So….the other day on the way home from work I stumbled across an amazing idea. Now, in case I haven’t explained my current writing predicament, let me do so. I had a story about a zombie apocalypse that I really liked, but it didn’t really work with my world or my characters. I set it aside. When I discovered my new serial killer I realized the basic points of that story would work really well with this new story idea. I took all that work and started re-writing it. This involved changing the timeline, adding in whole new plot lines, changing names, and locations for almost every part of the story. I’m still working on the timeline. This was a huge undertaking since this story has more characters than any other story I’ve written. Every time I moved a scene I had to change the dialogue of other scenes. Every time I changed the timeline, I had to go double check on all the dialogue. Every change, even a word or two, had to be checked against the over all flow, and then I had to think about it in light of my three other novels. When I started it before I only had two novels written and not as strong a feel for my world as I do now! So this is rewriting 55 pages trying to keep all the different stories together. Crazy. Happy Thought had three stories inside it. This one has eight. Eight!
I thought I was done with the first part, with the timeline adjustments, with the beginning of the story. I thought I had gotten everything lined out. My muse decided otherwise. My characters decided otherwise. My brain kicked into gear and thought of something new! OMG!!! I’ve decided that my serial killer is related to one of the main characters in the story. What does this mean??? Another rewrite. Another rewrite!!! When, oh when will I get to the next Part? Silly brain!
After I wrote that, I got started on the redo of the timline. I got it reorganized with only one more storyline to restructure, and I changed the name of my serial killer. Before he was Syrus. That gave me Syrus, Stark and Speed. One too many S names. So I changed his name to Gabriel. His brother’s name is Christian, so Christian and Gabriel Stark. Works nice, I think.
Movie Muse: Safe with Jason Statham. Watch for a blog post about this next Monday!
I love the creative process. I love to expand and explore the story like this. I did a complete re-write of the first third of my work and it has really taken on a life of its own. The only downside is that it is so much work and I found that I repeated myself a couple of times. I will need some good beta readers before I can consider it complete.
Oh yes. Beta readers are a must in the rewrite process. I always have them look for what I call the Reservoir Dogs problem: who shot him? And the “You look trustworthy, would you like to join our noble quest” problem: unrelistic reactions. Let me know when you’re ready for some beta readers and I’ll see if I can fit you in.
It’s amazing when a piece of work starts growing and changing!
What a wonderful offer. Thank you. I will certainly let you know when I am getting close to needing readers. I will make the same offer to you. When you need someone, let me know.
This is a very exciting time in the process, I love making everything fit together. But I am finding that it is much more work than just throwing everything out. My issues with grammar, sentence structure, and generally applying the English language are raising their ugly head. I don’t see how bad it is until I have someone read a small sample, then they let me know. Such is life, I suppose.
Oh yeah, I’m horrible at the whole grammar part. I will never publish a single word and ask money for it until I have it edited by someone I’ve paid to do the job. I don’t trust myself and don’t want to add to the pile of crap already out there.
I am always in need of new beta readers. My friends and family are quick to help, but it’s always nice to get a read from someone who doesn’t know me as well. So, if you’re serious I’m game to shoot you my latest book. It’s in the Alpha read stage – meaning I’m asking everyone not to check it for any grammer and English, but just to check the story. Does the plot follow a logical line? Did you enjoy reading it? Did you understand it? Any major plot holes? Any suggestions?
So, just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll send it your way. If you’re too busy to do it, don’t worry! I won’t be offended!
As a reader, I appreciate the name changes. I can’t stand when I read a book that is all S names or M names, or even when lots of people have the same first and last initial, like M.M. and S.S. It drives me crazy because it’s so easy to confuse the characters in the beginning when you don’t know them as well.
I agree. I also learned while reading It by Stephen King that after I get to know the characters I tend to only read the first letter of their names. This can get confusing when they all have the same first letter.