And so it continues . . .
Jan. 5th, 2007 03:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jpskewedthroneBut first, thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday (and today)! I was surprised at how many of you did notice and thought enough of it to send me a shout out. I don't typically make a big deal of it, even though I am turning *mumble mumble* this year. Not a milestone by any means. But I certainly can no longer claim I'm early thirties anymore. *sigh* In any case, I never expect anyone else to notice, although secretly, deep down inside, I'm hoping everyone does. I had more people wish me happy birthday this year than in any of the years past and it gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. And I'm so not be snarky with that statement.
To celebrate, I got drunk. I didn't intend to. I had one glass of wine and ordered one white russian at the grand opening party for a local restaurant that we went to. I watched the bartender pour the vodka into the glass and knew I was in trouble. I certainly got my money's worth.
I have no presents. Not yet. I believe I'll be getting some presents tonight from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pbray and jennifer_dunne (although presents are not expected), but my mom is holding all of my other presents hostage until the 16th, when I have to return to visit and to work. *sigh* THEN there will be a frenzy of shredded wrapping paper.
And now the continuing part: I've continued to revise. I'm actually a little ahead of schedule, managing to finish revising up through chapter 12 yesterday and today. I've now increased the overall length of the manuscript by 17 pages, even though the entire point of the revising is to cut words. I am actually surprised that the book doesn't suck as much as I at first suspected. The reason I'm ahead is because of that non-suckage actually. I figured I'd need some serious reworking of these middle chapters, but they're better than the first few chapters. At the moment, I believe there's something not quite right with chapter 7's ending, although I'm not sure what. I've added alot more emotional force behind most of the scenes already written by adding those 17 pages, mainly delving into Varis and her more significant relationships already established . . . and with a new character that I didn't use as much as I should have in the first draft. In the end, it's coming together better than I thought it would. And on schedule even! Wow! Whoduvthunk?
jimhines brought this up in his link, and it's one of the most important lessons I learned about writing, so I thought I'd mention it here in case anyone on my list missed his posting. That lesson is: hold nothing back. I think, as writers, we're constantly worried about creating tension in our novels--it's got to be good, it's got to keep people turning the pages, it's got to drag the reader in kicking and screaming--that in the end we try to create tension by holding key pieces of info back from the reader. We try to keep the real villain hidden, so that the final reveal is *GASP* shocking! Or we keep some significant element of the plot back so that arrow shot out of the darkness is *OMG* startling. The lesson I learned is to do the exact opposite. Don't hide anything. Don't keep anything back. Reveal everything to the reader that the characters in the story would know as soon as possible, because the only thing that keeps the reader reading is their involvement in the CHARACTERS. And in order to be involved in the characters and their lives, the reader needs to know exactly, as soon as possible, what the stakes for that character ARE.
I'm not saying you have to start the book by saying the big bad guy is Count Blah. If the characters don't know, and through the course of the novel they are trying to find out, then only reveal it as soon as the characters HAVE figured it out. (I did this in Cracked Throne--not revealing who the real attackers were. However, I did give the reader every available piece of information that Varis knew as soon as it appeared, so the reader knew everything Varis knew and so could try to figure it all out as she did at the same time.) If you don't have a first person POV, then you can also use information given to the reader to create MORE suspense: by telling the reader something that the characters don't know. If you know that there's a hideous monster in the room the characters are about to enter, but they don't and go barging in, you've created tension in the reader.
In either case, the tension is created and the reader involved BECAUSE you've revealed information, not because you've withheld it. Once I learned that, my writing took a giant leap forward. Because instead of trying to play games with the reader, I invited them along on the journey and got them interested in the people in the story instead. And if you can't involve the reader in the characters' lives, then all is lost no matter how active or tension-filled the plot is.
Eh, my two cents anyway. Here's the wordage so far:
Revisions on The Vacant Throne
To celebrate, I got drunk. I didn't intend to. I had one glass of wine and ordered one white russian at the grand opening party for a local restaurant that we went to. I watched the bartender pour the vodka into the glass and knew I was in trouble. I certainly got my money's worth.
