PROJECT: Crimson Cacophony
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
STATS: Chapter 14
TOTAL WORDCOUNT SO FAR: 23, 315
PROGRESS: I'm surprisingly on schedule, which is to be admired. Though I assume it has a lot to do with the fact that I merged two chapters as I realized that I couldn't possible stretch something, which would only last for several seconds. Anyway, it's been an up and down experience so far. I do believe the direction is correct [*applause*], but getting there some days is hard.
Random Things About Editing a Novel:
1) It's a rollercoaster ride. It can be as enjoyable as the process of creating new words and it can as infuriating as the creating of new words. However, the difficulties stem from a different place. I can't say that I find editing enjoyable. My biggest lesson that I have to learn is consistency and this excludes falling head over heels over a new idea. Seriously, I've postponed editing this novel for more than three years.
2) I fear that even with editing I underwrite and will come up short with a novel. Which is a fear I transferred from first drafts. I'm highly un-mathematical. I can't think of a story and estimate its length in words. I know I underwrite and I can't estimate whether the tendency will continue.
3) While editing doesn't determine whether you fail as a writer, I do think that editing shows you whether or not you are a good storyteller [in the desired medium]. Some writers are suited to do short stories, while others fair better with novels. My opinion, editing demonstrates where one fits best. So far, I'm having a hellish time with my, which I can't estimate whether has to do with me doing it for the first time or something else. I'm positive that when I start editing my second novel I will know for sure.
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
STATS: Chapter 14
TOTAL WORDCOUNT SO FAR: 23, 315
PROGRESS: I'm surprisingly on schedule, which is to be admired. Though I assume it has a lot to do with the fact that I merged two chapters as I realized that I couldn't possible stretch something, which would only last for several seconds. Anyway, it's been an up and down experience so far. I do believe the direction is correct [*applause*], but getting there some days is hard.
Random Things About Editing a Novel:
1) It's a rollercoaster ride. It can be as enjoyable as the process of creating new words and it can as infuriating as the creating of new words. However, the difficulties stem from a different place. I can't say that I find editing enjoyable. My biggest lesson that I have to learn is consistency and this excludes falling head over heels over a new idea. Seriously, I've postponed editing this novel for more than three years.
2) I fear that even with editing I underwrite and will come up short with a novel. Which is a fear I transferred from first drafts. I'm highly un-mathematical. I can't think of a story and estimate its length in words. I know I underwrite and I can't estimate whether the tendency will continue.
3) While editing doesn't determine whether you fail as a writer, I do think that editing shows you whether or not you are a good storyteller [in the desired medium]. Some writers are suited to do short stories, while others fair better with novels. My opinion, editing demonstrates where one fits best. So far, I'm having a hellish time with my, which I can't estimate whether has to do with me doing it for the first time or something else. I'm positive that when I start editing my second novel I will know for sure.
6 comments:
Just keep going :) You'll do it. Maybe it'll turn out even better than you imagined. You never know. That could be fuel enough to try again.
Knowing me, probably not. BUT I will not give up now soon.
I find editing very trying. I prefer to get it right the first time. Oh, wait: that never happens. Guess I'm stuck editing.
Anyway, nothing wrong with taking time off a project. I like to have a few weeks to freshen the mental palate before I return to edit something. A few years is a bit different, I suppose, but I've got a novel that's subject to the same fate, so I know how it is.
Ben: The complaint I voice most often 'why don't I get it from the first time?'
Never happens though, it's never good enough. :D
In my case, I rewrote it completely and took it in a different direction.
Sometimes it's good to back off something for a goodly while and let your skills catch up with your goals (it has been for me). I am pretty much rewriting every word, but it's great to have the conceptual work already there. Keep going, Harry! :)
This one is one of the more simpler things I have tried. It's super duper straightforward as a story, but maybe my magic system is a bit too complex to get complex. :D
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