(no subject)
So! I'm working on Queer. Last time I started working on it again, something felt wrong. I stopped, and re-read A Little Weird. After doing so I was like, "Ah! I see what's wrong in Queer: I've lost the character's voices."
Then I went and read "The New Topping Book," to sort of give me an inside look at what makes Doms and dos and don'ts. I did some of that already when I was writing Weird, but I felt like I needed more info -- especially as an important part of Queer is London learning to Dom.
After reading that, I was like, "Ah! And I see where I've gone wrong here, too, and how to fix it!"
Next, I went and started re-reading Queer with an eye toward fixing it.
Here's my problem: I'm not so good at fixing. I'm great at the initial re-write. But as soon as I start reading with an eye toward fixing, unless there's an obviously plot thing, I'm just not good at fixing a voice. As I read I can see that it's wrong, but I've followed the wrong down the rabbithole, and I can't see how to get out or where it starts or how to change it. Unless, of course, I re-write it completely.
Can you see where I'm going with this?
Short of re-writing it completely, I'm not sure how to fix this. (Actually, I wouldn't have to re-write it completely, and what I might do is rip out the scenes I don't want first, see what I'm left with, and go from there.) (On the other hand, because there is so much of it that I don't like, it might be easier to re-write it almost completely. I still like the first few opening scenes. It started to feel "off" around page 20. There are 100 pages written.)
Also, I need to get a clearer idea of what I want to accomplish here. So:
Weird: Kel learns to sub. London learns that she can trust Kel. Ty is the awesome rock.
Queer: Kel learns that it's okay to be queer and like Ty (and has family issues). London learns to Dom, and in doing so becomes more of a whole person. Ty learns that Kel likes him. The three start learning how to have a relationship outside sub/Dom.
Crazy: Pushing BDSM stuff. Kel learns to trust his peeps. London learns they believe she's not crazy and deals with her past shit. Ty does family stuff.
Initially, some of the stuff now slated for Crazy was in Queer, so that needs to be adjusted.
I also think I need to keep re-reading Weird to keep a handle on voices, at least until I'm back to feeling like they're my second skins. A crazy busy life has left me feeling disconnected from my characters, which leads to poor writing.
You know what? I just need to stop promising things like trilogies, and start just enjoying writing one offs. Or do it like i used to do multi-chapter fanfic: write the ENTIRE DAMNED THING before I publish anything. That way, if I hit major burnout or something happens IRL that stops me from writing for so long that I lose my ability to get into those characters' skins, I can just adjust what's been written so far, and declare it done without having to get back into the right mode and fix something that went wrong. Grrrrrr.
JB
*Edit: after a lot of hand scribbling to figure out what I wanted and what I liked, I think I have a clear path. It's... going to be a lot of re-writing. But hopefully good, solid re-writing that leads to another awesome book!
Then I went and read "The New Topping Book," to sort of give me an inside look at what makes Doms and dos and don'ts. I did some of that already when I was writing Weird, but I felt like I needed more info -- especially as an important part of Queer is London learning to Dom.
After reading that, I was like, "Ah! And I see where I've gone wrong here, too, and how to fix it!"
Next, I went and started re-reading Queer with an eye toward fixing it.
Here's my problem: I'm not so good at fixing. I'm great at the initial re-write. But as soon as I start reading with an eye toward fixing, unless there's an obviously plot thing, I'm just not good at fixing a voice. As I read I can see that it's wrong, but I've followed the wrong down the rabbithole, and I can't see how to get out or where it starts or how to change it. Unless, of course, I re-write it completely.
Can you see where I'm going with this?
Short of re-writing it completely, I'm not sure how to fix this. (Actually, I wouldn't have to re-write it completely, and what I might do is rip out the scenes I don't want first, see what I'm left with, and go from there.) (On the other hand, because there is so much of it that I don't like, it might be easier to re-write it almost completely. I still like the first few opening scenes. It started to feel "off" around page 20. There are 100 pages written.)
Also, I need to get a clearer idea of what I want to accomplish here. So:
Weird: Kel learns to sub. London learns that she can trust Kel. Ty is the awesome rock.
Queer: Kel learns that it's okay to be queer and like Ty (and has family issues). London learns to Dom, and in doing so becomes more of a whole person. Ty learns that Kel likes him. The three start learning how to have a relationship outside sub/Dom.
Crazy: Pushing BDSM stuff. Kel learns to trust his peeps. London learns they believe she's not crazy and deals with her past shit. Ty does family stuff.
Initially, some of the stuff now slated for Crazy was in Queer, so that needs to be adjusted.
I also think I need to keep re-reading Weird to keep a handle on voices, at least until I'm back to feeling like they're my second skins. A crazy busy life has left me feeling disconnected from my characters, which leads to poor writing.
You know what? I just need to stop promising things like trilogies, and start just enjoying writing one offs. Or do it like i used to do multi-chapter fanfic: write the ENTIRE DAMNED THING before I publish anything. That way, if I hit major burnout or something happens IRL that stops me from writing for so long that I lose my ability to get into those characters' skins, I can just adjust what's been written so far, and declare it done without having to get back into the right mode and fix something that went wrong. Grrrrrr.
JB
*Edit: after a lot of hand scribbling to figure out what I wanted and what I liked, I think I have a clear path. It's... going to be a lot of re-writing. But hopefully good, solid re-writing that leads to another awesome book!