Do other authors spend excessive amounts of time over a single sentence, or am I simply obsessive? I have this happen frequently; the notion of the line must stay, but writing it can be tricky, and I rephrase it over and over and over. It's a single line - a twenty word sentence, which simply doesn't sound right no matter how I put it.
I feel these situations wouldn't be made easier by a proof-reader, either. It is more a personal statement than about the perfection, if that makes sense.
The rewrites are still in the early parts of the novel, or at least that's how I see it. Of course, I wont consider anything "real" progress until I'm on the final few chapters. If you called it idiotic or melodramatic, it wouldn't be too far off.
;-P
-Gari
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Rainbows with black spots.
Pressing on with the re-writes despite the distractions, I've regrettably had to cut a page out of one chapter. I say "regrettably" because the page is still pertinent to the character development, although it the particular chapter it's in, it seems to stray away from the point. When first constructing the chapter, I think I meant for the narrator to be more unfocused. Originally, the narrator was unfocused at pretty much all moments, but that changed greatly. However, to illustrate how off the subject things went, I was able to remove the portion without requiring any change in the rest of the chapter; No bridge work.
As I've stated previously, this time around I'm endeavoring to read this book as an audience and not an author. Sometimes, it's like looking at a line of B&W photos with a kids drawing in the middle. You say, "what the hell is that doing here," you push it out of the way, and everything works again. That's actually a misrepresented analogy; I love kids and their drawings :-) The point of view is also helping me prepare for arguments. Many things are in this book that have the potential to cause negative splash-back. I've known that from inception, but now see it - like everything else - in a new light.
And, for what it's worth, I'm going to conclude this entry with a chapter listing to Concealed Weapons.
1. Just Words
2. The Vanishing Point
3. An Unheralded Arc
4. Friendship
5. Forgive and Forget
6. The House of Cards
7. To Infer Verity
8. Incubus
9. Connected With The Disconnected
10. Superficial
11. Carnage Diorama
12. Virgin
13. Shopping
14. Resident Of The Looking Glass
15. Hand In Hand
16. Precocious Skills
17. Consequence
18. Portmanteau
19. The Sprout From The Seed
20. Jack-in-the-box
21. The Game Theory
22. Street Assassin
23. Be Prepared To Get Your Hands Dirty
24. Emily
25. Reliance Falling
26. Between Two Worlds
27. No Future
As I've stated previously, this time around I'm endeavoring to read this book as an audience and not an author. Sometimes, it's like looking at a line of B&W photos with a kids drawing in the middle. You say, "what the hell is that doing here," you push it out of the way, and everything works again. That's actually a misrepresented analogy; I love kids and their drawings :-) The point of view is also helping me prepare for arguments. Many things are in this book that have the potential to cause negative splash-back. I've known that from inception, but now see it - like everything else - in a new light.
And, for what it's worth, I'm going to conclude this entry with a chapter listing to Concealed Weapons.
1. Just Words
2. The Vanishing Point
3. An Unheralded Arc
4. Friendship
5. Forgive and Forget
6. The House of Cards
7. To Infer Verity
8. Incubus
9. Connected With The Disconnected
10. Superficial
11. Carnage Diorama
12. Virgin
13. Shopping
14. Resident Of The Looking Glass
15. Hand In Hand
16. Precocious Skills
17. Consequence
18. Portmanteau
19. The Sprout From The Seed
20. Jack-in-the-box
21. The Game Theory
22. Street Assassin
23. Be Prepared To Get Your Hands Dirty
24. Emily
25. Reliance Falling
26. Between Two Worlds
27. No Future
Saturday, April 9, 2011
An Unheralded Arc
The bombs continue to fall!
Something I had wished to avoid is now a reality: I've hit a chapter that needs to be re-written from front to back. I was honestly thinking this final read through would be easier, but it's proving to be detrimental to my emotional health. The silver lining of this cloud, however, is that the chapter in question is crystal clear now. This chapter has always felt like it stopped the flow of the book (early on, I may add), and I always approached it from a more technical angle - searching for better adjectives, expanding on ideas, etc. But now, I see these few pages merely lack a focus; it's going too many directions. It is almost like a short story within a book. The anchor of the chapter is now apparent, and it should be simple to write.
My personal deadline seems less and less feasible. This is due to my socially inflated schedule of the past week. Luckily, my popularity only comes in waves, and this forthcoming week, presently, looks nearly vacant. All I have to do is keep it that way.
-gari
Something I had wished to avoid is now a reality: I've hit a chapter that needs to be re-written from front to back. I was honestly thinking this final read through would be easier, but it's proving to be detrimental to my emotional health. The silver lining of this cloud, however, is that the chapter in question is crystal clear now. This chapter has always felt like it stopped the flow of the book (early on, I may add), and I always approached it from a more technical angle - searching for better adjectives, expanding on ideas, etc. But now, I see these few pages merely lack a focus; it's going too many directions. It is almost like a short story within a book. The anchor of the chapter is now apparent, and it should be simple to write.
My personal deadline seems less and less feasible. This is due to my socially inflated schedule of the past week. Luckily, my popularity only comes in waves, and this forthcoming week, presently, looks nearly vacant. All I have to do is keep it that way.
-gari
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