Tip O'Day #414 - Save & Recycle

Guest blogger Linda Greene on the art of rewriting.

Returned to its source, the pulp from the rejected pages of my rewrites over the course of my writing career would constitute a woodland the rival of Robin Hood’s Sherwood Forest. It wasn’t until I discovered that the master wordsmith himself, F. Scott Fitzgerald, considered the art of fiction to be the art of rewriting, that I stopped viewing it as a blot on my abilities and grew keen on the practice.

Actually, it is one of the tasks of writing that I enjoy the most, not only because of its value to the finished product, but also because I’ve discovered almost none of it goes to waste. Just as there was said to be “gold in them thar hills,” there is gold in those abandoned pages.

Developed through layers of evolution, sometimes my completed writing projects barely resemble the early drafts — but, oh, those early drafts have been priceless when adapted for other projects. My latest novel, Guardians and Other Angels, is an example of this fusion of independent pieces of writing, some of which I had thrown on the heap of the unfinished or uninspired that I considered of little or no further use to me; when pitched to the tuning fork of the new piece, they sang the praises of my story. My obsessive compulsive nature that makes me hoard every scrap I pen often pays off in the end.

My penchant toward collecting pages of personal writings is apparently inherited, for included in Guardians and Other Angels are my transcriptions of authentic private letters written by ancestors during the Great Depression and World War II. It is a preserved anthology remarkable in its recording of their thoughts and feelings, and of their day-to-day experiences, as well as in its powerful chronicling of the incomparable history of those times. Like my set-asides, those hundreds upon hundreds of pages written by my ancestors were thrown in an old chest and thought worthless; in fact, when once again shown the light of day, their share of my novel is golden.

Based on this one example alone, my advice is to rewrite until your work reflects the best of your capabilities, and value all of your written words. First, save them for your own future work; second, like me, one of your descendants might need your discards for the novel or biography he or she will eventually write about you.

Saying for Writers #129 - George Orwell

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.” — George Orwell

Dixon says: Maybe I would suffer more if I had a better understanding of my craft. As it is, I thoroughly enjoy writing except for those moments when I struggle to take the vague disenchantment of my critique group and turn it into some showing or telling that converts a so-so scene into magic.

Saying for Writers #127 - Larry L King

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.” — Larry L. King

A quiet creek in northwest Montana.

Tip O'Day #382 - Writing is Hard Work

Guest blogger Jennifer Harlow says, “Oh, @%&^!”

She's done. The weeks of research, the months of writing, the weeks of typing, the month of editing, it's all done. She is ready to be read by my wonderful Beta testers who will see how splendiferous she is and confirm I am the genius I always knew I was. Huzzah!

Three Weeks Later...

Oh, @%&^. They hated it. They really hated it. They thought the main character was annoying. The male lead was too perfect (meaning no real man would act like that). I kept switching between too much description and too much telling and not showing. The entire first fifty pages were dull and redundant. And the grammar. Oy!

“Didn't they teach you anything at the baby Ivy college your father and I took out a second mortgage on our house so you could attend?” my mother asked. (Yes, that watching Frat boys play beer pong is not how I want to spend my Friday nights, thank you very much).

Well, did you like anything? “Yes. The chapter titles were funny.”

Anything else? “ I liked the character names.”

@%&^!

What do you do when what you've written the first time around isn't that great? Me, there was vodka and three Real Housewives marathons involved. (Kidding about the vodka.) It's hard hearing criticism about something that you spent so much time and effort on. When they're telling me their constructive criticism, I try to put on a brave face while inside I'm considering skewering them with a fireplace poker. (Once again kidding. It was a machete.) Then I watch more Real Housewives, calm down, and think about what they've said and the suggestions they give.

Like how to make the hero less of an archetype. Make the heroine have faults instead of her being little miss perfect. See how much of the beginning can be cut away without losing the characterization and world building you presented in those pages to get to the action quicker. Use a thesaurus as much as possible. When in doubt, use a comma. Really ask if you need to describe the leaves on all the trees. Then put on your big girl pants and get back to work. (Unless there's a Real Housewives of Atlanta on. Love me some Kim and NeNe.) With every word on the page ask if this is the best choice. Sound like fun? About as much fun as Andy Cohen has at the Housewives reunions. (I think I have a problem.)

Writing is @%&^#*! hard work. Most of my books have gone through at least five edits before I even present it to my agent, who does one more. Right now I'm on the third of the steampunk book I wrote, Verity Hart Vs. The Vampyres, cutting the first chapter entirely, working eight hours on the current first chapter, twelve on the second, and so on. My main character went from Cher Horowitz in Clueless to a pretty version of Jane Eyre. My hero now smokes, drinks, cusses, and is rude. There is more red ink on the pages than black. As it should be. Nothing comes out of the gate perfect, but if you're smart enough and trust in your skills and vision, it can certainly get pretty darn close.

