I'm a slacker, I know. But it's summer and there's, you know, sun out there, and I hate revisions!
But I did actually get started on revising/editing The Amnesia Door this week. Only the first bit--I've had a huge trouble with the opening scene and focused most of my time on that (eventually splitting chapter 1 into two chapters and starting the story at an entirely different point and with a less comic, off-hand tone).
Anyway, got to around page 20 or so and saw this clever bit of foreshadow that I'd neatly put in there. If I do say so myself, it was clever. Like Dr. Who clever. It was subtle, but with a distinguishing feature--in short, it was a Clue, not an obvious one, but one that the reader would be able to read later and go aha!
One problem. When writing the story, I took it in an entirely different angle, and the clue no longer fit.
I had a dangling Clue. A wonderful, brilliant, clever piece of prose... that was pointless because the story no longer fit it.
I can do two things: add something to the end and make it fit, darnit, or cut that wonderful, brilliant, clever piece of prose.
The story's more important than the words.
*snip, snip*
PS--The part of my that does merciless cutting in my manuscript is *totally* Spartan!
ReplyDelete"The story is more important than the words". That's a sentence that should be printed out and taped over the monitor of every author doing revisions. Good luck with yours!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry :) But you'll come up with an even better clue to plant. You are clever!
ReplyDeleteAnd did you ever notice your last name is the first part of revis(ion)?
How cool :)
Thank you Christine :)
ReplyDeleteAnd PJ: Wow! I NEVER did notice that!! Kinda makes REVISions a little more swallowable :)