On resonance and editing

Sometimes, writers get ideas for stories that happen to be very powerful. I've finished up with that pseudo-commission thing I was doing earlier, and now I'm sidling back and forth between what I should be doing (that is, not writing), writing/editing parts of "Six," and doing work on an original piece (not "Something") that I've worked on on and off for the past few months.

That original piece, I think, has a very strong story to it. It's something that I find myself thinking on often, and I keep replaying different ways to resolve the conflicts over and over in my head. It's a story that has become dear to me, and the lessons I've learned so far from writing it will stick with me forever, both in life and in pen. I'm hoping the same will be true for readers, when I eventually do post it somewhere.

That kind of story strength is often difficult to find. It comes not necessarily from the writing itself, but from the character arc the protagonist follows. It's something called "resonance;" a strong thematic strength that makes a story endearing to its readers, and often somewhat difficult to forget. "Resonance" is what gives books like The Catcher in the Rye, Cloud Atlas, and Greg Howell's Light on Shattered Water their power.

I've started editing on certain parts of that story, and I'm at the stage where I start to think, "Oh noes, this are bads," and, "Who'll ever want to read this?" That's a funny thing that tends to happen a lot once you get to the editing stage. But especially in times like these, when you know you have a good story, you just have to sit back and believe in the power of the story. It'll come out eventually, but only if you let it.

Similarly, I've spent hours and hours behind a screen composing and trying to get the synthesized results to sound musical. At first, a composition always sounds fake and bad, but if you play with it enough--and it really is just playing with it, because you have to learn something new as you go each time--it'll eventually become music. That's the exact same kind of thing that happens with writing.

tl;dr: good stories are good. Do not lose faith in good stories; sieze upon the opportunity when you are blessed with one.

Change of plans

So, uh. Something has come up that I need to address as soon as possible, and I can only do it over the summer. Won't bore anyone with the details, but--expect me to a be a bit slack in the writing department while I try to get the other arts under control.

Aftermath

So. The surgery went well. Other than an IV and some stabbity-wounds (including one from a painful missed IV), I'm better than I have been in a long time.

Now, off to writing words...

Nifty Post (or lack thereof)

So, I never wrote said nifty posts (family visit'd). Instead, I have a status update. Sorta.

Just a heads-up on what I'm doing right now: over the next week or so, I intend to go through some of my older stuff and fix it up, maybe post some stuff that I haven't posted before. (None of the typical stuff, though.) I'm also writing a gift piece that I won't be putting up anywhere (unless the recipient chooses to do so).

With all that, and the ablation coming up Monday (almost tomorrow, at this time), I don't think I'll have much time in the next week with which to write more "Six." Go figure.

Oh, well. This will probably be the last post before I go in for the procedure. Results will probably be up... uh, whenever. lololol

Six'd

I post'd the next chapter of "Six" over on FFN, for anyone who's interested.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to write some nifty posts.

Editing

So, right now I'm going through chapters of "Six" and of some other stuff I've written and trying to tidy them up for publication. I'm noticing that a lot of the stuff I thought I did well, I actually did horrible; and some of the stuff I was afraid would be bad is actually decent.

The point is: nothing is ever going to be as you think it is as you are writing it. No matter how good you are or how much experience you have, you're always going to be surprised when you go back and read through what you've written. Most of the time, the words on the page are not exactly what you'd intended to say, and you have to fix that as you go back through and read.

But that's not all editing is. Sometimes, the story, not the words, doesn't go in the right direction. Sometimes you realize that you're trying to intrude on it, force it to go where you want it to (I'm as guilty of that as anyone else). That's when editing gets hard, because you have to use your discretion to decide what needs changing.

I'm at a point in "Six" right now that I have some major plot decisions coming up, and I'm not really sure how to tackle them. Sure, I've tackled them roughly; but I can do better, and I know that the story, as it is, is not heading in a good direction. That means I'm going to be spending a good bit of time editing these next chapters to get it on track--that means getting rid of some of the stuff I'd originally felt was necessary and modifying some pretty important plot points to make the story stronger.

(Note: this is not butchering the story to make it read better to the fandom. This is undoing the butchering I've already done and returning the story to the state it should be. You have to learn the difference.)

With each scene I introduce in these next chapters, I focus on tension. The problem is that the story has enough tension as it is.

When you're writing, especially with drama and suspense, you need to ask yourself constantly, "What will make the readers want to turn the page?" (I think that's something that just about every writer has to be aware of in order to be a success.) But you also need to ask yourself, "Where is this story going?"

Right now, I have the suspense and drama building to a boiling point. What I don't have is a direction, and my task in editing for these next few days is to find it.

(For the record, I have to do things like this regularly. Nothing that I or anyone else writes will ever automatically turn to gold; writing is about work ethic as much as it is about talent.)

In music, everything one plays needs to lead somewhere, else it's just a bunch of noise. It can be good noise, but it won't be music. The same can be said with writing. Focus on fundamentals and readability all you want, but without a clear character arc (or something to follow), it is not a story.

rantrantrant