I'm in edit mode (and have been for a while now), and it's in such a state that I start trimming words. It's easy to fall into verbose sentences during a rough draft. Like the Spice, the ideas must flow. But when it's time to edit, bring out the clippers.
Here are a few patterns I fall into:
Failing to think of the right word. Rough draft: Jim bought a ticket for the underground train. Trimming: Replace "underground train" with "subway".
Cramming. Rough draft: Jim soiled his crisp, white shirt and silk tie - a gift from his wife two years ago - due to tripping on the third step from the bottom and spilling decaf coffee on himself. Trimming: Break this into several sentences and lose the non-essential details.
Extra words for no purpose (good for high-school essays but bad for stories). Rough draft: Jim wanted to get to his hometown where he grew up. Trimming: It's assumed he grew up in his hometown - otherwise it wouldn't be his hometown - so get rid of the phrase "where he grew up".
Sheer confusion. Rough draft: Jim thought he could outrun ended up left around midnight. Trimming: Figure out what in the world this sentence is supposed to say and get rid of the rest. I don't see this too often, but it's usually a result of trying to edit while I'm writing the rough draft - always a dangerous proposal. So I start rewriting a sentence before actually finishing it, resulting in multiple versions, awkwardly coexisting.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Frightening Villains
In some stories, it becomes necessary to introduce one or multiple villains. There are various types of villains, but the ones I find most intriguing are those that are frightening; there is something unnatural about them. They are chilling. I don’t want to identify with such a villain or perceive some hidden heart of gold. I fear them as I would fear a rabid dog because there is something not quite right in their thinking – something not quite right in their being. They cannot be reasoned with, and we cannot empathize with them. And though they may have changed from good to evil, they can never change back.
One example that comes to mind is Orochimaru from the manga/anime Naruto. Orochimaru is a ninja from the Leaf Village who goes astray. In order to learn as much jutsu as possible, he experiments on people, killing them in a secret hideaway within the village. He later forms his own village and has his own following, but he doesn’t care about anyone but himself. On the surface, Orochimaru seems like the typical power-hungry villain, but there’s something almost perverse in how he interacts with other characters. His jitsu always leans toward the macabre, and he transforms his body into repulsive, serpentine shapes.
The second example that comes to mind is Satan. Not the sit-on-your-shoulder guy in red with a pitchfork. I mean Lucifer himself – the highest archangel who decided he was above God and led a third of the angelic host with him in rebellion. Here is a person who was the greatest created being of all time and turned into the most menacing threat mankind has ever known. In fact, the word Satan comes from the word “accuser” because he accuses men before God, yet he tempts humanity into utter depravity. I think a lot of people are frightened by the demonic based on the popularity of films where the characters struggle against a demonic opponent in various forms.
A final example is zombies. With zombies, all vestiges of humanity have been stripped away, and all that remains are remorseless beings with insatiable appetites for living flesh, especially that of humans. Even their appearance is a twisted form of normalcy, often to reflect their undead status (assuming they are undead as opposed to alive and infected). There are times I wish "The Walking Dead" wasn’t so compelling because it really creeps me out to watch it.
There is a time and a place for villainous characters, and I think there are also times when we should turn to frightening villains. We are not excited about their appearance in the story; not because they take away from the story (in fact, they may be the story), but because our fight or flight reflex tells us to run.
One example that comes to mind is Orochimaru from the manga/anime Naruto. Orochimaru is a ninja from the Leaf Village who goes astray. In order to learn as much jutsu as possible, he experiments on people, killing them in a secret hideaway within the village. He later forms his own village and has his own following, but he doesn’t care about anyone but himself. On the surface, Orochimaru seems like the typical power-hungry villain, but there’s something almost perverse in how he interacts with other characters. His jitsu always leans toward the macabre, and he transforms his body into repulsive, serpentine shapes.
The second example that comes to mind is Satan. Not the sit-on-your-shoulder guy in red with a pitchfork. I mean Lucifer himself – the highest archangel who decided he was above God and led a third of the angelic host with him in rebellion. Here is a person who was the greatest created being of all time and turned into the most menacing threat mankind has ever known. In fact, the word Satan comes from the word “accuser” because he accuses men before God, yet he tempts humanity into utter depravity. I think a lot of people are frightened by the demonic based on the popularity of films where the characters struggle against a demonic opponent in various forms.
A final example is zombies. With zombies, all vestiges of humanity have been stripped away, and all that remains are remorseless beings with insatiable appetites for living flesh, especially that of humans. Even their appearance is a twisted form of normalcy, often to reflect their undead status (assuming they are undead as opposed to alive and infected). There are times I wish "The Walking Dead" wasn’t so compelling because it really creeps me out to watch it.
