This past week I hardly got any writing done. I've had huge plot holes in New Novel for a while now, and I spent the week brainstorming and percolating on things.
I still don't have concrete answers to my plot holes. But I did discover something equally important.
Voice.
My WiP is in two POVs. One POV I pretty much have down, as far as voice goes, but the girl protagonist has been harder to nail. I'm about 40k into the story now, and she still seems kind of flat. It's been frustrating, but I figured I'd come to understand her eventually. And apparently, eventually is now.
All of my brainstorming helped me to understand my girl protag in a way that I hadn't before, and now I'm super excited to start writing in her voice. Except...I realize that everything I've written so far will need to be re-written. I know this is all part of the process, and I'm all for anything that will make the story better.
But now the question is: Do I rewrite the beginning now, or wait until I finish?
Now, hear me out, guys! I know almost all of you will say that I should finish the draft first, and then go back and fix whatever needs to be fixed. I completely agree with that, and would probably do that under normal circumstances. Except, like I've said, I have huge plot holes, so I'm kind of stuck at the moment. I'm wondering if writing the from the beginning in my girl protag's newly found voice might help me to get unstuck. It'll definitely push back my goal date of finishing, though.
Hmm, decisions, decisions.
So, let me ask you--do you usually edit as you go, or wait until the end? If it's something big--like a whole beginning that needs to be fixed--would you fix it immediately or still wait?
Laini Taylor just wrote a post about this....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lainitaylor.com/2012/03/maybe-post-about-writing.html
You know I adore her and she makes me feel so much better about editing some as I go along instead of writing sucky but fast.
Maybe her post will help you figure out what to do ;)
Ah, what perfect timing for Laini to write that! It's good to know that even published authors take their time and rewrite before they are finished, sometimes. Ugh, I'll have to make a decision soon, I guess. Thank you for sharing her post<3
DeleteI write the whole thing and then edit. This means I have MASSIVE revisions to do after the first draft, but I don't think I can do it any other way. I just want to get the story finished and get the plot in order before I do anything else, because for me, plots are HARD. I think whatever works for you is the way to go. If you're stuck, and literally can't go any further, maybe a second look at how you got to those plot holes will help. Whatever gets you to finish, do, though it will probably take you longer on the whole if you start rewriting now.
ReplyDeleteChristina, I love Laini Taylor. That blog post was great. I especially like the part about how "It will be late once, but suck forever."
I know that most people suggest doing it that way--finishing first and editing later. That's how I wrote my first novel, though I never got through edits. I'm SO stuck with the plot though, it's ridiculous, which I why I think rewriting might help. But who knows. *sigh*
DeleteI would suggest the thing to do is make some notes about changes but plunge on ahead, get the story written to the end. The exception I'll make for this is when I have a slightly (or majorly) different version of an earlier scene or chapter that absolutely itches at the inside of my skull to get out. If it's doing that much itching I'll write it, otherwise I try to keep making forward progress.
ReplyDeleteThere are other things I need to change in the beginning other than voice, which is another reason I'm considering rewriting it now. I would love to keep making forward progress despite that, but the plot issues don't seem to be figuring themselves out yet. I hate spending so much time not writing, which is yet ANOTHER reason I'm considering rewriting the beginning now. I might just need some more quality brainstorming time. Thanks for the advice! Hopefully I can figure the plot out and keep going before rewriting.
DeleteThis is just my opinion but I would finish first then go back. I did this with my guy POV. Once you know the end it will help shape how they act in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you found her voice. It can be hard with 2. ;)
I already know the end, it's the middle that's kicking my butt :) I'll see if I can figure out plot issues a little while longer, but if not, I might just go back to the beginning and hopefully the rewrite will free up my brain and help me figure out what needs to happen. Thanks, Jenny!
DeleteI write, write, write. If I'm picking up where I left off the previous day, then I might go back to the start of the chapter or something, but otherwise I don't read what I've written until after I type 'the end'.
