Dreigiau 1.5 Revisions
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I’m not sure what came over me today. But early this morning I got it in my head that I was going to start plugging away at the Dreigiau Book 1 Revisions. Again, I have no idea where this came from considering I haven’t even thought about Dreigiau (besides normal updates). It must be all of Rach’s talk about Books of Runne that made me realize it’s awful hard to push on with other new projects when the beginning of an existing project needs to be overhauled.
Part of the reason for this is because I’d like to convert Dreigiau to a Wordpress format, just like Darkstar was. Darkstar shows that Wordpress can be used as a “book” layout with the proper coding and plugins. But before I can set up a site for Dreigiau, I have to be sure all of the chapters are written, edited and in the proper posting order. Because I plan on fleshing out some sections of Chapter 2, even adding chapters where needed, that means I have to get moving on revisions before I can start transferring the site over.
Looking back at writing that is over six years old makes me cringe. Not that I think I’m the most spectacular writer in the world at this point. But I can just see how stiff and lacking the early chapters of Dreigiau are now.
Don’t mistake an edit for a re-write, though. I do not plan on re-writing a majority of the material. I don’t have time to do anything of that magnitude. Besides, I tend to get grouched at by people if I alter things from the original too much. ^^;
I also don’t plan on making this a scheduled project of any sort. I just want to be able to work on this idly whenever I feel like sketching up new material or working through an edit. So I have no real time frame in which I believe this will be completed. Up until now… it was something that hadn’t even begun. So I guess I’m doing better now than I was before?
And if anyone just happens to be interested in what’s going on in a writer’s head during revisions, here’s my Book 1 Changelog!
Question!
Have you ever had that itch to revise work in a long-term project and how did it work out for you? Why does it always seem like something was good at the moment of creation… only to seem really bad a few years down the line?! (Darnit!)
photo credit: china_puwa
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4 Comments on Dreigiau 1.5 Revisions
I had a somewhat long term project(about 4-5 years, but with many many hiatuses, hiatusie??, in the midst of it) and when I did look back on my early work it was such utter junk. But do to the nature of the project(a gag comic made out of actual IRC conversations with a group of people I used to hang out with) I had way more stuff to do so I just focused on that than redoing the stuff I made before. If I ever ran out of material though I would probably redo them.
I would say something seems like a good idea when you make it but worse down the line for a few reasons. First as you progress in life your tastes and the things you like change. What you first made was based on your tastes then rather than now. Secondly you tend to get better at whatever you do so when you look back at things you made before they tend to look worse now that you know how well you can do things now. Thirdly when people first start making something they can get really excited about it and not notice “flaws” in the parts that aren’t really what they are focusing on. For example when I wrote my first and only complete work(I was only able to muscle through it because it was part of a project for a course I was taking) I had fantastic dialogue in the scenes I had been imagining writing but terrible dialogue when it came to moving the plot forward.
KJ sez:
I’ve been in your same boat and sailed those seas a couple of times, and I’ll be doing it again in a few more weeks when RS is completed (and I can already tell which parts will make me cringe.) Most of the time, old writing and dialogue makes me cringe… and sometimes, even NEW dialogue, but for now I have to keep plugging away. As someone somewhere may have said, “You can’t edit a blank page.”
The ironic thing about my current major revision project (Icarus) is that sometimes I really like what I find. The original draft of that story, despite being patchy and fragmented, was what gave me the base of strong, flawed characters, with complex motivations, which allowed me to consider continuing and reworking it. There are rough bits (and I’ll find my own comments in brackets saying how awkward something sounds) but it doesn’t absolutely make me want to cringe. And in certain sections, I think the writing is better than a lot of what I write nowadays. And this was written… over four years ago.
I’ll have more to say when it comes to revising RS. Thankfully I’ve kept changes I want to make in my mind the whole time– and just a few nights ago, I came up with a better starter scene that would tie everything together much better, and grab the reader’s attention. Unfortunately I’m also going to have major character revisions to make.
The only advice I have is: Have fun with it. Nothing makes a scene fall flatter than when the author isn’t enjoying writing it. Some scenes are easy, and others–the plot-moving ones–are hard. My typical strategy for the plot-moving scenes is to try for a little ironic comedy in someone’s thoughts (if they’re that kind of character) or taking a moment to step back and consider what they’ve done and what is still to do. This is hard to do without turning it into dull, grey, blanket exposition, which is why it’s important to focus on the words and the presentation. When you can’t enjoy writing a scene for the characters, enjoy it for the words you’re using. Make the writing itself something worthwhile.
I have found that when I look back on some of my previous work my brow furrows as I struggle to believe I actually wrote that stuff. I think that is probably true of all writers at some point. I just try to focus on the positive outcome (i.e. a better story) instead of my “perceived” failings as an author. We all need practice, after all.
Gargantuas last blog post..1
Pen sez:
Ugh…all the time. I’ve found I have to have the proper balance of time away from my writing. If it’s been a year–I’m shocked at how wonderful of a writer I was a year ago. If it’s been anything longer than a year–I’m shocked that such swill can spew forth from a single human mind and emo about how useless and talentless I am.
For me, I decided I needed to redo Ghost because I originally wrote it for all the wrong reasons. I’m in the process of righting those wrongs, but it’s a struggle as I’m now trying to find the new ‘voice’ of the story.