There is a time and a place for villainous characters, and I think there are also times when we should turn to frightening villains. We are not excited about their appearance in the story; not because they take away from the story (in fact, they may be the story), but because our fight or flight reflex tells us to run.
Monday, March 26, 2012
This Isn't Working
I'm not the kind of writer who gets things right the first time. My stories go through several edits at least. To get published, one of the keys is figuring out if something's not working.
With rough drafts, it's a time to crank out ideas as quick as they come. Grammar? Marginalized. Plot holes? You bet. Confusing dialog? Yes, that character did just ask a question of himself that he answered in the form of another question - and I don't care.
Past that stage, when the story transitions into something much more organized, there comes a point when it seems like the piece is done. Except it isn't working. You may not be aware it's not working until it's not selling, which forces you to look closer at the story and discover that it's not working. (I don't believe that just because a story hasn't sold, it therefore has problems, but I am suggesting that a second or third glance is in order if it's run through a lot of markets without any bites.)
Wait, is "not working" subjective? I'm not so sure on that one. Preferences are subjective, so to a degree, something like pacing can be subjective. But if the story has a pacing problem, it's noticeable beyond a preference for a certain type of pacing. For example, I may have a preference for a story that starts out a little slow and builds into something fast, but if I read a story that starts fast and then meanders to a crawl before picking back up, I would cite that as a pacing problem. I'm not against it because it started fast but because it drastically lost momentum in the middle.
So there are two challenges - the first is finding the problem (or problems). For that, read with a critical eye or look for personal feedback if you're not spotting anything yourself. The second challenge, which can be just as duanting, is resolving the problem. In one of my published stories, I struggled with narrative issues due to how the protagonist interacted with other characters. I sensed a problem and went with what I thought was the best solution, though I never felt settled about it. The editor saw the issue as well, and it took several more drafts before the best solution found the light of day. I had almost given up hope at one point, but persistence paid off. Once complete, I knew I had an actual working solution, not just my best guess at a solution.
Solving the issue may take a complete rewrite from start to finish. With one of my stories, I recongized halfway through the rough draft that it needed to be a first-person narrative. Normally, I would not advise starting over before completing a rough draft, but I couldn't just go forward without fixing what was behind me; I needed resolution immediately. So I printed out what I had, opened a new document and started over.
Don't leave junk behind. Whether you see issues during a first draft, a "final" draft, or three years after submitting it to markets, fix the story. Even if it hurts. Even if you have to put other stories on hold. You'll gain valuable experience in the process and become that much keener at editing your work in the future. Plus, you'll end up with something that has a much greater chance at publication.
With rough drafts, it's a time to crank out ideas as quick as they come. Grammar? Marginalized. Plot holes? You bet. Confusing dialog? Yes, that character did just ask a question of himself that he answered in the form of another question - and I don't care.
Past that stage, when the story transitions into something much more organized, there comes a point when it seems like the piece is done. Except it isn't working. You may not be aware it's not working until it's not selling, which forces you to look closer at the story and discover that it's not working. (I don't believe that just because a story hasn't sold, it therefore has problems, but I am suggesting that a second or third glance is in order if it's run through a lot of markets without any bites.)
Wait, is "not working" subjective? I'm not so sure on that one. Preferences are subjective, so to a degree, something like pacing can be subjective. But if the story has a pacing problem, it's noticeable beyond a preference for a certain type of pacing. For example, I may have a preference for a story that starts out a little slow and builds into something fast, but if I read a story that starts fast and then meanders to a crawl before picking back up, I would cite that as a pacing problem. I'm not against it because it started fast but because it drastically lost momentum in the middle.
So there are two challenges - the first is finding the problem (or problems). For that, read with a critical eye or look for personal feedback if you're not spotting anything yourself. The second challenge, which can be just as duanting, is resolving the problem. In one of my published stories, I struggled with narrative issues due to how the protagonist interacted with other characters. I sensed a problem and went with what I thought was the best solution, though I never felt settled about it. The editor saw the issue as well, and it took several more drafts before the best solution found the light of day. I had almost given up hope at one point, but persistence paid off. Once complete, I knew I had an actual working solution, not just my best guess at a solution.
Solving the issue may take a complete rewrite from start to finish. With one of my stories, I recongized halfway through the rough draft that it needed to be a first-person narrative. Normally, I would not advise starting over before completing a rough draft, but I couldn't just go forward without fixing what was behind me; I needed resolution immediately. So I printed out what I had, opened a new document and started over.
Don't leave junk behind. Whether you see issues during a first draft, a "final" draft, or three years after submitting it to markets, fix the story. Even if it hurts. Even if you have to put other stories on hold. You'll gain valuable experience in the process and become that much keener at editing your work in the future. Plus, you'll end up with something that has a much greater chance at publication.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)