Guess what!
Something awesome just happened. Like, two minutes ago.
I finally finished editing chapter four of Fate. I added a new part to the plot so that I have the theme running more clearly through, and I’m incredibly happy. Um, I am pretty sure it’s longer than Version 1, but I don’t care. 7,808 words! DONE! So excited.
I am going to put off the editing of Chapter Five until next year, though, because I really want to focus on writing, and finishing, ‘Tweens.
Excited!
Yesterday I blogged about my difficulties with one of my characters and speaking in her voice. That is part one of my difficulties with editing Fate, and this is part two: the Edit Monster.
I think everyone has their own Edit Monster. Mine has wrinkly orange skin and bronze-colored plates like a stegosaurus. He’s reasonably well-trained and never nips at me. Edit Monsters certainly do tend to have their own qualities. Mine, like any child, loves eating out. Meaning that if I’m editing a friend’s story, it will bleed. Lots. And when I edit my own, it bleeds lots too, but later on I find that the Edit Monster hid the brussell sprouts under the napkin and put way too much ketchup on its meatloaf. After the whole process, yes, I’ve cut out a great deal, but suddenly it seems as though I have a thousand words more than when I started editing. Um, doesn’t that kind of defy the point?
Personally, I’ve always been a prolific writer. I volunteer to do the single twenty-page essay because I know that if I try to do the 3-seven-page essays, I’ll end up doing 3-twelve-page essays. It’s a gift, and sometimes it’s a curse. I know I’m not alone. Sammy, over at Access Approved, finished her first novel at over 200 pages. Mine doesn’t get that far.
So what I want to know is… what type of writer are you? Does editing sometimes seem add to your work instead of fine-tuning it? And, most importantly, what does your Edit Monster look like?
Cheers!
Let me set the scene for you.
The air inside the cabin is dank and musty, and you feel your allergies acting up, so you step outside on to the rough wood porch overlooking rolling fields. The sun is just creeping up behind the farthest green hill, and the sky is splattered in pink and blue. You’re not alone on the porch, even though it’s just barely sunrise. But you’re not surprised.
Leaning against the dipped wood rail, her hands are wrapped tight around the bone china teacup. She doesn’t say anything to you; just flicks her short red hair over her shoulder and takes a sip. It’s a little strange, seeing an experienced army pilot watching the sunrise and drinking herbal tea from a cup painted with dainty yellow flowers.
Meet Jylouna Martin.
She is my nemesis.
For the last I-don’t-know-how-many-weeks I have been fighting a silent battle with her. I avoid writing in her perspective because she simply disapproves of it. Just. Can’t. Get. Into. Her. Voice. Ever. I love her character (I love all my characters) but whenever I read back what I have written I feel like crumbling up a piece of paper and throwing it violently at… something. Only I write on my computer, and it’s harder to crumble my laptop screen.
I was pacing back and forth in my room when I reopened Chapter Four of Fate for editing. Partially because Jyla was up to her old “you’re-going-to-write-in-my-voice?–I-think-not” tricks, but my difficulties were also coming from a different character: Timothy Brown. Since my goal is to finish ‘Tweens by the end of the year, I’ve been writing, even thinking a lot in Timmy’s voice. So as I was trying to write Jyla, I was writing Timmy. Editing is slow.
Ever have that problem? A character voice you have a lot of trouble writing in? What is your greatest difficulty when switching efforts from one work-in-progress to another?
Also, I wanted to share this. I know I’m three months early, but I just discovered the band All Caps and I thought maybe some people could relate to the sentiment of this video.
Guilty Until Proven Innocent
As she blinked, red dots splattered across her vision from the interrogator’s lights. Jyla kept her hands clasped to her sides. Her interrogator faced the steel wall. Jyla chewed on her bottom lip and watched him, waiting for him to move, listening for his breathing; waiting for any sign of her interrogator’s humanity.
“Where were you first taken?” he asked a voice like snake.
“Borderlands,” Jyla responded immediately. Her instruments were destroyed when her aircraft ignited, so she had no way of giving more details. Her interrogator did not turn to face her. Instead, he stood in motionless silence. It made her skin crawl.
