Editing Plan
Oooookay. I've decided I don't hate/despise/loathe editing. Not yet, anyway. It's not the horrid, freaky thing I imagined. It's not actually all that bad. In fact, much of it appeals to the Virgo's sense of structure (I weren't born in the week of the system builders for nothin'!) and order. And it's oddly satisfying. Not nearly as fun as the initial writing, mind, but there are moments while reading through when I grin and think maybe, just maybe, it's not as horrid as the previous section made me believe. Sadly, the horrid sections outrank the grins...but hopefully that'll change as I go. I got...er...60-ish pages done today. I think. I wasn't counting, and it doesn't totally change over properly. But I have about 570 left, which is 100 less than the total count. I'm going to pretend I did all 100, because that makes me feel better. ;) It would be nice to think I'd be totally done in a week, but alas, I have discovered I am not a one-revision wonder. I can't do it. Even after writing the rough draft from beginning to end, I still don't know enough of the pieces to hack it apart and rebuild the sucky parts. Isn't that sad?
Mizkit said something the other day that struck home. Basically, she commented that multiple points of view in a single novel (which generally involves individual threads of some size, otherwise there's no point in giving them a view) is hard. That it requires experience and know-how. That she wrote her first one that way, and realized when she was done that she wasn't good enough yet to fix it. I did the same thing with Bloodstones/Betrayal's Daughter. Complicated storyline structure, which, when I figured out how to fix it, only got more convoluted. At which point, I realized there was no way I had the ability to do it justice. So I shelved it until I do. This helped me figure out that I couldn't write my court intrigue epic *before* I started, because I can't handle the cast involved yet. See, I can learn!
Sadly, it didn't keep me from making Gryphon's Overture complex, too. I still have at least five POVs. Each of them has an internal story arc that play into three or four external story arcs. This makes things complicated as well as complex. It makes it difficult to add depth the first go-round.
First scene I edited today, I added a layer to Langston, the eldest sister. It makes her, IMO, much more real and believable. I'm just not sure how far that layer goes where the story's concerned. Because a change to her impacts her husband, and all of her POV scenes (of which, thankfully, there aren't that many), and all of his POV scenes (of which there are fewer), and all of the underhanded actions he takes later. It means I now have to add a scene at the end to clue in the reader to what was happening behind the scenes. Because I never really 100% solidified the ending, I have no idea what the full ramifications are. And that sucks. It means I will have to do a revision after this revision, and a line edit after that. I've come to one scary, terrifying conclusion.
I must allow the inner Virgo free rein to roam as she will. I must give myself permission to acquiesce to the need for unending lists. For post-its. For timelines and thread diagrams and character sheets and long discussions with the people in my head outside of their stories. For obsessing over details. For detail TREES. For notes enough to cover a wall. I have never given in before. Were I to do that during the original writing phase, I would never get anything written. I would spend all my time plotting and diagraming and Building (I do so LOVE Building). This is best observed in my roleplay tendencies. I can come up with spectacular storylines with backgrounds and NPCs and possible sidelines and bad guys and good guys and worlds and cultures and languages and cities and maps and webpages and and and...then, as soon as the planning phase is over, I lose interest. I have no heart for it anymore. It dies because I cannot support it. Because I don't have the patience with other people to let them dilly-dally and fiddle about. Because I feel totally let down that they're not as excited and into my creation as I am. And I give up. I am meant to be the power behind the throne, the advisor to the king, not the one in charge. I have ever been afraid of letting it out while writing, because I know how important it is to just *write.*
Editing, however, is a different beast. I sense a greatness in me, if only I'd let it out. (My dad said something like that about my bowling ability. I have perfect bowling rhythm. I get up there and I can *feel* it...but I don't know how to hold the ball properly or let it go, so it just flops onto the lane and loses the beauty it should have had.) I CAN DO THIS, AND I CAN KICK ASS AT IT. I know this. I *feel* it as surely as I feel the rhythm behind the bowling ball. As surely as I know exactly how the perfect waltz should feel.
But I'm terrified I'm going to drop the ball. This doesn't mean I'm not going to step out there and see how I do. This just means I'm going to shake the entire time. And possibly that my husband will be frightened of me...he's never seen the Virgo creature lurking inside...poor thing. I will have to warn him.
So, in the interest of starting this off right, here is my first list.
Edits Before GO Can Be Sent
1. Structure (make sure it reads with the basic semblance of a story, rewrite scenes as needed)
2. Anonymous Baddie POV (give him more to do and bigger purpose)
3. Langston POV (smooth out, add emotion)
4. Jackson POV (fix Sam, add orders, make it gruffer)
5. Imp's POV (check for coherence, purpose, double meaning)
6. Depth and Perception (layering)
7. Transitions and Timing (make sure it all syncs up)
8. Overall Coherence
9. Tighten
10. Line Edit
Obviously, those aren't all full passes. Some of them will probably be done at the same time, like 7, 8, and 9. But still. LOTS of work. I'm going to have to drag the hubby to the store tomorrow to buy posterboard and pens and yarn and post-its and whatever else I think I need while I'm high on the smell of office supplies...
