tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post985249073677396513..comments2024-03-27T23:59:01.850-07:00Comments on Writing About Writing (And Occasionally Some Writing): Daunted By Revision (Mailbox)Chris Brecheenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-6487322374716503702021-07-24T02:53:18.826-07:002021-07-24T02:53:18.826-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.swiftway serviceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11382028580894251147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-42256895537811667352021-07-23T14:45:58.434-07:002021-07-23T14:45:58.434-07:00Yay, thanks again! :DYay, thanks again! :DSieran Lanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14564956156787108845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-48867111703034457402021-07-22T10:00:05.023-07:002021-07-22T10:00:05.023-07:00I just sent you a friend request on the faceplace!...I just sent you a friend request on the faceplace! LyndsayKatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04014755690162936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-7925748289021553662021-07-20T22:17:04.977-07:002021-07-20T22:17:04.977-07:00Hey Lyndsay, sorry to bother you again, but even a...Hey Lyndsay, sorry to bother you again, but even after you approved my subscription, I don't see any place where I can contact you, except in comments on your posts, which I could do, but we wouldn't be able to exchange MS Word docs (or another file format) of our manuscripts! Since the WAW blog is a public place, I figure we could DM one of our social media accounts with our preferred email address? (E.g. I have Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.) Either you could DM or I could DM, I don't mind. If you have any other suggestions on contact methods, please let me know! (Alternatively, you could send an email to the email I used to subscribe to your blog!)<br /><br />P.S. If you already sent a DM to my Facebook account, I unfortunately didn't get a message request. :( Usually message requests to me won't get filtered out, but with Facebook, you never know!Sieran Lanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14564956156787108845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-25526314225090223632021-07-19T04:07:27.840-07:002021-07-19T04:07:27.840-07:00Hey there! I didn't remember that people could...Hey there! I didn't remember that people could even subscribe. Apparently, I now have four subscribers! Almost famous. I guess I better start writing some things and figure out how to use all the moving parts of my website. I created it as a home for my thesis pieces and posted a couple blogs... then abandoned it 😀 Thanks, Sieran. I can't wait to read some of your work. <br /><br />I feel I should warn that some of my memoir can be trigger-y. I mean, first person present tense creates a bit of a front-row seat to my trauma in a couple places. I welcome any feedback, always. LyndsayKatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04014755690162936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-5056735947559164692021-07-18T19:43:25.698-07:002021-07-18T19:43:25.698-07:00It's me again! How would you like to get in t...It's me again! How would you like to get in touch? I see your website linked, but I don't see a contact field. It looks like I can sign up to your website, though, so I can wait for your approval of my subscription? Otherwise, you can also look me up on Facebook. I don't think anyone else is called Sieran Lane, haha. In my profile picture, I'm wearing a black shirt and holding a can of Fanta Orange.Sieran Lanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14564956156787108845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-52178177850528252122021-07-18T19:35:45.842-07:002021-07-18T19:35:45.842-07:00Hey LyndsayKate,
Thanks! Yes, I have a backgroun...Hey LyndsayKate,<br /><br />Thanks! Yes, I have a background in psychology, so I brainstormed how to tackle my anxiety. XD One common tip is indeed to start small. Thinking about too much at once, is simply overwhelming. Well, I started rewriting one of my earlier drafts, and wow, I'm loving it! I can see how much my writing style and my comprehension of the world have changed. I wrote this story almost ten years ago, so both my writing experience and life experience are, imo, greatly improving this draft already, haha. And I think I was right--a part of that fear was because rewriting is unfamiliar territory to me. I don't feel that nervous about it anymore, now that I've finally started.