ReplyDeleteMy last MS was two POV. The girl's voice I nailed. But she was really why I was writing the book, so I understood her completely. It was the guy I didn't understand AT ALL when I started writing. I just knew that I needed someone who saw my girl MC from the outside. So after I typed 'the end' I had to go back and put his voice in, and fix the three plot holes :)
Wow, I don't think I could NOT look back at anything I've written! But I don't do that all the time :)
DeleteHa, that's like the opposite of mine! I had my guy's voice from the beginning but the girl's has been harder. I'm considering leaving the plot holes until the end, but they're so big and gaping that it's really bothering me, lol.
I'm not sure why, but I get girl's voices easier than guy's. Though I'm told that, after editing A LOT, I eventually got the guy's voice.
DeleteGood luck with the plot holes! I think in the end you just have to do what comes naturally for you. Writing is such a personal process.
Start now, and I say that because all the times I've put off things like that, I tend to regret it. Plus, if you're stuck it might help you break loose when you get back up to the point you're at now. The downside of this, however, is that you'll probably feel like you're getting no where fast since you've backtracked so much. So I would look back at what you've done and fix what jumps out at you as wrong and write notes about what you feel might need a few tweaks(I hope that makes some kind of sense...I'm in serious need of sleep..ugh).
ReplyDeleteThat's just me, though. :)
P.S. The middle always seems to kick my butt. You have my sympathy. :p
Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking--that by fixing the beginning now, it might help me get unstuck. It makes total sense! I just need the motivation to decide "Okay, I'm fixing the beginning now." Which is hard because like you said, I'll feel like I'm just backtracking. I'm terrible at making decisions :) I need to hurry up and decide something though, because sitting and doing nothing is worse than backtracking and fixing. Thanks for the advice! And yes, the middle...ugh.
DeleteI think it really depends on the story. Sometimes I edit as I go along, while in other cases I try to write from start to finish. You should go with your gut. If you really want to go back and write from the girl's perspective, that's where you'll be the most creatively productive.
ReplyDeleteGaaaaaaah I can't believe I'm just seeing this now!
ReplyDeleteSo...I'm gonna say start rewriting NOW. Here's why. I've had the experience of "hearing voice" and then, disturbingly, NOT hearing voice in two back to back WiPs. When I heard the voice? shoot, those words just flowed out of my fingers. It was bliss, a pleasure to write, and required very little editing afterwards. Not only that, I had such a HUGE sense of accomplishment from being able to write so effortlessly. If you have a chance to grab onto that? DO IT AMANDA. Don't look back. You're gonna change it eventually anyway, right?
Good luck! You'll make it. We all do, it just feels SO awful there in the middle. :/
I would have said finish first then rewrite, but that would be really hypocritical. ;)
ReplyDeleteI wrote pages 1-70 around 4 times before being able to find the right way to present WIP2's story. The attempt that I just finished was attempt #5. You can imagine, my first half is a lot stronger than the second half that I slapped together, but this is the first time I'd been able to get to The End with this story. Of course, The End needs to change a bit, but still. I couldn't even figure out the way to The End this time if I didn't keep rewriting and trying out different scenarios.
I also had to let go of my self-imposed timeline even though it nearly killed me to do so. I found that I ended up worrying that I wasn't making my deadline and caving to the pressure rather than productively work toward that deadline. Ironically, once I stopped caring, I wrote more and basically finished faster than expected.
Go with whatever works for you and gets you to The End. ^_^
Tough question! I usually wait until the end, unless it's a bigger change, and I don't know what else will happen when I make that change that will affect things going forward. So I guess look at that. Will changing her voice potentially change other things? Then it might be best to go back. If not, I'd keep going forward to really get her voice nailed on paper. Then it will be easy to go back, because you will be so used to writing her. Sometimes, going back before you have it nailed down can make it harder, because the old voice is still there, competing with the new changes, if that makes sense.
ReplyDelete