A deep thought has occurred to me. Perhaps the reason I don't tend to succeed in things in my life is because (since I already know I'm afraid of really trying) I don't actually let myself be myself, and tamp down the things about my personality and abilities that will either get me laughed at, or scare people away. Hrm...
Mizkit said something the other day that struck home. Basically, she commented that multiple points of view in a single novel (which generally involves individual threads of some size, otherwise there's no point in giving them a view) is hard. That it requires experience and know-how. That she wrote her first one that way, and realized when she was done that she wasn't good enough yet to fix it. I did the same thing with Bloodstones/Betrayal's Daughter. Complicated storyline structure, which, when I figured out how to fix it, only got more convoluted. At which point, I realized there was no way I had the ability to do it justice. So I shelved it until I do. This helped me figure out that I couldn't write my court intrigue epic *before* I started, because I can't handle the cast involved yet. See, I can learn!
Sadly, it didn't keep me from making Gryphon's Overture complex, too. I still have at least five POVs. Each of them has an internal story arc that play into three or four external story arcs. This makes things complicated as well as complex. It makes it difficult to add depth the first go-round.
First scene I edited today, I added a layer to Langston, the eldest sister. It makes her, IMO, much more real and believable. I'm just not sure how far that layer goes where the story's concerned. Because a change to her impacts her husband, and all of her POV scenes (of which, thankfully, there aren't that many), and all of his POV scenes (of which there are fewer), and all of the underhanded actions he takes later. It means I now have to add a scene at the end to clue in the reader to what was happening behind the scenes. Because I never really 100% solidified the ending, I have no idea what the full ramifications are. And that sucks. It means I will have to do a revision after this revision, and a line edit after that. I've come to one scary, terrifying conclusion.
I must allow the inner Virgo free rein to roam as she will. I must give myself permission to acquiesce to the need for unending lists. For post-its. For timelines and thread diagrams and character sheets and long discussions with the people in my head outside of their stories. For obsessing over details. For detail TREES. For notes enough to cover a wall. I have never given in before. Were I to do that during the original writing phase, I would never get anything written. I would spend all my time plotting and diagraming and Building (I do so LOVE Building). This is best observed in my roleplay tendencies. I can come up with spectacular storylines with backgrounds and NPCs and possible sidelines and bad guys and good guys and worlds and cultures and languages and cities and maps and webpages and and and...then, as soon as the planning phase is over, I lose interest. I have no heart for it anymore. It dies because I cannot support it. Because I don't have the patience with other people to let them dilly-dally and fiddle about. Because I feel totally let down that they're not as excited and into my creation as I am. And I give up. I am meant to be the power behind the throne, the advisor to the king, not the one in charge. I have ever been afraid of letting it out while writing, because I know how important it is to just *write.*
Editing, however, is a different beast. I sense a greatness in me, if only I'd let it out. (My dad said something like that about my bowling ability. I have perfect bowling rhythm. I get up there and I can *feel* it...but I don't know how to hold the ball properly or let it go, so it just flops onto the lane and loses the beauty it should have had.) I CAN DO THIS, AND I CAN KICK ASS AT IT. I know this. I *feel* it as surely as I feel the rhythm behind the bowling ball. As surely as I know exactly how the perfect waltz should feel.
But I'm terrified I'm going to drop the ball. This doesn't mean I'm not going to step out there and see how I do. This just means I'm going to shake the entire time. And possibly that my husband will be frightened of me...he's never seen the Virgo creature lurking inside...poor thing. I will have to warn him.
So, in the interest of starting this off right, here is my first list.
Edits Before GO Can Be Sent
1. Structure (make sure it reads with the basic semblance of a story, rewrite scenes as needed)
2. Anonymous Baddie POV (give him more to do and bigger purpose)
3. Langston POV (smooth out, add emotion)
4. Jackson POV (fix Sam, add orders, make it gruffer)
5. Imp's POV (check for coherence, purpose, double meaning)
6. Depth and Perception (layering)
7. Transitions and Timing (make sure it all syncs up)
8. Overall Coherence
9. Tighten
10. Line Edit
Obviously, those aren't all full passes. Some of them will probably be done at the same time, like 7, 8, and 9. But still. LOTS of work. I'm going to have to drag the hubby to the store tomorrow to buy posterboard and pens and yarn and post-its and whatever else I think I need while I'm high on the smell of office supplies...
A deep thought has occurred to me. Perhaps the reason I don't tend to succeed in things in my life is because (since I already know I'm afraid of really trying) I don't actually let myself be myself, and tamp down the things about my personality and abilities that will either get me laughed at, or scare people away. Hrm...