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Great work so far in here, though thanks to my personal circumstances I feel like there should be something in the standard advice section about backing up your work. Seriously, back up your work. I know I'm a broken record about this, but I'm losing months of productivity because I stare at this open printed copy of my manuscript just to the right of me and I just can't bear to work on it for more than an hour or so at a time. Re-treading old ground that wasn't fun the first time is tedious as hell. Dropbox is free and works great. There are other services if you want to do something more aggressive. Just don't put it off and screw yourself.
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Jul 17, 2012 12:08
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 23:40 |
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My first chapter is a flashback, so I was really lazy and said: 20 Years Ago Then, in chapter two it starts with: Today There are more clever and artful ways to do it, but sometimes the simplest way is the best way. I'm not saying it will work for what you're doing but don't overthink it, either.
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Aug 8, 2012 15:05
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I know it got lost a bit, but something I did in a graphic novel I wrote and never got around to drawing (oh god it takes so long) was to give the character who spent a large amount of time essentially talking to himself a cat. The cat provided some more varied visuals and made his ruminations seem less insane. If you feel that the isolation is important, you can give him an animal or other objects to interact with rather than people. This might not work at all for the story you're telling, but I thought I should at least bring up the possibility.
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Aug 9, 2012 18:19
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After taking a fairly long break from working on editing my novel I came back to it and realized just how much the person I saw as the protagonist really kind of isn't. In fact, she's based more closely on my ex-wife than I thought. This wasn't my intention and makes me a bit crazy. This character's actions are incredibly bitchy, but I was still trying to frame them as if she was always right and good and pure and Jesus this is way too much like the last two years I spent with the ex. "No, no. She's great. I promise. It's me that's the problem." Fuuuuck. I'm saying that I wrote a mega-bitch but hadn't embraced it. Time to rewrite like mad to properly frame who this character really turned into during the writing process and make her more of her own being rather than this square peg I was trying to force into a round hole. She isn't without her good qualities and I actually really like her as this flawed thing that I hope I can flesh out in the edits. She'll be far more interesting this way. I had planned this as a three book series, and now this arc for her character has become crystal clear. She may be the main viewpoint for this thing, but she's not the one who is clearly in the right most of the time. In fact, these guys who are floating around her (an ex-husband who can't get over her and an old flame that's back in her life after 15 years) are probably going to end up having to grow some backbones and leaving her entirely in the end. I think I'm going to write a reverse-romance here. The two characters I had intended to fall back into love would really be better off moving on. I suppose we'll see what they end up doing if I ever get this thing done (since I might just still put them together as the audience screams "WHAT ARE YOU DOING! HE'S CLINGY AND SHE'S SELFISH!"), but stepping away and coming back has given me a perspective that I think is going to make this end up being a much more interesting story. In the end this is still going to be a plot-driven confection, but I think my craft is improving by leaps and bounds working on it. It's the kind of book I think I can get my Mother to read, if that makes any sense. I'll save my more literary aspirations for when I have more experience.
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Sep 27, 2012 13:43
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Overwined posted:Don't be too hard on yourself, man. Seriously. I think every great novelist has spent their entire writing career writing long couched messages to themselves. We have been watching the greatest minds of our times beat themselves up on the page. Thanks. I don't intend to let this character be so clearly influenced by my ex, but I've still got a character who is pretty close to me that I plan on making GBS threads on constantly to make up for it. That's what author-inserts are for, right? To have a place I can pour all my self-hatred out on to, right? Right, fellas? I mean, if the character that your family and close friends will recognize as being a bit like you doesn't end up making them feel uncomfortable because of all the terrible things that happens to them you're not doing it right, are you? Is that just me, then? **Please note: This is not actually an author-insert. I hope. Because those are normally terrible. I'm emphasizing for attempted humor. "Attempted."
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Sep 27, 2012 14:25
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 23:40 |
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After months of fighting with the edits and deciding to rewrite pieces of my novel from scratch, I'm thinking it's time to just shelve it and work on something else. Right now I'm not sure I even want it to go out there with my name on it when so many of my other ideas are so very different from it. Even though it was only a few years ago when I started working on the concept, since then I've changed so much in who I am and what I enjoy reading, watching and creating that I feel like this just isn't me anymore. Anyone else have this sort of existential crisis with their work? I suppose it makes sense that an idea I loved when I was still married and thought I'd live in this house for the rest of my life wouldn't resonate with me once I've gotten divorced and have decided to move across the country, but it's still hard to let the novel die when I've put so much time and effort into it. On the plus side, I'm really excited about my new ideas and am anxious to get started on them. I also suppose that just like an old lover, I can always rekindle things in the future if time and circumstance allow.
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Oct 13, 2012 21:57
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