Hallo, fine peoples!!! I can't believe we are already here. But I guess there are only 28 days in February...
So two things are happening today. One I can take care of quickly, so let's do it.
March Madness is HERE and I have a plan. BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *cough * I am going to finish Summer of Bones this month (I have about 70 pages, so need about 200-250 more). And I need to be efficient because I have a week mid month that I am traveling for work. I don't write well away from home and I have also never been to New Orleans PLUS my husband is going with me, so non-conference time will be sight-seeing time. If you want to join March Madness, check my last post.
But YOU are probably all here because it Insecure Writer's Support Group First Wednesday. And this month's question is this: Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out?
I have a plan for my very first that I have never undertaken. But I have taken books back up that have sat for years... but they sat with me KNOWING I was coming back to them—that they needed serious revision. I write fast intentionally. I can take a tangent like you wouldn't believe, and writing fast keeps those to a minimum. But writing fast (for me anyway) means serious revisions. I skip sections if they aren't coming with just notes as to what broadly has to happen. It leaves wiggle room.
So there are THOSE kind of revisions. (not just those... my draft # typically runs about 10 before I consider a book done). But there are also things like changing PoV—third to first. And there are big plot adds that change a lot. Those things don't happen too often, but HAVE happened.
What about you? Have you pulled out something really old and reworked it?
20 comments:
I've pulled stuff out with the intention of reworking it, and one of these days I'm certain I'll actually get around to it.
Best of luck with Summer of Bones and your March Madness plans.
I have a project that seems to help me work out all my writing education. Each revision changes the project, but not so much that I can think of submitting it anywhere. I guess I should just call it the revision project, lol.
Good that you know where your writing should go, and that you don't look back. I'd like to be that way sometimes. My unfinished projects haunt me. Perhaps I just like the procrastination technique, lol.
All the time. I have 4 unfinished and 2 finished projects sitting on my computer. Every once in a while I go back for a look. Have fun during March Madness!!!
I wish I could write on a tangent like you can.
Have fun in New Orleans! I was there ages ago and would love to go back. :)
Ooh, hopping back to check out March Madness! Yup, I've revised an old manuscript. Not a ton of success with it, but it's a great writing exercise.
Oh you know it baby! Pinky was a mention in a short story - didn't even get onstage but now she's the boss of a novel (well sharing that with Ethel obviously). Lots of stories stewing away back there. And the long revision process - the curse of the pantser - do front loading or revise forever - I think it is usually the same amount of work. I also change POV way too often. It has become like a tic. Toc.
I wish I could write faster. I wish I would write more. You have taken your writing more seriously than I and I guess that's why you've seen results. Good for you for being so diligently responsible with your craft.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Only good thing about February is that it's winter and short! LOL
Reworking, rewriting, all good!
loved reading about your writing style. Maybe writing fast is something I need to do? I always get stuck on tangents and when that happens my story rarely comes back around again. Of course, I have a feeling I would struggle knowing when the revision process is complete. If I can have 10 revisions, why not 12? or 20?! How do you know when enough is enough?
Reworking one right now.
I hope March is a mad month of writing for both of us.
Hello, Hart. First of all, bon voyage, et laissez les bons temps rouler! I also tend to write a speedy first draft knowing that whole sections will get dumped. It doesn't hurt to snip the superfluous if I think of it as character backstory that makes my characters rounder. Summer of Bones is a great title, by the way. Happy writing!
You do love your tangents. I'm usually at 3 or 4 drafts before I send a book to my editor. I haven't pulled out an old one for a while now. Good luck with your March goal.
As someone who grew up in LA, I'm not all that fond of N.O.; however, I do want to take my wife there (for architectural reasons) before it's gone.
I have yet to pull out an old piece and rework it, but I am considering doing so with my first novel. It's a quaint little story, but I think there's a market for it. I'm gonna have to go back and check your other post on what March Madness is. Have you considered leaving a link to the post in this one?
I'm still trying to finish a novel I started three years ago. Or was is four. I guess that kind of counts. I shudder to think of how many revisions it has gone through.
Not quite yet, but I have been considering using a short story I wrote in college, Devil's Eyes, as a basis for a novel. :-D
I've worked on manuscripts for so long they ALL seem old and in the constant state of revision. I write rather slowly, so major revisions are seldom necessary. But I'm never satisfied for long with anything I write, which leads to lotsa literary-type obsessions.
Have a gloriously fun time in New Orleans, Hart!
Currently doing that right now. Pulled out an old story from several years ago, re-wrote the primary portion and I'm currently re-writing the secondary plot to make part of the primary portion (like a series so to speak).
The reworking process is definitely the most challenging for me.
www.ficklemillennial.com
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