Skip to main content

Too much...can't do it...on overload...will explode

Image
By
Today is one of those days when I really dreaded writing/revising. But I forced myself to do it anyway. So, yay for me. I just didn't necessarily work on what's on my mind.

I met with my critique group last night, and one member gave me a great suggestion, but it's just too overwhelming for me to deal with right now. In a section of my excerpt, I try to give some back story along with current action. Well, it ended up more back story than action, which I already knew. The hard part is, the individual told me it lost my character's voice almost completely.

He's right. I know that. That doesn't mean I have to like it though.

Voice is one of those things you just "have," right? So what happens when you don't "have" it or you lose it? I don't know. That's why I can't deal with it right now.

So instead, I ignore him and for a few days, I'll pretend I'm thinking about how to fix it. That's still writing, right? 

I know eventually I will listen to his advice and try to implement his suggestions because he is right. But I just can't face it now. So a few days (or a week, or whenever I can handle it), I'll go back and wrestle with this beast we call revision. And ultimately I'll triumph. I just may have to lose a battle or two before I can win the war.

Comments

  1. Eric SwedinFebruary 24, 2010 at 2:15 PM

    I understand how you feel. Work on something else for a while and then you will be emotionally ready to make the changes.

    Eric

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

K12 Teaching in 2020

By
Today I drove home from work with my rock music blasting at higher decibels than, I'm sure, was healthy. But I needed a heavy beat loud enough to feel it vibrate in my chest. I'm not a drinker, but if I were, today would be a three-glasses-of-wine day. And there's no specific reason. Except that I'm only a month into the school year, and I'm already exhausted. And I'm not alone. All you parents out there who are concerned about the style, quality, amount or any other qualifier of education your child is receiving this year, I can guarantee you that an entire team of teachers, administrators, and support staff is just as worried. We're doing our damnedest to meet your (and our!) expectations. Right now, I'm barely keeping my head above the water line. I am the kind of personality who plans things out. I visualize my dive into the deep end, consider all possible complications, and then perform a smooth breaststroke from one side to the next before any of t...
1 comment
Read more

Top Eight Things I *Love* About Writing

By
http://www.123rf.com/ Why do writers write?  It's certainly not for the money. The major success stories are all we hear about, but they are actually so rare as to be laughable.  So why do writers write? I think the answers are individual for each writer, but similar across many writers.  In honor of Valentine's Day, here are the top eight (8) reasons why I write: 1.      The creative process.   I love when I have a new idea in my head and I get excited about it.  I love to express those stories and put them on the paper for someone else to enjoy. The mental process of figuring out how to make a story work is fascinating and exciting. 2.      The escape.  When I write, I get to create the world and events.  It allows me to be in control of how good (or bad) things are.  It rejuvenates me to face my own reality again.  Writing is one of my outlets of stress relief; I can always make thin...
4 comments
Read more

eBooks vs. Physical Books

By
So there is a lot of hype out there about the value or detriment of ebooks. And there are as many conflicting views as there are people.  There are some who say that ebooks will destroy the publishing industry because it will prevent customers from entering bookstores and not every book is available as an ebook. ( Stephen King has even taken this approach in his decision to delay the ebook edition of his new novel to help generate traffic into bookstores - because of course, he holds all power. Okay, okay, so he does.) You also have to consider that although the ebook price is generally lower, there are still many of the same costs - editing, the author's cut, the agent's cut, formatting, etc., etc. The only real difference in costs are the physical published pages. But consumers generally only see the published pages - which an ebook lacks - so they believe that an ebook price should be significantly cheaper. And when the publishing industry is onl...
2 comments
Read more