Blogathon 08/26: Writing

The desire was strong, though the flame of creativity dimly flickered, so I set aside the in-hand projects and decided to turn a page (haha!). I dusted off the manuscript archives and went back to the first novel I successfully had published (over 20 years ago and now, mercifully, out of print), as I mentioned here: https://brennigjones.com/blog/?p=16060.

As I read, I was struck by how poorly some sections of the book had aged, and how mediocre (bordering on poor) aspects of my writing were back then. So I began to give the original manuscript a light edit. Except, the further I got into it, the more the light edit became a full edit. Then it became a full-on rewrite.

Old characters were dropped, new characters were written in, some dialogue got toned up, other dialogue vanished, and so did a number of scenes and sub-stories/plots. A lot of detail (now deemed unnecessary) was removed and a new sub-structure appeared and threaded its way through the book as a new, underlying theme.

Then I realised the main story arc (which was also a significant character insight) was ropey and needed strengthening. This caused a preface to appear which, then, linked strongly to a new ending. This now explains a significant character’s emotional disconnect in a more meaningful way. Then I decided another significant character needed their emotional place shifted.

Anyway, Friday afternoon I finished what has turned out to be a grand rewrite (so much for it being a light edit!). Although the book has a few similarities to the original manuscript, it is materially different, so I have given it a new name which is now a better fit.

During the rewrite, the manuscript shrunk by 30k words from its original 107k and I’m very happy with that! It needs much more work, but the rewrite is finished. So I’m going to leave it alone for a few weeks while I pick up the fantasy project once again.

When I get back to the new manuscript, I’ll begin the editing process, before actually sending it away to get it edited.