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Writing: Keep Everything
Jul. 1st, 2010 08:20 pmToday I sat down to start another chapter of the new book, LEAVES OF FLAME . . . and lo! I discovered that what the chapter called for was something I'd thrown out way back in January!
If you don't recall the story, I started writing this book back in January. I got about 4 or 5 chapters into it when I suddenly realized that the entire book was off, way off, and that I hadn't started it in the right spot. It just WASN'T WORKING.
So I ditched all of those chapter--everything--and started over again in a new spot with a new idea (that still leads to the plot synopsis I gave to DAW to sell the books) and this time things seemed to be working just fine.
But I hadn't forgotten those lost chapters. I kept them of course. I've learned my lesson regarding ditching material. You never know when you may need it again.
And that's what happened today. I've reached a point in the current plot where it has become obvious that I've reached the point where I started the book the first time. Of course, I can't just ship things from the January version in wholesale, because enough has happened and changed that it doesn't all make sense anymore. But I can do some salvage work.
That's what I did today. I pulled up the old chapter, reread it, and decided what would work and what wouldn't based on what's happened so far in the new version. And then I hacked the living shit out of it, lifting parts here and there wholesale, deleting pages upon pages there, and writing brand new material to make all of the pieces I kept fit. In the process, I think I've fixed some of the problems that the beta readers pointed out when they got this original version back in January.
So, in the end I ended up "writing" about 4100 words today. Not all brand new words, but new words for this version of the book. And now chapter 10 is at least a third of the way finished.
I feel good. January wasn't such a waste writing-wise after all.
If you don't recall the story, I started writing this book back in January. I got about 4 or 5 chapters into it when I suddenly realized that the entire book was off, way off, and that I hadn't started it in the right spot. It just WASN'T WORKING.
So I ditched all of those chapter--everything--and started over again in a new spot with a new idea (that still leads to the plot synopsis I gave to DAW to sell the books) and this time things seemed to be working just fine.
But I hadn't forgotten those lost chapters. I kept them of course. I've learned my lesson regarding ditching material. You never know when you may need it again.
And that's what happened today. I've reached a point in the current plot where it has become obvious that I've reached the point where I started the book the first time. Of course, I can't just ship things from the January version in wholesale, because enough has happened and changed that it doesn't all make sense anymore. But I can do some salvage work.
That's what I did today. I pulled up the old chapter, reread it, and decided what would work and what wouldn't based on what's happened so far in the new version. And then I hacked the living shit out of it, lifting parts here and there wholesale, deleting pages upon pages there, and writing brand new material to make all of the pieces I kept fit. In the process, I think I've fixed some of the problems that the beta readers pointed out when they got this original version back in January.
So, in the end I ended up "writing" about 4100 words today. Not all brand new words, but new words for this version of the book. And now chapter 10 is at least a third of the way finished.
I feel good. January wasn't such a waste writing-wise after all.
