I honestly had no idea what to blog about today. I did not get enough sleep but I just had to get up to watch the Tony nominations. And I really want to get back to writing. It was really frustrating to have to stop myself and go to bed last night. But, you know, you can't write if you can't keep your eyes open!Since I'm nearing the end of my second draft, I gave the last few chapters of the first draft a reread yesterday morning to see what was left, and it was kind of scary. I think there's still a lot of work to do. The end is way too rushed. The second to last chapter was just a bunch of short scenes trying to wrap up all the loose ends before the last chapter. I was cringing while I read it. It's frustrating because every moment is necessary, but I don't see how I can stretch out each part to make it more meaningful.
And do not even get me started on the sex scene. Ok, maybe it's too late. I knew this would be a hard scene to write and I knew it still needed a lot of work. It's not really the physical aspects that bother me so much. It's more about the mood, the emotions in the narrative. It's all off. I feel like I need to either rip the whole scene apart or just start over completely. Which is also scary.
So yes, there aren't a lot of chapters left to rewrite. But there is still a LOT of work to do.
Go with your gut! Even if it means more work, it'll all be worth it in the end.
ReplyDeleteI had this exact problem with the first book of my series. I struggled with the feeling that my book wasn't ready, wasn't right for years. Yes, years. I kept editing, revising, rewriting, cutting and adding. So when I finally realized everything felt rushed, as if each event came one right after the other, I was relieved because I had an answer. I had something to fix! I wrote scenes to go in-between these parts and now it's perfect.
Don't give up! Good luck!!
Good luck with this! I'm really struggling through my first pass through of a current MS, because of the rushed issue...I seemed to have written basically the entire story in a summary format, so there is tons of work to do stretching everything out and making it include things like, you know, dialogue and character development!
ReplyDeleteHopefully you'll be able to push through without too much struggle, since you are nearing the end!
When trying to expand your works, don't overdo it and make the book long and boring or draggy. That seems to be the case with a lot of books these days.
ReplyDeleteI have that same problem with the last two letters. As for not being satisfied with last part of the story, can truly sympathize. With one of my novellas, I rushed the ending, then took about three months to think of a better one, then another month to improve on that.
ReplyDeleteFather Nature's Corner
I read an awesome quote from Maya Angelou the other day: "What I try to do is write, I may write for two weeks 'the cat sat on the MST, that is that, not a rat." It might be just the most boring awful stuff. But I try. When I'm writing, I write. And then it's as if the muse is convinced that I'm serious and says, 'Okay. Okay. I'll come.'"
ReplyDeleteSeems to go that way for me a lot. I'll spend have the day struggling with a scene that feels like the most boring clunky piece of writing ever, but then God will come in like a wave and make it new and sparkling and awesome. Don't give up.