000 words.
So the bad news is, revising looks like it's going to be a lot of work. The good news is, I can look at the original and know what needs to be done. It's not this helpless feeling of, "Oh God, it's terrible, what do I do?" It's more like sitting down at a piano and realizing that it's way out of tune, but fortunately, you know how to tune it back up. I think once I get past the sheer embarrassment of it, I ought to be okay. Again, it's a lot of writing, but the interesting thing was that I was rereading and would think here and there, "Nell wouldn't say it that way," or "West wouldn't do that" (specifically, "He'd damn well keep his feet on the bed if he wanted to"). So one good side effect of sitting on this for FOUR YEARS, JESUS is that I feel like I know the characters a lot better now. And of course, I've plotted out three novelly things to come after this (and vaguely sketched out another four to come after those), so I know where I'm going with the whole thing; I'm also a lot more confident now about just writing out what happens and moving on and not stressing over the The Exquisite Wordsmithery That Sparkles Like Adamant in the Rays of Heaven, or whatever. So.
(Can you hear that whimpering sound I just made? Seriously.)
I'll tell you the truth, I'm going out to dinner tonight, and I honestly could not bear the thought of meeting up with people and not being able to say that I had done it. "Hi, I'm a total puss, it's nice to meet you." So, you know, I've got that going for me.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 08:04 pm (UTC)Because, as demonstrated, you already have it. ^^
no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 08:07 pm (UTC)I've been up to my eyeballs lately in editing my big U2 fic series. The way it's looking, what started out as one story is now going to be (at least) 3 books. I must be nuts.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 09:02 pm (UTC)it's ADAM. lol.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 09:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 10:02 pm (UTC)quel amusant.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 08:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 08:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 09:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 09:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 09:22 pm (UTC)Yessss, my precioussss...
Seriously, can't wait.
Totally no pressure, man. None, nada. Zip. Pretend we're not even here.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 09:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 09:53 pm (UTC)Looking forward to how it turns out.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 12:35 am (UTC)Luck, and be happy in your work!
no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 01:26 am (UTC)At a recent psych therapy session, I mentioned that I'd actually completed one full-length science fiction story (279 college-ruled pages, hand-written in trusty No. 2 pencil), and the good doctor said excitedly, "Have you pulled it out again and tried to publish it?"
I looked at him and said, horrified, "Oh no! It's terrible!" But then I got to thinking about a few of the characters, and I wondered what I would think of them if I did pull it out again.
We move into our new apartment on July 9th, at which point I will regain possession of my Cardboard Box of Unfinished Story Ideas + One Complete SciFi Tale. All I can say is: Those storage people had better not lose that one; otherwise, I will be bereft. Why I let them take it away I don't know. I must have completely lost my mind, and I've been fretting about it ever since.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 03:09 am (UTC)*noogies you*
no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 04:19 am (UTC)♥ Black Ribbon.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 05:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 06:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 02:46 pm (UTC)I hate writing fiction a lot.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 10:07 am (UTC)(wow, that sentence made little sense. No wonder I need organisation!)
http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php
no subject
Date: 2007-06-27 02:10 am (UTC)But reading this, I'm feeling inspired to write.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-28 08:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-28 08:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-29 02:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-29 02:40 am (UTC)