Right now, I'm in hell.
Okay, so that's a bit dramatic for a Thursday, but it's true. Well, I'm in EDITING hell. My story hates me. It's punishing me for things I'm probably going to do in the future (because obvs, I'm currently an angel). I went through this in October-ish. I cried, begged, pleaded with the thing but it was stubborn, and remained crap.
And then one day, I was listening to a song by The Used. It's one I've heard over and over, but for some reason, that sunny drive in the car, it hit me like a tire iron to the jaw (DRAMATIC). I went home, threw away my previous notes and transformed my story into something less awful. It took awhile to finish those revisions, but once done, I was confident enough to send to then future agent (I just blew your mind), who thought I showed enough promise to take a chance.
But it still needs work. Yaaknow. Plot holes, character issues, blah blah.
And now, I'm back here with this story, waiting for another light bulb to go off. In the meantime, yesterday I discussed one easy outlining technique via the Three Act structure. Though, I forgot to mention, I use this AFTER I've written the first draft. I'm not awesome at pre-outlining and I saw most of you are the same. I LOVE it because it divides your story into three easy sections, focusing on where conflict, tension, etc go once you already have a foundation and crap.
But then I found this new method, and have sort of been cheating on the Three Act Method. I won't even copy and paste so GO HERE to read about it. It's sort of life-changing and all kinds of dots were connected. And while I make the offspring have mandatory quiet time so I can torture myself with anything that will make my story rock, I only hope...I don't make it worse.
Tell me friends, is anyone else sick right now (yeah, it's off topic)? Have you had any light bulb moments that transformed your story? Can I have your light bulb?
Candyland. OUT.
22 comments:
I keep picturing you saying, lightbulb, like in Despiciple Me. I did have a lightbulb moment thanks to an awesome CP. It was more of a teaching moment but it made a world of a difference!
I'm afraid of the light, but I have darkbulb moments sometimes. Like when I figured out I had to finish the draft of the re-write before I could start revising the draft.
That's actually not true but I had to convince myself it was or I would never get done.
I have most of my light bulb moments when I'm either writing or reading. All of a sudden something will click and then I'm blown away by how stupid I was to think something could work without said lightbulb.
I hope you feel better soon! It's hard to be productive when you are feeling blah. Our family immune system must be down this winter because someone's had some ailment or another each week. I've been to a dr. three times this winter! I rarely go every few years!
i put in my sick time this year a few months ago. It was not fun.
And my lightbulb moments happen frequently in the shower. Good times
hi miss candace! my teachers not coming today cause im feeling sick and alex thinks i maybe got the flu a little. for that light bulb stuff for me it just could get on real bright when im not thinking on my story and then whamo i got some neat stuff for my story. i hope you get feeling better real soon.
...hugs from lenny
Oy, it's tough, isn't it? Whenever I hit a roadblock, I talk to writerly pals...sometimes they can word something so I *get* it, then the roadblock dissolves.
Good luck!
I'm sick of waiting.
Oh and I was just sick after seeing my face on a not so amazing body suit. I forgot about that....
#notmyfinestmoment
Had the flu, but at least it no longer feels as if my lungs want to pop out of my ears.
My rewrites ground to a halt, but I'm starting to feel that I can take the beast on again.
Good luck with revisions.
:-)
This happened with my last book but thankfully happened while I was writing the first draft. Good luck! HOpe you feel better soon!
I have no light bulb of my own, but my friend Judith Graves introduced me to Save the Cat, a book about scriptwriting that actually makes a lot of sense for fiction outlines. I'm applying it to my WIP now and watching the writer's block melt a little. Hope you feel better soon.
Ha ha ha. I have the 9 Steps sitting on my desk RIGHT NOW. Aren't they great?! :-)
Ugh. I'm sick. I stayed in all day yesterday trying to get over it. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel 100% better!
Everybody is sick! I'm going to have to get out the Lysol! :o)
I hope everyone (blog commentors included) get better soon!
As for the bulb ... hmph ... my burnt out long ago. It only flickers now and again. I think I'm going to go get an LED.
~JD
Hope you get that smack soon!!
Editing is my happy place. I'm demented like that. I have had a few lightbulbs lately but considering they're for a YA historical fantasy, I'm not sure they'd light anything up for you. Sorry!
Sure! That's why I like editing.
You can borrow my light bulb. It's yellow. Keeps the bugs away.
And welcome aboard the A to Z club!
I just finished The Maze Runner, by James Dashner. I can see how the parts of his (amazing) novel fit into these plot boxes. My MS, however, is non-traditional -- ugh! Why can't I ever begin new projects like the beginner I am? LOL
Good luck with revisions!
The three-act structure, once I was introduced to it, was a big light-bulb moment for me.
Good luck with the edits... I know how painful they can be!
Yeah, I'm sick - sick with too much going on in my head! Good luck with those revisions, honey!
LOL Your story sounds like how I've felt about my work--change this, try this, throw this out:))
I don't have a ligh bulb moment except to slow down. That's what I realized I needed to do on this book--take my time through edits, skip no steps and do my best:)
I'm going to try the outlining method before I start my next project. Now if my daughter's activities and work would slow down enough so I can do it.
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