Okay, so I've been arguing with myself again lately. And yes, sometimes much to the dismay of my family, its been out loud. Over the last few days, I've finally had the time to open my WIP. It seems I've also had the time to stare at it until I feel like I'm looking through a kaleidoscope filled with black and white images.While I sit there biting my nails and wishing for more interesting hallucinations, the problem finally occurs to me. Music of doom begins. I...must...make...changes.
Revisions are like that, I know. You send out your story. Someone reads it and makes all those suggestions that you have needed to know for so long. You're now armed with the tools to delete what needs to go. Keep what you need to keep. But sometimes, the story needs to change dramatically. Or at least some parts of it. And you think, well, I can't do that. Its not how it goes. But...why not? I mean, are we not the authors? I can change this or that. I can do whatever I want (right now anyway, I'm not published or even watched closely, it's a free for all over here). The point is, we should never feel so confined to our stories. I was accused of being "so open" by my beta and that made her happy and a little more relaxed. She didn't have to worry about hurting my feelings. I just had to worry about letting go of the things I needed to let go of and where to go from there. So, I did it. Yes...I...did.
I toasted a waffle (chill out, it was whole grain. I'm not an animal), sprayed on a fat free butter substance and some blackberry jam, circled the laptop a few times to work off the waffle and made my changes. I feel so alive. So free. I'm blaring the Sound of Music before the nights over just to piss off the kids kind of free. No, wait, I do that when I'm feeling mischievous.
With the sugar rush from the waffles( said they were whole grain, not sugar free) I was able to focus and make myself get to it. Every time I hit delete, the words "Can too" came out right after. Now, I just have to go back in there and delete a whole bunch of "can too's" from my WIP then I'll be golden. He he. Oops. Got a little jacked up, I think. Seems to happen to me a lot.
Happy Monday.
Good post, Tam. Just remember, only make changes your beta suggests if you truly think it'll make your MS better. ;) It is after all still your story.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on using the delete key though. It's not always easy. I remember having to rewrite a small scene five times before I got it right. I was ready to remove the darn scene out of frustration!
Very nice post!
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling: you've reached the end of the road, you hand it over to someone else (or others), and through their eyes and gentle feedback you realise the work is not over, not by half, and it hits you like a punch in the stomach. But once you get going you take pleasure in it, you relish cutting and changing and altering your masterpiece, to make it even better than you thought possible, and you feel more elated than you did when you thought you had finished the first time!
All that's left is the query ... damn.
When writing a book...it seems like our work is absolutely never finished.
ReplyDeleteSometimes people suggest things that are more about personal preferences than actually making your story better. So make sure you never make a change unless you are sure it's actually going to help your MS.
I love my beta readers as they always point out places I didn't describe enough, or made assumptions that people would know what I meant. Those are places I am certain to make changes to.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I second Butterfly and Melissa- changes should only be made if you agree they improve the story.
Best of luck with your revisions! I am certain your story will shine like a new penny!
Great post! Revisions must happen, and it's wonderful to have beta readers to help you see what needs changing!
ReplyDeleteHowever, don't make a change unless you're entirely comfortable with it.
I'm getting ready to do some revisions right now, and for some reason, I'm in the mood for a waffle:).
I love being able to let things go. I think when we hold on to them and not make some changes that we hold too much back from the potential of the story. I am thick skinned. So I can take it...all the brutal honesty is good for me.
ReplyDeleteI just get too much that sometimes I get very wordy.