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Writing: Sometimes You Have To Go There
Jul. 27th, 2009 08:46 amFirst off, there's a chance to win a free hardcover copy of Enigma, the sequel to Harmony, by C.F. Bentley over here. All you have to do is comment on the post and you're entered. Note: You'll also be entered into the monthly contest for a free DAW paperback. So enter two contests with one comment!
Also, don't forget the signing this coming Saturday in Paramus, NJ! Here's the info for that:
AUGUST 1st, 2009
Noon-4pm @
Borders Express
Paramus Park Mall
600 Paramus Park
Paramus, NJ 07652
including:
S.C. Butler; Barbara Campbell
Laura Anne Gilman; Jackie Kessler
Joshua Palmatier; Anton Strout
And now the writing post. Last Friday I was working on the revisions (because that's all I do on the weekdays now) and I hit a scene that my editor had suggested I add more to. That's not new. What was interesting about this addition that hasn't come up yet in this revisions batch is that THIS time, the scene she wanted me to add was one that I'd purposefully omitted. The reason? Violence. And dramatic tension.
As you all know, I don't generally shy away from violence in my books. The Skewed Throne wasn't exactly chipmunks dancing through the forest. However, for this one scene the main characters arrived after the violence for dramatic purposes. So they see the results but not the actual act. I explained the results so that you pretty much got the picture, but of course it wasn't as graphic because it had already happened.
My editor felt that I needed to add the actual scene. I'd left it out for dramatic reasons. If I go through the event as it happens and then have the main characters arrive, it wouldn't be as much of a punch in the gut to the reader. So . . . I figured out how to have the punch in the gut and still do the scene as my editor wanted, so everyone's happy. AND it highlighted some of the magic in the book and its limitations. I still tried to write the scene so that the violence isn't graphic, leaving the details up to the reader. The point of the scene is that they'd like to know who killed the man, not the violence itself, so I tried to highlight that aspect. I think it works well.
So, sometimes you're editor wants you to go there, even if you don't. And in my experience, most of the time the editor is right. I didn't go there originally because of the dramatics of the scene--I wanted that punch--and so in order to satisfy my editor I had to do some additional thinking and figure out a way to satisfy us both. I know I'm not the only writer out there who's had their editor say they couldn't "fade to black" at a particular moment. Patricia Bray's editor asked her to include a rather nasty torture scene that she'd shied away from; the scene needed to be there to emphasize the characterization and motivation.
Also, don't forget the signing this coming Saturday in Paramus, NJ! Here's the info for that:
MULTI-AUTHOR SIGNING!
AUGUST 1st, 2009
Noon-4pm @
Borders Express
Paramus Park Mall
600 Paramus Park
Paramus, NJ 07652
including:
S.C. Butler; Barbara Campbell
Laura Anne Gilman; Jackie Kessler
Joshua Palmatier; Anton Strout
And now the writing post. Last Friday I was working on the revisions (because that's all I do on the weekdays now) and I hit a scene that my editor had suggested I add more to. That's not new. What was interesting about this addition that hasn't come up yet in this revisions batch is that THIS time, the scene she wanted me to add was one that I'd purposefully omitted. The reason? Violence. And dramatic tension.
As you all know, I don't generally shy away from violence in my books. The Skewed Throne wasn't exactly chipmunks dancing through the forest. However, for this one scene the main characters arrived after the violence for dramatic purposes. So they see the results but not the actual act. I explained the results so that you pretty much got the picture, but of course it wasn't as graphic because it had already happened.
My editor felt that I needed to add the actual scene. I'd left it out for dramatic reasons. If I go through the event as it happens and then have the main characters arrive, it wouldn't be as much of a punch in the gut to the reader. So . . . I figured out how to have the punch in the gut and still do the scene as my editor wanted, so everyone's happy. AND it highlighted some of the magic in the book and its limitations. I still tried to write the scene so that the violence isn't graphic, leaving the details up to the reader. The point of the scene is that they'd like to know who killed the man, not the violence itself, so I tried to highlight that aspect. I think it works well.
So, sometimes you're editor wants you to go there, even if you don't. And in my experience, most of the time the editor is right. I didn't go there originally because of the dramatics of the scene--I wanted that punch--and so in order to satisfy my editor I had to do some additional thinking and figure out a way to satisfy us both. I know I'm not the only writer out there who's had their editor say they couldn't "fade to black" at a particular moment. Patricia Bray's editor asked her to include a rather nasty torture scene that she'd shied away from; the scene needed to be there to emphasize the characterization and motivation.