I have no presents. Not yet. I believe I'll be getting some presents tonight from
pbray and jennifer_dunne (although presents are not expected), but my mom is holding all of my other presents hostage until the 16th, when I have to return to visit and to work. *sigh* THEN there will be a frenzy of shredded wrapping paper.And now the continuing part: I've continued to revise. I'm actually a little ahead of schedule, managing to finish revising up through chapter 12 yesterday and today. I've now increased the overall length of the manuscript by 17 pages, even though the entire point of the revising is to cut words. I am actually surprised that the book doesn't suck as much as I at first suspected. The reason I'm ahead is because of that non-suckage actually. I figured I'd need some serious reworking of these middle chapters, but they're better than the first few chapters. At the moment, I believe there's something not quite right with chapter 7's ending, although I'm not sure what. I've added alot more emotional force behind most of the scenes already written by adding those 17 pages, mainly delving into Varis and her more significant relationships already established . . . and with a new character that I didn't use as much as I should have in the first draft. In the end, it's coming together better than I thought it would. And on schedule even! Wow! Whoduvthunk?
jimhines brought this up in his link, and it's one of the most important lessons I learned about writing, so I thought I'd mention it here in case anyone on my list missed his posting. That lesson is: hold nothing back. I think, as writers, we're constantly worried about creating tension in our novels--it's got to be good, it's got to keep people turning the pages, it's got to drag the reader in kicking and screaming--that in the end we try to create tension by holding key pieces of info back from the reader. We try to keep the real villain hidden, so that the final reveal is *GASP* shocking! Or we keep some significant element of the plot back so that arrow shot out of the darkness is *OMG* startling. The lesson I learned is to do the exact opposite. Don't hide anything. Don't keep anything back. Reveal everything to the reader that the characters in the story would know as soon as possible, because the only thing that keeps the reader reading is their involvement in the CHARACTERS. And in order to be involved in the characters and their lives, the reader needs to know exactly, as soon as possible, what the stakes for that character ARE.I'm not saying you have to start the book by saying the big bad guy is Count Blah. If the characters don't know, and through the course of the novel they are trying to find out, then only reveal it as soon as the characters HAVE figured it out. (I did this in Cracked Throne--not revealing who the real attackers were. However, I did give the reader every available piece of information that Varis knew as soon as it appeared, so the reader knew everything Varis knew and so could try to figure it all out as she did at the same time.) If you don't have a first person POV, then you can also use information given to the reader to create MORE suspense: by telling the reader something that the characters don't know. If you know that there's a hideous monster in the room the characters are about to enter, but they don't and go barging in, you've created tension in the reader.
In either case, the tension is created and the reader involved BECAUSE you've revealed information, not because you've withheld it. Once I learned that, my writing took a giant leap forward. Because instead of trying to play games with the reader, I invited them along on the journey and got them interested in the people in the story instead. And if you can't involve the reader in the characters' lives, then all is lost no matter how active or tension-filled the plot is.
Eh, my two cents anyway. Here's the wordage so far:
| |
78,300 / 100,000 (78.3%) |
Revisions on The Vacant Throne
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-01-05 10:08 pm (UTC)I usually never realize it is somebody's birthday unless they mention it themselves.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-08 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-05 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-05 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-08 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-08 06:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-08 12:34 am (UTC)Looking forward to Vacant Throne.
Nina
(stalking you from LibraryThing)
no subject
Date: 2007-01-08 06:51 pm (UTC)(Vacant Throne is being handed in this week, BTW, so the editor can tell me what's wrong with it. But the first draft is done.)
birthdays
Date: 2007-01-16 03:41 pm (UTC)Re: birthdays
Date: 2007-01-19 01:45 pm (UTC)Re: birthdays
Date: 2007-01-22 08:51 pm (UTC)He's stationed in Heidelberg, Germany. Composer, conductor, performer extrodinaire!