tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7127677169344207651.post1480480216569467870..comments2023-10-25T03:45:03.077-04:00Comments on Confessions of a Watery Tart: Novel NovelHart Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17599570189253229318noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7127677169344207651.post-61648311030847006282009-10-18T06:08:03.185-04:002009-10-18T06:08:03.185-04:00I've found with most of my stillborn novels, t...I've found with most of my stillborn novels, the problems come from having written myself into a dead end. Frighteningly, this can sometimes even be just the last sentence. <br /><br />Thelatter turned out easy to fix, the former can take a lot of reversig out. <br />Then you find out your commitment to what the book was trying to achieve - so some remain dead, just an interesting but going nowhere experiment.<br /><br />Bitter/sympathetic is a hard act to emulate, though perhaps negative cynicism is the way to go.<br />Being the author can be a trap here- we have to understand the character, yet so often the character has to fail to understand themselves. <br /><br />We have to fall in with being a dishonst narrator - an honest one will weaken the story.<br /><br />I don't have that "character's voice" problem - it is usually the voice of my characters that drive me to write about them - it is my starting point.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14880835293833765181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7127677169344207651.post-26553582743087303482009-10-17T00:39:04.132-04:002009-10-17T00:39:04.132-04:00I have a few books in my manuscript graveyard in v...I have a few books in my manuscript graveyard in various stages of decay. They just didn't work out. I've also got a lot of favorite scenes that I loved but didn't work in the story. I'll probably cannibalize some of the material later and put it in other books. <br /><br />Sometimes I'll come back to something and realize it had good ideas, but just didn't work...and I'll redo the story from another POV, etc. Bleh. Lots of work.<br /><br />Elizabeth<br /><a href="http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> Mystery Writing is Murder</a>Elizabeth Spann Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15625595247828274405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7127677169344207651.post-41756576515578626682009-10-16T13:28:22.523-04:002009-10-16T13:28:22.523-04:00Mark- great suggestion on the bitter/sympathetic t...Mark- great suggestion on the bitter/sympathetic thing! I think I may also delay the reveal on WHY she's bitter, so it is just a niggling periodic churlishness at first, so when the reveal happens you get a 'no wonder! I'd be snarky too!' out of it. And fortunately I still love this IDEA... I think you may have something though, on a need to break more cleanly from the LAST mother I wrote...<br /><br />CC: Oh, I'm not THAT far in this process! I've completed two novels, but only edited 1 to the ready point. The WiP I am blogging about is a 2nd in a Trilogy that goes with the UNedited work (figure I'll edit the three together because it will need to happen then ANYWAY, so why do it twice)Hart Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17599570189253229318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7127677169344207651.post-84151937020144201942009-10-16T13:14:38.773-04:002009-10-16T13:14:38.773-04:00I'm working on my first novel, and thought the...I'm working on my first novel, and thought the disillusionment was just me being a newbie. I mainly write stage plays so the transition to a novel has me second guessing myself. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.Creative Chroniclerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03434862566768775103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7127677169344207651.post-7719282193609128142009-10-16T12:04:50.060-04:002009-10-16T12:04:50.060-04:00The bitter/sympathetic line: I would get that acro...The bitter/sympathetic line: I would get that across in asides, weaving subtlety into the dialogue. The odd self-pitying phrase there, the odd cold gesture there. <br /><br />Next WiP: God yes. I slaved over a redraft for three months until I realised I didn't like ANY aspect of the story at all. What the bloody hell was I playing at?<br /><br />Character: Yes too. I discovered I was using the same character "template" in many stories for years, so I finally brought this person to their fruition in my last work. It paid off, too.M.J. Nichollshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12972190103986599079noreply@blogger.com