Rewriting

If you're anything like me, there's a particular part of the writing process that you love and another that you would just love to chuck out the window. I think any writer of even minor experience understands the importance of each part of the process. For me, I didn't realize the value of revising until I received my first professional assignment. It was a freelance article that I'd pitched to a magazine. We decided to take a bit of a dry run on their website first and I was surprised my editor offered to pick up my pitch for the magazine afterward-- I do not think I did well at all, and my editor basically rewrote most of the article before it went up. You see, I hadn't spent any time in revision-- I'd never really had to before because all my teachers and professors accepted what I turned in, telling me how good it was. 

I'm grateful to my first editor and the second chance he gave me. We had a bit more time, so when I sent him a draft, he sent it back with extensive notes on what to change. I made those changes, and got more notes back. Over and over. I think it was the 4th or 5th round when I threw out everything I'd written, internalized his notes and started again. And it was wonderful. Sure, I still had to go through a few rounds with that, but I'd learned the value of the rewrite, rather than just the edit. 

My writing life has been much better ever since. With my current assignment, I went through three full rewrites before I submitted it for feedback, each far superior to the one prior. I anticipate a lot of feedback still, but that's how I grow as a writer. 

Of course, time contains me from doing very many rewrites for this blog. So, you get what is basically a first draft. I'd love to get to the point where I have more time to rewrite here, but for now, this will just have to do. Between my full time day job, the 10 semester credits I'm taking for a certification, my freelance writing work, not to mention home and family-- there's not much time left for this blog. At least not yet. 

Predictability

This weekend, I finally got around to watching The Hunger Games. I've only gotten a few chapters into the book before I put it down. I know it's an extremely popular book lately and I have every intention of going back to it, but I just wasn't able to get into it when I first tried. It doesn't help that I've got an enormous and ever-growing backlog of books that keep vying for my attention. Anyway, I thought the movie was okay-- well acted and decently written, but I couldn't help but see through it. And that's what's got me posting today.

You see, I'm an over-thinker, as anyone who followed my liveblogging of Mistborn will know. I've experienced a great deal of stories through books, movies, video games, and I know specific story-beats when I see them. Take when the dog-beast jumps out of the woods--I'm trying to avoid spoilers, just in case--there is so much that telegraphs it before it happens: music (or lack thereof), dialogue, camera angle, body posture, and so on. It was only my wife sitting next to me that kept me from saying "now" just as the hidden beast lunged-- she hates it when I do that.

And here is where I'm torn. When I write, I want my story and its pacing to be unique, unpredictable. I want to write the kind of story I love to read, where events are clear and connected, with subtle clues laid along, but never telegraphed to the reader. But I also understand that story-beats occur the way they do because they are successful. My wife jumped, letting out a little scream, when the beast leaped out of the forest. That pacing worked for her, and for countless others-- just not for me.

When I first started writing, I wanted to go against every story-template I know. I didn't want to write a hero's journey. Happily-ever-after isn't my kind of tale. Yet, if I broke with the tried-and-true entirely, I ran the risk of never finding a sizable audience. Now, I've reconsidered. It's not about making a new mold, it's about choosing to break just the right parts of an existing mold. There are countless authors already doing this to great effect. I loved Ender's Game for the twist and melancholy ending and The Giver for the ambiguity it offers about the fate of the main character. Or in a slightly different vein, The Walking Dead adventure game by Telltale reinvigorates the zombie-story with small changes in gameplay. Chopping into a zombie's head one swing at a time really drives the experience home, giving you a moment to reflect between swings. It's what each of these does differently that sticks with me. How about you? Do you enjoy traditional stories or ones that change it up?

Getting some Traction

So, it's taken me more than a week to come back. In fact, looking at the notes I left myself, it's been quite a while. At the time I was reading a book about organization that talked about getting your most awful-but-important task done first-- right at the beginning of the day. The book used a Mark Twain quote about eating a frog first thing in the morning, that way you know that nothing worse can happen that day. It was some really great stuff and I was planning to really dive in here, but then my daytime job hit full swing with a new position and it's taking a lot more of my time and energy than I anticipated. It'd be nice if I could say I got a substantial raise with all the extra responsibility, but such is not the case. The extra $100 or so a month is nice, but nothing when compared with the sheer weight of my new position.

But this post is about getting some traction with my writing. My wheels have been spinning a long time now, and so I've fallen back into what got me going the last time around. I've sent some pitches around for some freelance writing work for websites and magazines. One's pretty promising, if a bit slow in the processing. It's not my novel, sadly, but it's writing. And it was this kind of writing that made me fall in love with words again and brought me back to the blank page. It was this kind of writing that propelled me 20k words into my novel before my inner editor and the overly complicated logistics of an online writing group drained my reservoir. I loved that group; my writing just wasn't ready for it. That, and we never really got to know each other on a personal level, and that made critiquing and receiving critiques more difficult-- I never quite knew the tone of the person behind the feedback. Plus, our group kept growing randomly and when we hit eight or nine, I think most of us basically gave up. Four or five is the perfect size, I think. But if any of them read this, I did learn a ton and I am grateful for what the group did. And I wish each of you well with your books. I'd love to see us all on the shelf one day. And if not, keep writing.

I wish I could say my traction is firm and I'm making headway. I'm not there yet, but I think about my writing everyday. And I long to get back to it in full force again. I hope to soon. I really do. What about you? How do you keep your traction going?