They Shoot Manuscripts…Don’t They?
I mentioned in my end of January post that I was working on two projects: a picture book and a short mystery story for kids. I’m proud to say I finished the picture book and sent it out. But I can’t say the same for the mystery. I typed up the cover letter and addressed the envelope. Then it hit me: an editor would be reading this story. So I decided not to send it out. I did another revision instead. The problem was the story kept getting worse with each revision. I read an article once that said if a writer revises too much they can edit the life out of a story. So I asked myself if I was editing the life out of the story. My answer was no. I couldn’t edit the life out of a story where there was no life to begin with. I figured at this point the only humane solution was to shoot the manuscript and put it out of it’s misery. It wasn’t such a bad idea. But then I remembered once I had a story that was over word count. I couldn’t figure out which words to cut. After I thought about committing literary homicide, I decided to rewrite the entire story. I stared at a blank sheet of paper. I thought only about the details that needed to be in the story and not about the previous draft. When I was finished with the blank page draft it was just under the word count. It was a perfect and much less dramatic solution. I decided to apply it to my mystery story. I thought only about the details that needed to be in the story and nothing about the previous draft. I found it much easier to write in the excitement that had been lacking in the previous draft. Then I mixed together the best parts of both drafts. The result was a perfect story.
Over Valentine’s Weekend I did exactly what I said I was going to do. I started a screenplay with a Valentine’s Day theme. I must be stopped! Maybe there’s some sort of screenwriter’s anonymous I could join. :=)
In March:
I’ll send out my mystery story
I’m going to take another stab at a Rebus story
I’m cutting 450 words out of a picture book in order to send to the next publisher on my list. (This project may take a blank page rewrite.) .
I’m “tweeting” now. Follow me on Twitter @flashlightwords
Posted: March 8th, 2010 under Inside my Mind!.
Tags: february, manuscripts, revising, rewriting, writing
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