Turning Apples into Oranges

How do you stomach throwing away hours upon hours worth of work because you know, deep down, that even though the writing is great, even though you've spent hours in revisions making every sentence flow, it just isn't the right "fit" for what you're trying to convey?

That's what I've been dealing with this week.

Seven chapters -- seven heavily revised chapters -- into a manuscript that I am deeply passionate about, I came to the undeniable realization that the formal, third-person narrative I was using just DID NOT WORK.

The subject matter of this novel is of a very personal nature, and while the third person narrative allows for us to see into the minds of our characters, it just didn't have that "in your face" attitude I was looking for.

I won't be modest here; I think the narrative was written beautifully. The description was thorough and elegant, the narrator was trustworthy and unbiased, and yet didn't come off as a robot. I was damn proud of my work.

And I had to throw it all away.

I guess I can be comforted in the fact that I caught this problem on chapter 7 and not chapter 37... but it still hurts.

I'm pleased to report that I am almost back to where I left off, now with a new, fresh voice, and my instincts were right. The story works much better this way. But this wasn't editing; this was a rewrite.

So how do you deal when you realize your manuscript needs a major overhaul? How often does it happen to you?

A new blog and a new 'work in progress'

I was never sold on the idea on of MySpace, it took me a pretty long time to break down and create a Facebook account, so it should not be surprising that it has taken me until now to finally throw myself into the world of twitter.

What is surprising, however, is how truly useful a tool I have found twitter to be for a writer, in particular the collaboration and camaraderie to be found with the great folks at #amwriting. It is truly rewarding to know that there are others out there diligently hacking away at their keyboards. Even better are the success stories that give hope to those of us (hint hint, yours truly) who may not yet be published.

Between the very active writing community I have found on twitter, and the great interest shown in my new work in progress, I have decided to go one step further than twitter and create this blog.

Most of the interest generated comes from agoraphobic circles because of the subject matter of the piece. It is the saga of a recluse struggling to return to normal society after a chance encounter with a free-spirit who makes him realize what he has been missing out on. I am six chapters into the draft and moving along quite steadily. Perhaps I will post a full synopsis here as the piece gets further along.

So... welcome to the blog and thanks for reading. I will do my best to continue to document my progress on the current novel, the trials and tribulations of being an unpublished writer in a quickly changing digital age, living with agoraphobia, and "life its ownself," as sports novelist Dan Jenkins would say -- in his own charming, grammatically incorrect way.

Until next time, keep writing, keep reading!