I've gone all old-fashioned
Here's the deal. I'm in rewrites again. Then again, when aren't I? Or when isn't writing? If it ain't the first (shit) draft, it's rewriting. Or maybe more politely termed revising. Regardless, it means tearing your book apart scene by scene (sometimes sentence by sentence), tossing it around, deleting, editing, rephrasing, adding new scenes and then somehow piecing it all back together to make a coherent piece of literature (pop culture, commercial, or otherwise). No matter how you dice, mix, and/or splice it--it's a painful process. And I am back at it again.
But this time it was more painful than usual. I was tasked with adding elements that, well, don't always come natural to me. Paranormal? World building? Foreign. To. Me. Granted, I love sci-fi movies. I can read a spicy paranormal book anytime. But add more to my humor book? I mean, come one folks, I write humorous women's fiction. And sure it has magical elements--fun ones that make you giggle and smirk--but magic? How can I get beyond Santa Claus falling down a chimney? Because for me, that is as far as it goes. Well, with a few more jokes. And a hot dude in a bubble. And snarky comments.
Anyway--the point of all this rewrite babble (and I do a lot of it here on mommy writer)--is that I was blocked. Not completely stunned into a non-writing state (that is as impossible to do, as it is to get me to shut-up and take a breath when I am excited about something). But enough that I wasn't quite sure how to begin. Or re-begin. Or whatever it was I needed to be doing with my latest manuscript.
I took drastic measures. I went old-school pen and paper. Granted it wasn't the ole college-ruled notebooks or legal pads (not that I am knocking them. When in a pinch, any old writing paper will work. And even today's opened mail envelopes). I grabbed my trusty funky notebook and started jotting down thoughts. Open-ended questions. Ideas. Questions I didn't (and may never) have answers for--and brainstormed my ass off.
It ain't all planned out to the bitter end (yet). But I made progress. Enough progress I can start to make my changes. Can't you just feel the magic? Cause, really, I thought this might just break me and I wasn't ready to let go. Just yet.
So. To recap? Rewrites? In progress. Ending? Churning. Overall attitude? 100 times better than last week. Estimated Time of Arrival (meaning when do I plan to be done)? Let's hope in the next 2 weeks. The publishing world will be re-awakening after the new year. I want to be first in line. Just like the rest of the writer schmucks out there!
But this time it was more painful than usual. I was tasked with adding elements that, well, don't always come natural to me. Paranormal? World building? Foreign. To. Me. Granted, I love sci-fi movies. I can read a spicy paranormal book anytime. But add more to my humor book? I mean, come one folks, I write humorous women's fiction. And sure it has magical elements--fun ones that make you giggle and smirk--but magic? How can I get beyond Santa Claus falling down a chimney? Because for me, that is as far as it goes. Well, with a few more jokes. And a hot dude in a bubble. And snarky comments.
Anyway--the point of all this rewrite babble (and I do a lot of it here on mommy writer)--is that I was blocked. Not completely stunned into a non-writing state (that is as impossible to do, as it is to get me to shut-up and take a breath when I am excited about something). But enough that I wasn't quite sure how to begin. Or re-begin. Or whatever it was I needed to be doing with my latest manuscript.
I took drastic measures. I went old-school pen and paper. Granted it wasn't the ole college-ruled notebooks or legal pads (not that I am knocking them. When in a pinch, any old writing paper will work. And even today's opened mail envelopes). I grabbed my trusty funky notebook and started jotting down thoughts. Open-ended questions. Ideas. Questions I didn't (and may never) have answers for--and brainstormed my ass off.
It ain't all planned out to the bitter end (yet). But I made progress. Enough progress I can start to make my changes. Can't you just feel the magic? Cause, really, I thought this might just break me and I wasn't ready to let go. Just yet.
So. To recap? Rewrites? In progress. Ending? Churning. Overall attitude? 100 times better than last week. Estimated Time of Arrival (meaning when do I plan to be done)? Let's hope in the next 2 weeks. The publishing world will be re-awakening after the new year. I want to be first in line. Just like the rest of the writer schmucks out there!
Labels: brainstorming, paper, writer's block, writing life