Publishers are tough. I once got rejected because two character names were too similar and the reader got confused. So though it may hurt, and take for-bloody-ever, editing is probably the most important part of writing. I've learned that 80% of the time my Beta testers are right. As long as you have the backbone of the story and halfway decent characters with potential, then all is not lost. Most things can be fixed. And after all the hard work and tears, in the end you get this...

Jennifer Harlow is the author of Mind Over Monsters, the first in the F.R.E.A.K.S. Squad series (out now) and To Catch a Vampire (out in September 2012). To learn more, check out her website.

Saying for Writers #122 - Stephen King

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.” — Stephen King

This deer has nothing to do with the King quotation, but I just wondered: did you notice the two little ones?

Tip O'Day 368 - Something Was Lacking

Guest blogger Michael Keyth: “What made me write a book?"

I’m Polish, living in Poland. I’ve never been to the USA. I have visited the UK on three occasions, for just a few days each time. So why the heck am I writing in English? It’s not that I’m an English teacher and I have completed English studies, for sure. It must be something else. I have currently one novel completed, and am working on my second one. My family won’t read them; they don’t know the language. My friends, well, they know some basic English, but even those who took advanced English on their final tests, had some problems with vocabulary they didn’t understand. When people ask me why my books are in English, I usually answer, “Well this language is more suitable to write in.” It is. More words, better sounding and it’s the official language of our planet.

Still, what made me write? Me, a simple teacher with lots of hobbies and little time for anything. I remember in late 2007, when I was 23 and a horror fan, I was about to watch a long-awaited movie that just came out. I don’t remember the title, but it was something about ghosts. Well, I was never so disappointed. Another movie with ghosts killing everyone one by one, only for one or two people to survive in the end. Where are the movies where people oppose them, huh? The same story repeated with many other horrors. Every time, something was lacking. Something that could made the movie better, like different plot twists, different characters, different villains. Then I watched the Supernatural series for the first time. To be honest I expected something like a team with high-tech devices to deal with hordes of supernatural things…nothing what I expected. I’m not criticizing the series. I like it how it is, but I had expected something different.

Then it happened. I asked myself a very important question: Why not write about what I want to see in other movies or books? But how could I, with no writing experience (apart from some short texts for tests), and few books read at that time, actually create something as huge as a novel? Other people spent years working on their novels.

During my fourth year of studies, I was dying of boredom, gazing into my laptop. I decided to write something. It wasn’t perfect, so I had no choice but to learn the art of writing. I read around ten e-books about creative writing. Based on their tips, I did a lot of research, created characters, made an outline and wrote. After one year the book was written - over 120,000 words. Just to make matters weirder, I wrote it on my mobile phone during school breaks, train travels, holidays and waiting in long queues.

As I said, the first draft took me a year. Then I gave up the book for one year. When I finally woke up, I re-edited it within three months adding 50,000 words, and then re-edited it for the third time. Now I’m working on the sequel, and find myself liking what I do. Hundreds of ideas implemented into my stories make up for the mistakes which a non-native English speaker will make. Will I continue writing after finishing the sequel? The answer is a resounding yes, yes, yes. This art is addictive.

Check out the link to Michael’s book.

Saying for Authors #114 - Michener

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter.” - James Michener

Tip O'Day for Writers #91

Guest blogger Brian Hodge says it’s all about the rewrite.

If you haven’t already, learn to fall in deep, passionate love with the rewriting process. Very little writing is the best it can ever be straight out of the gate. But too many aspiring writers seem to feel as though they can’t (or shouldn’t) be bothered to work and rework and re-rework something. Malcolm Gladwell (OUTLIERS, THE TIPPING POINT) provides a starkly telling quote on the need to smash through the laziness: “I always say to young writers who are struggling, well, how many drafts do you do? And then I say, what, you only do three drafts? I do ten.”

Even an early mentor of mine, quite successful, told me that rewrites felt to him like beating a dead horse. Of course he did them anyway. Fortunately, to me, the revision phase has always felt like when a work comes most fully alive … when the seedlings flourish, the tonal shadings emerge, and it starts the climb toward fulfilling its potential.

Brian Hodge is the author of 14 books. His fourth collection, PICKING THE BONES, was released in April with a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Connect with him through his web site (www.brianhodge.net), blog (www.warriorpoetblog.com), or Facebook (www.facebook.com/brianhodgewriter).