Carys Weldon Blog
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Writing questionJen asked in a comment "How long have you been working on the book that's up to 86k words?"
I wrote 90+ pages in a day back in October--which is real close to 25,000 words. I did the rest in the last couple weeks (December), between a whole lot of ebay and life events. The biggest problem I have in leaving it so long is that I have to go all the way back through the beginning to remind myself of everything I've done, editing as I go. And then, if I let it sit for a week, I have to go through it again--because I can't be sure the things in my head have already happened or are things I am planning to have happen.
So, the re-editing process is the worst when you let it sit. And oftentimes I'll change something, add it in, only to find that it is already in there--just two or three sentences later. The more I let something sit, the more work the piece becomes. And I believe that editing too much before the story is actually completely written steals the pacing. Although, this book I'm working on has way too much inner dialogue. Too much of people trying to figure out what they should do, and what other people want them to do. (I think, anyway.)
But I put more of that in this book because the last editor I worked with said she felt that I didn't do enough of that. So, overboard queen that I am, I have stuffed the pages. There is no question that my main characters all have wishy washy "should I do this or not" feelings. They are all struggling with, "Should I please myself or the world in general? Should I do what's right, or what's right for me?"
In between all that dilemma writing, I've written many many poems and a bunch of short stories to flesh out a couple anthologies (one poetry, one mystery) that are sold already. Both of those should come out in print this next year, so I'm excited about those.
I WILL announce it here and in my newsletter. I'm counting down the days to doing another drawing. Are you?
1 Comments:
Hey, my friend! Wandered over here to say hello; and, while I'm at it, I'll add an "amen" to what you said about letting a story sit too long before finishing it. I've written entire scenes before I realized, "Duh! We've been over this territory already, three chapters ago!" On the other hand, being forced to go back and re-read my work can be encouraging. If I am in a funk and think I shouldn't waste any more time trying to write, sometimes looking at the manuscript with fresh eyes can help me see that, "Ya know, that is pretty darn good writing!"
By 
Keanan Brand, at
12:12 PM
