With all the work I have been doing for BB background (and not just the villain posts you see here), Dungeon lapsed into silence. At least, it did until this week. Suddenly, the story is reviving itself in my head, and the editing needs that swirled loosely through my brain are becoming concrete corrections (at least, some of them are). I am rather excited to pick it up again and see where the editing takes me.
Today, I took a scene that I have tried to fix multiple times and simply deleted it. I discovered it is not necessary to the story. So why wrestle with it? Dump it and move on!
Of course, "dumping" for me involves saving it somewhere else in a pile of discarded scenes. I haven't quite brought myself to letting it all the way go. It is out of my book and that is what counts. And, if I need it again -- for this book or another -- it can be recycled and reused.
I also made a list of things that I specifically remembered needed fixing: The ending needs more power. Abram was left to rot unnoticed in the dungeon while the others did exciting things. The red-faced cook was a bit more lame than I wanted her to be. And I repeated myself to the extent of likely annoying my readers with the implied insult that they would so soon forget the contents of the previous page. These are things I knew needed work and, with these specifics in hand, it will be easier to dive back into editing.
I knew that it was best to let a draft sit for a little while before you begin editing. I assumed a week would be enough, and it was not...not for me, anyway. But now I am ready.
Today, I took a scene that I have tried to fix multiple times and simply deleted it. I discovered it is not necessary to the story. So why wrestle with it? Dump it and move on!
Of course, "dumping" for me involves saving it somewhere else in a pile of discarded scenes. I haven't quite brought myself to letting it all the way go. It is out of my book and that is what counts. And, if I need it again -- for this book or another -- it can be recycled and reused.
I also made a list of things that I specifically remembered needed fixing: The ending needs more power. Abram was left to rot unnoticed in the dungeon while the others did exciting things. The red-faced cook was a bit more lame than I wanted her to be. And I repeated myself to the extent of likely annoying my readers with the implied insult that they would so soon forget the contents of the previous page. These are things I knew needed work and, with these specifics in hand, it will be easier to dive back into editing.
I knew that it was best to let a draft sit for a little while before you begin editing. I assumed a week would be enough, and it was not...not for me, anyway. But now I am ready.
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