Ouch!

[lebateleur]

I just cut two pages out of a five-page fic. They were good pages, dammit. They were funny where I wanted humor and ironic where I wanted irony and they said something about the characters as well. They just didn't belong in the story I'm currently writing.

I write at such a snail's pace that losing two pages is a heavy blow. We're talking about three week's worth of writing here. At least this is slightly offset by the knowledge that I now have a better piece of fiction.

Urgh.

これで以上です。

Comments

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

Maybe you can save them for another time...

Unfortunately, not with this story, otherwise I totally would.

I love your writing and even though I haven't read those two pages that you cut

::squee:: Thankyoumuch. OTOH, I love your writing, because you can command this little thing called 'plot', which I have yet to figure out how to do. How's your blocked story coming, btw?

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

hanks! And you have a great command of writing craft- tone, technique, and subtleties

K. How 'bout this. You can have all those for a week and in return I get your ability to move the story somewhere. Sound good?

I outlined it and realized how boring the outline was, so I figured I might as well stare at the computer for a while until inspiration hits.

Ugh. All my outlines look like [Fully described opening scene][Stuff happens here][Fully described ending scene] so there's really no point for me to do it anyway. So yeah, I do a lot of staring at the computer.

I'm trying to keep them from overshadowing the real characters, which means majorly pushing Minekura's people into the foreground.

You're braver than I am. Mine would be either too 2D or too Suish. But the thing is Saiyuki needs OCs, because otherwise your playing with the same eleven characters (six or seven if it's Gaidenverse).

...you being the "older," more experienced writer, of course... ^_^. Just needed to clarify.

Hee! I do wonder sometimes...

[scribblemoose]

Ow. I feel your pain. It sucks, doesn't it? So tempting to cling on to things just because they're written. You're right, though, if you know it's not what you want, best to cut. It'll probably come in useful somewhere else, though.

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

It'll probably come in useful somewhere else, though.

No, that's the suckish part, is that there isn't any way I could really use this in another fic. Maybe I'll post them after I've posted the finished story, for the sake of ego wanking general interest.

And btw, ICON!

[scribblemoose]

semishade made it for me. ^_^

I always find other writers' 'outtakes' really interesting. And heartening, to know I'm not the only one. What is it they say, final draft=first draft minus 20%? *shudder*

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

Usually, I don't even have outtakes, because I'll literally sit in front of the computer for six hours not writing anything while I figure out what that next sentence should be. The Liar and the Auror, for instance, is about 100 pages long and I chopped half a page out of the entire thing when I was done writing it. It came as a total shock when I found myself actually excising things this time around.

[scribblemoose]

It fascinates me, how different the writing process is for each of us. If I write like that it reduces me to a blocked, gibbering wreck beating my head against the wall! I have to write almost without thinking until the story's down on paper - even when I'm thinking what to write or plotting I have to be scribbling notes or something - and then I go into ruthless editor mode when the first draft's done and rework most of it. So I suppose even when I'm writing I know a good proportion of it's rubbish, and I know that would horrify some, but I find it liberating to not care until the next read through. It means I can slip into the fantasy place where the good stuff happens.

Amazing how we're all different.

Having said that, though, there's something much more dignified about your way of doing things. ^_~

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

For me, once it's there, it's there. When I've tried writing like you, just putting things down onto the page, they stay there, and then there's no quality. I have an almost impossible time going back through and making them better. It's as if I need to know what's going onto that piece of paper before I start writing, or I won't be able to progress at all.

I've tried making outlines, but too often they are just lists of the bits I already know, with huge gaps where the plot should be. Needless to say that's not exactly helpful.

Sure, my way may be dignified, but there's almost no output, so you make the call...

[scribblemoose]

My outlines are like that as well, although for some reason I still do them. I think deep down inside I have this weird misapprehension that it's my story, when actually once I start writing the characters do whatever thy like and totally ignore me!

Sorry to keep spamming your journal, but I love to talk about writing, and once I get started... Promise I'll shut up now! ._.

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

I share that apprehension. It's compounded that on some level, writing's too easy for me, if that makes sense. I really do get freaked out when I sit down to write and then start to realise how much of the story I already know. It's as if I'm not in control of things anymore. When I'm not writing, or only thinking about writing, then I'm still in control.

Not sure if that makes sense at all, but it's the closest I can come to describing things.

And it's only spam if I don't want it on my lj;) Comment away - I love talking about writing too. If nothing else, it's worlds easier for me than getting the actual story on paper.