One of the most amazing things about writing is watching in amazement as your characters take on a life of their own. It's incredible and utterly bizarre, and it never ceases to take me by surprise.
In my magical novel that is being beta read, two characters randomly became related. It was unexpected but the second I realized it, it was hard to imagine their relationship any other way. Now, I have been working on that version of the novel for a year and a half, and much of that time has been spent editing. I didn't have any huge character-altering moments during the long, long editing process, or at least if I did, it was early enough on that I don't remember it.
While my magical novel is being read, I am working on a first draft of an entirely different story. This one has ghosts in it. I'm only one chapter into it (a teething six-month-old doesn't leave much time for writing) but it's been mulling around in my mind a great deal since I began writing it. I'm a planner, and I have a somewhat sparse outline of what it's going to be like. There is the main character, her childhood friend, and their love interests who have been integral players in the notion of this book since it first appeared in my mind all that time ago.
Yesterday I suddenly realized that the friend is transgender. I mean, of course she's transgender. It's obvious, really. One of those "How did I ever not notice it to begin with?!" moments.
Writing is amazing.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Friday, June 10, 2016
A More Experienced Writer
I have written two first chapters before. The first Chapter One I ever wrote was in the first version of my book, which was written from two different points of view. Chapter One of version one was written from the POV that I eliminated in my second version. It was my first ever attempt at writing a novel. Back then, I would start each writing session rereading what I had written before and revising. It didn't take too long for me to realize the impossibility of writing something the length of a novel in that fashion, but when I wrote that first chapter, I did not know that yet. I read and reread that chapter each time I started to write.
Then I wrote my second version of that book, entirely from the POV of the older character. When I wrote that first draft, I only changed a few details of the second chapter from the first version (the first chapter in that version from the older character's viewpoint). About a third of the way through, I realized that chapter was lacking something and I entirely rewrote it. It ended the same way, but the majority of the chapter was entirely new, and much better.
I have written one book. I have written it twice, and the second version did end up being surprisingly different from the first, but those original Chapter Ones were pulled from the first version of the book. I had a deep desire for them to be perfect. For my writing to start out with a polished, flawless beginning that would help guide my fingers to produce the rest of the book.
Now I know better.
I am starting a new book. My previous one is being read by my beta readers. It is the fifth draft of the second version of my book. It is not the final one. Once I get the feedback from my beta readers, I will read over it (cringing, I expect), mull over their suggestions, and decide what changes need to be made. I will make them, and then read the whole thing out loud and hopefully then will feel confident enough to begin querying agents. But for the next two months, I have nothing to do with that book. It is in others' hands, and not for me to dwell on.
So, I am writing something else. I have lots of notes about the story, along with various things I need to research. But this evening, I sat down and began Chapter One.
And I am amazed at how unconcerned I feel about making it perfect. My complete overhaul of what I believed to be a perfect beginning vastly improved my book. I am confident that I can redo any imperfections in this brand new Chapter One in subsequent drafts.
Draft One, Chapter One does not need to be anywhere near perfect. It just needs to start me writing the story.
I tend to think of myself as just an aspiring author, someone who is writing but isn't a proper author yet since I'm not published, and therefore an amateur. And there are certainly ways that I am very much an amateur. But I am surprised to find that I am much less of one than when I started writing three years ago. Writing is a journey, and I am so pleased to be walking its path.
Then I wrote my second version of that book, entirely from the POV of the older character. When I wrote that first draft, I only changed a few details of the second chapter from the first version (the first chapter in that version from the older character's viewpoint). About a third of the way through, I realized that chapter was lacking something and I entirely rewrote it. It ended the same way, but the majority of the chapter was entirely new, and much better.
I have written one book. I have written it twice, and the second version did end up being surprisingly different from the first, but those original Chapter Ones were pulled from the first version of the book. I had a deep desire for them to be perfect. For my writing to start out with a polished, flawless beginning that would help guide my fingers to produce the rest of the book.
Now I know better.
I am starting a new book. My previous one is being read by my beta readers. It is the fifth draft of the second version of my book. It is not the final one. Once I get the feedback from my beta readers, I will read over it (cringing, I expect), mull over their suggestions, and decide what changes need to be made. I will make them, and then read the whole thing out loud and hopefully then will feel confident enough to begin querying agents. But for the next two months, I have nothing to do with that book. It is in others' hands, and not for me to dwell on.
So, I am writing something else. I have lots of notes about the story, along with various things I need to research. But this evening, I sat down and began Chapter One.
And I am amazed at how unconcerned I feel about making it perfect. My complete overhaul of what I believed to be a perfect beginning vastly improved my book. I am confident that I can redo any imperfections in this brand new Chapter One in subsequent drafts.
Draft One, Chapter One does not need to be anywhere near perfect. It just needs to start me writing the story.
I tend to think of myself as just an aspiring author, someone who is writing but isn't a proper author yet since I'm not published, and therefore an amateur. And there are certainly ways that I am very much an amateur. But I am surprised to find that I am much less of one than when I started writing three years ago. Writing is a journey, and I am so pleased to be walking its path.
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