Revision frustration

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stephmcgee
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Revision frustration

Post by stephmcgee » January 30th, 2011, 12:52 pm

Argh!

Going through a serious bit of frustration with the WiP right now. I'm *thisclose* to being done with my third round of revisions on the book and there's one thing that is being problematic. I am so annoyed. I'm trying to come up with ways of setting up a big sort of revelation at the end without telescoping it. And I can't figure it out. If I can get this bit done all I have to do is clean up for formatting issues and typos then I can have it beta read again. I know that there are bigger problems in the world at large but this is my frustration of the moment.

Jut venting.

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sbs_mjc1
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Re: Revision frustration

Post by sbs_mjc1 » January 30th, 2011, 2:44 pm

It really depends on the book, so I can't offer specific advice unless I know what the big reveal is. However, there are ways to break the information up into chunks, like having the character figure out pieces of the "big reveal" earlier (and possibly jump to incorrect conclusions?), so that you don't have to put the entire puzzle together at the end-- more "ah-ha" than exposition.
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Watcher55
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Re: Revision frustration

Post by Watcher55 » January 30th, 2011, 3:09 pm

Wow, here we go again - same place at the same time viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3089.

I'm looking at the same situation. All this time I thought the end would be simple since I already knew it. The bug-a-bear is trying to figure out how to harmonize the themes without having to rehash.
sbs_mjc1 wrote:It really depends on the book, so I can't offer specific advice unless I know what the big reveal is. However, there are ways to break the information up into chunks, like having the character figure out pieces of the "big reveal" earlier (and possibly jump to incorrect conclusions?), so that you don't have to put the entire puzzle together at the end-- more "ah-ha" than exposition.
This is kind of what I'm trying to do so I went back and reread TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it, if you have I recommend you read it again. The end is brilliant, even if you already know it.

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sierramcconnell
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Re: Revision frustration

Post by sierramcconnell » January 30th, 2011, 9:33 pm

I went through that three times on my first. I changed the plot (darn characters and spontaneous writing) and I had to rewrite a lot of things. But there were some things they weren't telling me and I was getting so frustrated it was making me crazy. I couldn't sleep or eat, I was thinking about it all the time. It made me so insane it was changing my life and though I finally got it, I spent so much time on that book I'm letting it sleep right now. XD I can't believe how neurotic it made me over that year of betaing.

But I completely understand the frustration! I need to get back to editing it again. Unfortunately I'm trying to work on another right now (first edits are always easier to hit I think) and I've been sick and trying to get a little bit of energy back before diving into that crazy manuscript. It's pre-query, and as nervous as I'll be with it, I don't think now is a good time. XD

Ah, if only we didn't keep getting all this snow and these flu-bugs! >.< Three times is enough!
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