Weaving time
Rewriting is harder than writing.
There, I said it. If you already know this, nod your head in agreement. Sing the Hallelujah chorus. If this is new to you, you might want to sit down.
I’m exhausted, but good exhausted, from the tapestry I’m weaving in this rewrite. A new character sprang out of nowhere. She knocked on my brain until I wrote her, and I know why. She picked up a thread that was missing. I have fleshed out secondary characters so that they don’t live and breathe by the MC. They are grateful to have their own lives. I have added subtle bits of foreshadowing, that no character sees, but I hope that will tickle a memory in each reader when she is farther along in the story.
Each word matters more than it did before. Amazing that is even possible.
The thing that is hardest of all is weaving time. When three months pass here, or the snow falls, or there is a birthday, where does that leave everyone? On the corner? On vacation? Is school over? Do they need coats or bathing suits? How much time has passed? How old is everyone? Did I miss something? It all has to mesh. I’m doing the best I can with that part, but think I’ll pick it apart and analyze in the next rewrite.
Yes, the next one. I know it’s coming. I’m already brewing the coffee.
How do you keep track of time or tiny details in your long manuscripts? Do I need another white board?
Yep, the weaving, unweaving, patching back up so it is seamless is the hard part. When you read your new & improved ms again straight through, you’ll pick up any stray threads of time/dates, I bet. And a good Beta reader will do the same. Write on.
Just reading about what you’re doing reminds me of several books I’ve read recently and makes me anxious to read yours! I say get another white board if that’s what works for you.
On my latest draft, I went through my document and made notes where I needed to add things. They looked like this: [insert blah blah blah here] and I highlighted the note in yellow. Then I could see where I needed to add things, AND I could jump around if I didn’t feel like doing it chronologically that day.
Good luck!
Oh! Tracking time! I hate that. I really hate that. Honestly? I’m still not great at that. I manage, somehow, but I wouldn’t at all be surprised if I’ve messed it up on several occasions.
Amy, the way I keep track of things changes with each manuscript. Why would I do something an easy way? Not gonna happen. I’ve kept calendars with one manuscript, while another I just sort of kept track in my head (don’t know why that worked out).
I have a love/hate relationship with re-writes. At times I really want to read them again, but on the other hand, I don’t really want to see the crappy stuff, which is there. Oh yes, it IS there.
LOL! OK. OK. I won’t say it. I promise. Grr… it’s hard. Ack! Really, really hard. Hmm…mmm…mmmmmmmm… OK I can’t hold it in anymore. I LOVE rewrites! I LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM! And I sooo don’t think they’re harder than writing!!! I don’t! It’s easier and so much more fun, because now you get to fall in love with the book all over again. Plus the hard stuff is done, now you get to add all of the fun quirky stuff, that just gets the book to zing and sparkle and come to life!
Ok. So i’ll go back to my corner of the room now, you know the one in Lala Land? Yep. That’s me.
)
Amy,
I have just recently thought to write about an incident in my life and the time line would be about 4 yrs. I didn’t think about knowing about time. You bring up an interesting point I hadn’t really thought about before. I like Kathy’s suggestion of using a calendar.
I hope we can connect more in the future.
I am on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/teresamorrow and facebook at http://www.facebook.com/teresamorrow
With gratitude,
Teresa Morrow
Ha! Hey, there girlfriend. I guess we should all take comfort in knowing we’re living in parallel universes. I just caught a little detail today that I hadn’t caught before – I had a girlfriend driving my mc to a party and then the mc driving home! How did I not catch that before? It seemed so obvious this time around. Hmmm. And, I’m in lala land w/Jenny – I usually LOVE rewriting. But this time, I’m driving myself crazy trying to decide whether or not to bring back some of the dead babies I’d left on a street corner with signs that read, “will puff up story for food.” May the writing gods help us all…
Hi! When I was writing my book I kept a page at the end with notes about things I wanted to add in “later” … some of them made it in, some didn’t, but it was helpful because as I’m writing different ideas pass through my brain that I don’t want to lose. Stay warm and best wishes.
Oh, don’t get me started on rewrites. I hate them. So taxing, so tiring, so turn-you-into-a-haggard-looking-jittery-shrew-with-dirty-hair-and-a-twitching-eye. BUT… then you’re done with them and you look at your book and you go, “WOW! This book is amazing! So much MORE amazing than it was back when I had my sanity!” That’s the part about rewrites that I love.
I’m usually able to keep track of time in my head. I have no problem moving from birth to graduation… it’s getting my character from the car to the front door that’s the problem.
Great blog!!!
oddly enough, i prefer the rewriting. It’s that blank page that just makes me want to go to bed and pull the covers over my head.
Great post, Amy! The concept of time is so easy to overlook during the writing process, but it’s so important to maintain the realism in the story.
Gosh, I struggle with this one a lot. I’m what I call a “kitchen sink” kind of writer, meaning I throw in everything that comes to mind during the writing process, including the kitchen sink! So, my MC often starts out with brown eyes and has green eyes by the end of the story. Lots of continuity issues.
I like to use general outlines when planning my story, and when it’s time to revise, I go back to the outlines and add notes about time for each chapter (i.e., Chap. 1 starts in year 2004 and ends in 2007). Then I just refer to the outlines while I mark up the ms. It’s not perfect, but it works for me. Thanks again for the great topic!