Skip to main content

Love/Hate Woven Stories

I've spoken before about how I love woven stories.  That's one reason I love Charles Dickens -- he weaves so many threads, all inter-twining, into his final masterpiece.

But editing such a story is a nightmare!

I just deleted 5 entire chapters from my Snow White retelling.  But that means I have to read through every single other chapter, deleting threads that are no longer relevant. 
--Those deleted chapters were foreshadowed and hinted at, random objects were put in place for later use, the first half of humor was layed out so you would laugh when you read the chapter. 
--And then, once the chapter itself was deleted, the hints that were hidden in the deleted chapter are gone, so your later chapters are lacking the foreshadowing, hinting, placement of objects, et cetera, that would have been wrapped up in that chapter. 

     No scene is one layer.  You have your primary objective but a million other tiny things are happening.  And cutting the threads makes the whole story want to unravel.

     In editing, I found myself appreciating the way my stories really are all interwoven.  That's cool.  I didn't realize how much I did that.

     But...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  It makes editing a NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poor Charles Dickens.

Comments

  1. Oh you poor thing, editing is so hard. I am not excited for when I have to do mine.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

More Snippets from Snow White Rose Red

    One of the shadows moved.   “Were you just going to chuck it in there with no thought for the poor folks on the other side?”   Flip’s voice drawled out.   It was a deep voice and it made my heart skip a beat.      He moved away from the trees and came to stand in front of me.   “Some hard-working fellow is plowing his field and then – whop!   Out of nowhere, a poisoned apple flies out and hits him upside the head.”   He clucked his tongue reproachfully.

A Short Story Break

via Pinterest     It has been a while since I penned a short story.  Usually it takes something like a "short story contest" to inspire me.  But I have noticed my writing skills improve with each contest so there is something to be said for writing short stories.      I say all this to lead into the fact that I am going to try another short story.  There is no contest looming on the horizon, but it has been so long that I think I am due to write a short piece.  Life cannot be entirely devoted to novel-length plots...      I am rolling around different ideas in my head.  There is no one to give me the first three words or a picture to base my story on.  There are no restrictions, no props, and no judges.      Methinks I will try something that is both epic and ordinary...something I have seen before.  After all, personal experience, great things, and the expression of the ordinary are part of what makes a story. 

The Countdown: Eight Days

Eight days.  Do you know what that means?  Barely over a week.  Tomorrow will be one week from the announcement date. Are you excited? I am. So, today, I want to talk to those who wrote something for the contest, whether or not you entered it in the end. What made you start writing your story?  What was the first inkling of an idea that tickled your brain?  What was it that you liked about your premise?  As you wrote, did you have a favorite character or a favorite scene?  And are you glad you wrote it down?  Do you feel like you learned and grew in your ability as a writer as you tried out things for this contest? And, if your story isn't included in this year's Rooglewood anthology (either because you didn't submit it or because it didn't fit with the other four stories selected), what will you do with it?  Will you market it elsewhere?  Or will you lock it away in a drawer?