I've recovered and revised much of what I tossed onto the cutting room floor today. Now back up to 80 pages, I'm finding the momentum growing again. My heroine (L) is coming back to life, slowly, but she is struggling - not on the page, mind you, but in her "life" inside the pages. She's becoming more complex, and as she and her best friend live completely separate and opposite lives, she is finding it difficult to keep her head above water, something many of us know all too well.
For her best friend (E), however, life seems to be floating along on a gentle current. An occasional bobble, and she's right back on top. E is feeling guilty for her success while L desperately searches for answers and for a life preserver.
Water, by the way, is an apt symbol for the novel so far. The element is used again and again while L is in a dreamlike state (most of the first 2 parts of the novel), and now the two friends are near two different water sources. L near a rough river and E on lakefront property in an exclusive suburb.
It's still slow-going, and I'm still a little unsure of the outcome, but the original plot is back on track, and that makes me happy.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
Scraps - Day 244 (nearly)
Back at work, even though it's the wee hours of the morn'. Fewer distractions at this hour, I find.
I was able to salvage a little more from the cutting room floor (see last post) tonight, and add it back into the story. This is positive, for there is some good stuff there. The challenge is to find the diamonds in the pile of rhinestones. Little nuggets of shiny, lovely phrases allowing me to bring the characters to materialization.
I've missed my fictional people. My little heroine had died in the original, which was never my intention. She's going to wake up one day, not die in an anticlimactic moment of frenzied writing. That wasn't her purpose, and it no longer will be her fate.
But wait, there's more!
I've got another idea for a different story, but it's going to have to be put on the back burner for the time being. I like the thought of this heroine, too. She's going to be more present in her own life, unlike Lanie (the current protagonist). She's got so much to say, and I want to give her that voice. But for now, she's going to have to live in notes and nothing else.
Until next time, I'll continue scribbling.
I was able to salvage a little more from the cutting room floor (see last post) tonight, and add it back into the story. This is positive, for there is some good stuff there. The challenge is to find the diamonds in the pile of rhinestones. Little nuggets of shiny, lovely phrases allowing me to bring the characters to materialization.
I've missed my fictional people. My little heroine had died in the original, which was never my intention. She's going to wake up one day, not die in an anticlimactic moment of frenzied writing. That wasn't her purpose, and it no longer will be her fate.
But wait, there's more!
I've got another idea for a different story, but it's going to have to be put on the back burner for the time being. I like the thought of this heroine, too. She's going to be more present in her own life, unlike Lanie (the current protagonist). She's got so much to say, and I want to give her that voice. But for now, she's going to have to live in notes and nothing else.
Until next time, I'll continue scribbling.
The Cutting Room Floor -Day 243
36 pages. I've left 36 pages on the cutting room floor today. Now, instead of 105 pages, my novel is now 69 pages and ready for me to pick it back up again.
I completed the NaNoWriMo project in November with those 36 pages being my rushed, unexpected journey into an ending I did not plan. Nor did particularly like those 36 pages. After sending them to my BFF for her input, and after much consternation and contemplation, I finally made the leap.
Essentially, I'm starting over. It pisses me off, but it also gives me a strange sense of calm, like the 12 inches of blinding white snow blanketing my backyard. I look outside and think how awful and cold, how difficult it is to maneuver through. Writing is as frigid, as horrible and unkind, and absolutely difficult to muddle through.
I've been separated from my book for months now, unable to look at it, unable to wrap my head around the changes I knew I needed to make, but was to afraid to do so. It's time now, and I've finally done it. Now to start fresh.
I completed the NaNoWriMo project in November with those 36 pages being my rushed, unexpected journey into an ending I did not plan. Nor did particularly like those 36 pages. After sending them to my BFF for her input, and after much consternation and contemplation, I finally made the leap.
Essentially, I'm starting over. It pisses me off, but it also gives me a strange sense of calm, like the 12 inches of blinding white snow blanketing my backyard. I look outside and think how awful and cold, how difficult it is to maneuver through. Writing is as frigid, as horrible and unkind, and absolutely difficult to muddle through.
I've been separated from my book for months now, unable to look at it, unable to wrap my head around the changes I knew I needed to make, but was to afraid to do so. It's time now, and I've finally done it. Now to start fresh.
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