In the spirit of trying to make this the best book ever, I have been attempting to edit the beep out of it. I decided that I needed to add an action sequence in the earlyish stages of the book and, well, crap, if this action doesn't have an ongoing reaction. It's messing with my mind. It's necessary because it brings two characters together in a way that your average boat ride just wouldn't do, but if I'm being truthful - which I have to be - it's going to have ramifications for both characters beyond the boundaries of the additional chapter I was hoping to just slot in.
At this point, editing feels a lot like rewriting.
It's pretty disheartening to carve out great chunks of text and then spend ages trying to work out how to replace it with something better. And I need to make sure that every reference going forward to the scene I have decided to replace with this new more action-packed sequence is also edited in line with the changes.
I'm lazy. I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but it really doesn't stop you kind of hoping that it will be. (Just like I know at some point this book is going to be rejected by tens or possibly hundreds - depending how desperate I get - of agents, but at the same time I kind of hope it won't be, you know?)
And it makes me think about all the other changes I wanted to make, and how they're going to affect the rest of the book, and how much time they will take to rewrite...and then sigh huge despair-laden sighs that make my cat jump up off my lap (hooray!) because they're so enormous.
What is it that Coldplay say? 'Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard. I'm going back to the start.'
Except, hopefully, the start's ok, in which case I'm going back to around chapter 18. Or maybe I'll just just keep checking Twitter and Facebook to see what's happening, and then google image Ryan Gosling.
At this point, editing feels a lot like rewriting.
It's pretty disheartening to carve out great chunks of text and then spend ages trying to work out how to replace it with something better. And I need to make sure that every reference going forward to the scene I have decided to replace with this new more action-packed sequence is also edited in line with the changes.
I'm lazy. I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but it really doesn't stop you kind of hoping that it will be. (Just like I know at some point this book is going to be rejected by tens or possibly hundreds - depending how desperate I get - of agents, but at the same time I kind of hope it won't be, you know?)
And it makes me think about all the other changes I wanted to make, and how they're going to affect the rest of the book, and how much time they will take to rewrite...and then sigh huge despair-laden sighs that make my cat jump up off my lap (hooray!) because they're so enormous.
What is it that Coldplay say? 'Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard. I'm going back to the start.'
Except, hopefully, the start's ok, in which case I'm going back to around chapter 18. Or maybe I'll just just keep checking Twitter and Facebook to see what's happening, and then google image Ryan Gosling.
Stop checking Twitter and Facebook and stop ogling Ryan Gosling... that time is much better spent finishing what's sure to be the best YA to come out in ages!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping that when they make this into a movie they choose a Paloma Faith look-alike for the title character
So recognizable! I am only at the scratching-on-paper-with-a-red-pen stage, but even then I despair. Especially as I am half way through the book and thought of something even cooler to do, but which requires me to go back to the already edited part and re-edit.
ReplyDeleteLe sigh...