“Where.”
“My instruments were destroyed in the fire that took my Mosquito.”
“Where are the ruins of the aircraft.”
“I told you, Sir, I don’t know exact coordinates.”
Her interrogator stepped forward and placed a white gloved hand against the wall. The outline of a door carved itself in the metal. “That is not good enough,” he told her, and exited.
Even after he left, Jylouna did not move. She knew the walls were mirrors, and people were watching in. She suspected that the King’s Men thought that she had betrayed the King and given her aircraft to rebels hiding in the forest. And even though she knew these allegations were false, she had no way to prove it.
.
Author’s Note:
Seeing an upcoming deadline, I’ve switched from working on ‘Tweens to editing chapter four of Fate. The character here, Jylouna (Jie-L’ow-Nuh) is the character whose voice I speak in for that chapter, but she is also my most difficult character to write. I’ve been having difficulty getting back into her head. Please let me know if this is flat or feels forced.
Much love,
Amber
Last night, I had a decision to make: go to bed? Or write?
A while back I decided that yes. Yes I am invested in The Sin Series, but if I publish, I want to publish a one-shot book before trying to market a series. Because The Sin Series is like… my life… I don’t want to pitch that one to agents and have it turned down and be forced to self-publish, if I publish at all. If I’m going to be turned down, I want it to be with a one-shot, so I can learn and improve and use any feedback I get in also expanding The Sin Series. That left me with two options: ‘Tweens or Absolutely Mad.
Absolutely Mad is a book that draws on the verse of Alice in Wonderland. Since Lewis Carrol’s canon is no longer under copyright, I am free to do whatever I want with the characters and the world. The main character, Yvette Hatter, is cynical and sarcastic, but curious enough and has an imagination, so it doesn’t take a huge leap of faith for her to believe that she has been pushed into a magical looking glass into the world of Wonderland, where a half-crazed Cheshire Cat is making himself dictator of the land. It’s very much a distopian novel, but it’s out of all my usual conventions. Absolutely Mad is written in the first person, to begin. The story is also only told by one character, Yvette, which is also out of my norm. Because this story is so far out of the normal for me, I don’t want this one to be the first one I venture into.
The other option is ‘Tweens. ‘Tweens was inspired by several things, from a comment made by one of Bryan’s roommates (“Everyone knows that covers are impenetrable to monsters!”) to an episode of Charmed (season two, I think) to someone telling me that I was good at writing children’s voice (gee, thanks!). ‘Tweens starts in the real world (allowing me allusions, thank goodness) but there are ‘tweens all over the real world during which people, especially children, are susceptible to the Land Between. Things like dreams and doorways, where children and those who still are a child at heart are liable to be scooped up by creatures of the ‘Tween and taken into their world. Lucy Brown is seven years old, and her parents think that she is prone to nightmares and will have nothing of her complaints. Her older brother, Timothy remembers the Land Between and is there to help her when he can, but he’s also a college student and is beginning to get tired of his little sister crying to him constantly. He doesn’t have much of a choice, though, when Lucy is snatched away into the Land Between, and the only person who knows enough to go after her is Timothy himself.
So. To tie in the first sentence, last night I had a choice: go to bed, or write. I compromised. I wrote 1000 words in ‘Tweens. In fact, I made good progress in Timothy’s voice, bringing him into the the Land Between in his recurring dream. I was really pleased with myself. I think that ‘Tweens is going to need a few good drafts before I will even think about querying (and that’s after finishing the manuscript) but I am always pleased whenever I am able to sit down and get something done like that. Even if it’s only 1000 words (which takes me about an hour), it’s something.
On a side note, I noticed on Miss Rosemary’s blog, she has her specific story goals in the sidebar. I think that is something I should consider doing myself. I’ve never been one for due-dates, but if I manage to get published, I will be working on deadlines, and it’s something I should get used to. Besides. Left to my own devices, I get nothing done.
Right now? Right now I am going to go read another 25 pages in Alabi’s World for school and then I am going to sit down and push my way through ‘Tweens until I need to leave for work at 4:30. Sounds like a good, productive plan to me.
Feathers & Fangs 