This weekend, I got to the beginning of the middle of my WIP. I wrote a little too much in one day, which never works out for me. I reached a point where I ignored my plan entirely. The plot veered off course where I didn't plan for it to go - and the story got a little muddy. Darn it.So yesterday I stepped back and edited the first ten thousand words. That was easy - my writing partner had already critiqued it. I just needed to make the changes she suggested.
Today, I have more difficult work before me. I need to read the remaining ten thousand words and figure out the exact moment where I took a wrong turn. Ten thousand words is a lot to edit in one day, so I'm just going to work on a chapter at a time and take as long as I need.
Maybe it would good for me to make it a practice to write ten thousand words and then edit those words before moving on. I think this will work well for me if I have a detailed outline and am certain of the ending. My hope is incremental editing will make final revisions easier in the end. We'll see.
I don't call that "a wrong turn"; I call it "calling an audible" like the quarterback does in football when he changes the play before the ball is snapped to try and fool the defense. And just like in football sometimes those audibles work and sometimes they don't. Just don't be so stuck on the game plan you forsake a good play.
ReplyDeleteYou could backtrack, but that might be more difficult.
ReplyDeleteBe thankful you noticed the wrong turn before writing the rest of the book!
Grumpy - I don't get the football reference - I'm more of a hockey kind of girl.
ReplyDeleteAlex - I think I'm still at the point I can fix it without hurting myself.
That's how I spend most of my writing time...two steps forward, one step back. I get lost in the mud a lot. :)
ReplyDeleteLG - It's probably just the way it goes. It's fun to wander around a bit when I'm in the middle of writing. But I don't want extraneous stuff in the story that I need to cut out later. I'm definitely going to be cutting this week. Not much though - I didn't get too far lost.
ReplyDeleteGrumpy Bulldog may have a point. Sometimes in the flow of writing, the rapids of your creativity veer where you didn't expect. Go with it. See where it takes you. Your reader-to-be might be second-guessing you and growing bored, sensing where you were headed -- this new of events may well save your novel not destroy it!
ReplyDeleteThat is why it is important to know the final scene of your novel. Getting there then can take wild turns as long as it gets you and your characters to that point. Even if the ending is tilted on its ear (which might be a good thing for hard-to-please readers!)
I wrote 11,000 words this past weekend & the same thing happened to me. It took my novel someplace that made me laugh out loud -- that can't be a bad thing, right?
Good for you.
ReplyDeleteYour doing better than I do. I usually go off the rails and never recover.
ReplyDeleteRoland - I agree we have to allow ourselves to be creative. Congrats on your word count for the weekend!
ReplyDeleteShelly - Thanks. :)
Rusty - Me too - did that with my NaNo novel. I'm not too far gone with this one. Only one or two chapters need to be reworked.
Good luck with that! I've had that almost happen too but I usually put a cap on it as soon as I feel the story veering off the road.
ReplyDeleteI just went off the road - the story got a little muddy in the last chapter. I think it's a good time to revise up to where I am.
ReplyDeleteAt least you figured out that something's wrong before you finished it! Writing is more about rewriting, I think.
ReplyDeleteNicole - Very true. I enjoy the rewriting part. It's just hard to continue writing when the story went a little off course. Edits are going well. :)
ReplyDeleteYep, that's why I write detailed outlines now--to avoid the mud, although I will say the mud still oozes in on occasion ;)
ReplyDeleteI hope everything will go perfectly. My plot always goes astray when I make it more plot driven vs. character driven. After realizing that about myself, it's a little easier to fix my own work. Best of luck perfecting this quickly ;)
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are going through. Am there myself. btw you have an award on my blog.
ReplyDeleteElisabeth - I'm mostly good at this point except for one chapter - should have it fixed up before the weekend. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteKD - Thanks for the award!
Lynda - I actually had a detailed outline for all except this part of it. I have a complete one now. :)
ReplyDeleteI've been struggling through a smuggling scene in my WIP. Guess I'm just not a very clever thief. A good thing, I suppose. Not for the WIP tho.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I find it easier to delete than fix where something veers off course. Like I deleted the smuggling chapter when I had new ideas & th old ones no longer worked. Just easier in some cases. One chapter at a time is a good plan. That's what I do, too.
Seems like you noticed the problem in time. I have difficulty in staying on track just for a short story, let alone a manuscript. In addition to being a successful writer, you also have to be a full time detective! Looks like you're learning to master both. Julie
ReplyDeleteM Pax - I did end up deleting a chapter. I agree, it's good you aren't a good thief - tough thing to research too.
ReplyDeleteJulie - Thanks. It helped to know the ending and to recognize I was writing when I was too tired.