Comments on: Retracing your steps

By: Judi

Judi — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:49:11 +0000

I am in the same situation with my last 2 books. One I’m going to start the actual writing from scratch since I’ve learned so much since then and the second needs some major plot changes. EEEk. And I thought I had revised enough.

By: Hugh Ashton

Hugh Ashton — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:41:35 +0000

Quick follow-up to all:
The novel’s ending has taken a completely different turn and I am having a lot of fun creating it. I do find a certain joy in making things better, as people mention, but the fun bit for me is always the first stage when the imagination gets going, and I do find over-revision to be drudgery (maybe I’ve had to write too much non-fiction-user manuals and the like–in my time).

@Roberta B. – I did write “pretense to realism”, not “pretense to reality”. The first, to me, means that there is a credible scenario and setting in which the characters interact, rather than a fantasy land (though even fantasy worlds should play by a consistent set of rules). The second means that I am pretending that my story actually happened. Though truth may be stranger than fiction sometimes, I think that most people feel that fiction is more interesting. Otherwise, fiction as an art-form would have died many years ago.

@Deborah – on the subject of typewriters – watch this space – I have an article coming out here on that very topic.

By: Eric C

Eric C — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:15:38 +0000

True life is not more interesting than fiction.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:01:53 +0000

I am participating in National Novel Writing Month—NaNoWriMo. It is killing me that I can’t go back and clarify or change something I wrote. I’m terrified that I won’t remember the flash of brilliance I had when it comes to edit and rewrite. (We are honor-bound not to edit, but to write write write for 30 days or 50,000 words.) Damn computers.

Maybe it was easier with a typewriter. Some famous writer—I don’t remember which one, and maybe all famous writers do this: wrote the first draft on one color of paper, the second draft on a different color of paper, the third on still a third color—right up to five colors and edits to the finished product.

By: Roberta B.

Roberta B. — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:07:24 +0000

Why would I want to read someone else’s “pretense to realism,” anyway? I’d much rather read a true account rather than be confused by the intertwining of real events with the contrived. True life is far more interesting than fiction, and it often motivates the reader to find out more about a subject even if it’s just to corroborate the story he or she just read. As one of the first-draft readers said above, “the story itself [can be] interesting.” Real life stories can be entertaining and enlightening, as well.