Skip to main content

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

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. 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

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...

Grammar Pet Peeves

So I have this textbook for one of my classes (drier than dry), and it has adopted a "style" of punctuation that absolutely drives me nuts. Now, in the great grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter, especially since it is consistent throughout. But it just irks me, and since I have no where else to really complain, I'm going to spout off here. Then hopefully I'll be able to get over it and ignore it for the rest of the semester. This book has decided to put its initial quotation marks as single rather than double marks. So a direct quote would be, 'This is a direct quote.' Or 'This is a "quote within a quote."' Annoying. Especially since this is actually a collection of scholarly English essays. Come on, people. Hasn't anyone heard of MLA? Another grammatical pet peeve - bad signs. If you are going to expose something to the public (like on a marquee, flier, etc.), please for heaven's sake, make sure it's correct ...

Purpose of Libraries

So a few days ago, someone (name will remain anonymous) and I got into an "argument" about the purpose of libraries. This individual indicated that s/he believed public libraries should not be stocked with fiction titles because that means our tax dollars are paying for someone else's entertainment. "Why not just start providing movies at the library?" Admittedly, I was a little shocked and perhaps somewhat hurt because in some way I felt this individual could be attacking what I'm trying to accomplish (writing and publishing fiction). But I tried to ignore that aspect because I know it was not intentional and instead argued the purpose of the library. I started out by saying that many authors actually sell more books because they get greater exposure by being in a public library. A reader who otherwise would not pick him/her up will read a novel by someone new because it is recommended based upon what the reader already enjoys. Another point I made ...