Friday, March 27, 2009

Eyes Wide Open

Editing sure is an adventure. First I'm changing tense, that is always fun. Second, I'm combining almost every other chapter so far. I'm up to the original chapter five, it is now part of chapter three. I'm cutting a lot out of the beginning, I went a little backstory and info dump heavy. Backstory or back story? One spellchecker likes backstory, the other back story. Google was no help either. Anyone know?

I also don't think I'll be participating full force in NaNoWriMo this year. So much of my editing is due to the craziness of NaNo and the fight to get as many words as possible. I have added so many contractions to dialogue, it's crazy. I'll definitely be participating, I'll just be focused on writing well, rather than getting as many words as possible no matter what it takes. It's just not worth it on the editing end. :D A little extra time when writing, will save me so much more time when editing.

I'm sure I'm not the only writer out there that has learned things the hard way. It really is different on this side of the novel though. It's like once you finally stop being a teenager and realize that you really don't know everything. It took me until 20 to really get that. Figures it would take me until now to realize how much work a novel really is. Now being two and a half years after I decided to write a novel. (I'm 22 now...not a fan of counting half years in age anymore though. hehe.)

I have honestly fallen in love the site Forward Motion. It's an awesome site for writers. It's a huge site at first glance, takes a bit to get used to, but I'm loving it.

As I'm planning my next novel, I'm looking at it with a whole different perspective. I am still looking forward to it with excitement, just with a realistic view. I'm not going to let it take me two years to finish the first draft this time. Once I start writing it, I'll have a deadline set. Self-imposed deadlines do not usually work for me, the key is for me to tell as many people as possible about the deadline. Some of my friends actually find some kind of joy in tormenting me when the deadline is looming and I'm behind. hehe. It gives me the boost I need to finish though.

Deadlines, good or bad for you? Any little gems of knowledge you've learned as your writing adventure has progressed?

And I promise, eventually I will get the hang of writing posts that stick to some central thought rather than bouncing all over the place. Maybe. I'll try, we'll see. :)

Laters,
Meg

Edited: My NaNoEdMo progress? 29 hours. 21 hours left and 5 days. Basically 4 hours a day if I want to get my 50 hours. Might happen. :)

4 comments:

  1. I agree with learning the hard way by screwing up. Everybody does it. I don't do well with deadlines either, but I sure do like tormenting you when you are close and not finished. :D It seems sad that I won't be able to word war with you this year though, as I know how crappy writing can come out when you're warring. Maybe we'll just do more cleaning wars!

    I don't know what I'm going to do for Nano this year. I think I might finish that story you're begging me to finish if it hasn't been done yet (and I doubt it will). If I do finish that and get a rough draft, it will be a whole like 3 years for that. I started it Nano '07. Seems like FOREVER ago but it's the only one I can really see through. AND, I want to do fantasy but I believe I am just too friggin lazy because I don't want to go through all the stuff to create my own 'verse. *sigh*

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  2. Sounds like some serious editing is going on. It's good though because it breathes new life into your novel. Good job!

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  3. T. Anne - You're very correct. It's all for the better. :D

    Star - I will still word war...but you'll just always beat me. Last year I had a shot at least. :P Cleaning wars work. For those that haven't heard of them, set a time and clean till the times up. Very productive. And you will finish it! Eventually...I try to bug you but yeah. You're way busier than me. 3 years is better than never finishing it at all. And you have to finish it. I want to know what happens!

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  4. I don't type fast enough to be competition in a word war.

    I don't like writing the entire novel as fast as I can for NaNoWriMo without proofing it as I go. I try to keep extraneous stuff out of it because then I have to clean it up later. The proofreading takes SO MUCH TIME, as is, and when you're getting rid of stupid, superfluous filler, it is just plain irritating!

    Holly Lisle recommends rereading what was written the day before, making minimal changes, and continuing onward. That's what I am going to try this November. I don't have much trouble staying on track, but that will help me spot places where I'm straying off the story.

    Dave

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