<br /><br />Oh, I actually feel less afraid at the thought of revision (as opposed to the thought of rewriting). So for one of my books, I spent a lot of time laboring over it, incorporating as many of my readers' feedback as I could, fixing lots of plot holes, enhancing character development, making the paragraphs easier to read, etc. This process was very messy and I was probably very clumsy, but at least I had some experience with major revisions, so it doesn't sound as scary to me, haha. But now I realized that it would be better for me to rewrite several times, rather than starting in-depth revisions right away!Sieran Lanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14564956156787108845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-55667896396624258862021-07-18T10:00:53.483-07:002021-07-18T10:00:53.483-07:00No worries, Sieran - I was only concerned that you...No worries, Sieran - I was only concerned that you were invalidating yourself, and I hated to see it! <br /><br />I have, very recently, been writing just a little bit every day. Or more like writing down ideas of things I want to write, and researching things that would be interesting to write about, or that inspire ideas for my writing. I think this is where I went wrong - I stopped learning for a while. I stopped gathering new experiences and knowledge and lacked inspiration to do anything but ruminate over old work. My habit is to return to things I have already written and try to add to them or improve them, rather than daring to write something brand new. It's a very stagnant place to reside, it's lazy and a waste of talent, and I don't recommend it!<br /><br />I really dig the analogy of the pots. I am a perfectionist. I can be frozen in place by my perfectionism. If I can't write it perfectly, I won't write at all, and this is absolutely crippling my growth as a writer (and many other areas of my life). I think that somewhere between where I sit and where you sit is a balance point that must be discovered. After all, If I have zero pots, they can't be quantified or qualified. I'm just sitting here with muddy hands, mesmerized by the spinning of the lathe.<br /><br />I do have a story forming right now about dreams, prophecy, gods, and the ripple effect in an infinite, fractalian (This is not an official word, but it should be) universe. I have never written longform anything. My thesis was comprised of short memoir pieces and I don't wish to revisit them. I'll let you know when I have any length of work that is readable. I hope you'll do the same! <br /><br />In regard to your writing, if you still have the outline of your stories in your head, a re-write could be a great thing! Some people re-write before beginning revision. However, the revision has to come sometime, so make ready your red pen! It seems, with the volume of rough work you have put out, you are overwhelmed at the through of revision. Understandably! After pausing just now to read your further responses to others below, it looks like you intend to start small, and I fully support that path and it's what I was about to advise, though I suspected (correctly!) that you knew the answer already. You're on the right track. Keep going!LyndsayKatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04014755690162936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-21697386281316033592021-07-18T07:09:00.533-07:002021-07-18T07:09:00.533-07:00That's one of the toughest balancing acts, too...That's one of the toughest balancing acts, too, to find how to write in a way that can engage your readership in the same way YOU were engaged in the story whilst writing it.<br /><br />Some readers don't need a lot of fancy stuff, they can follow along on the same brain-skip pattern your writing naturally came out with and are just in on the reading to find out what happens, but other readers need to be hooked by pacing, characterization, sentence structure et c.<br /><br />I've found immense success in first-or-second draft short stories, simply because the readers were there to witness content and plot and didn't much care if I flubbed the characters or the pacing was off or the paragraphs were fractured. they were there, with me, engaging in a social discussion about the story, just happy to be included.<br /><br />but i've seen that readership enthusiasm go real dim real quick if the story was longform, or as long a haul as a novel. honestly, that's probably only *why* we have to edit novels as many times over and over, because the natural first to second chapter momentum isn't going to keep very well by chapter 10 or 20 -- so there has to be *structure* to play off the reading brain's center of focus<br /><br />which means Editing For Minutiae. :]ovenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16691881216448473069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-77122877240571504782021-07-16T21:48:08.585-07:002021-07-16T21:48:08.585-07:00Hi LyndsayKate,
Yes, you are definitely a writer!...Hi LyndsayKate,<br /><br />Yes, you are definitely a writer! Sorry I didn’t mean to invalidate anyone—they were just my own little insecurities, haha. Also, it sounds like the quality of your writing must be very high! Quality over quantity, right? I believe my problem was that I took the “shitty first draft method” a bit too seriously, where I pushed myself to finish book after book. Yes, I cringed at how many woeful things there were in my writing, and I’m too embarrassed to show anyone these messy drafts nowadays. But I urged myself to keep going, because I took to heart the advice that, if you don’t practice enough, you’ll never develop your skills. Nevertheless, I knew deep down that I was in denial about my problems.<br /><br />Have you seen the meme about a ceramics class, where the teacher graded a group of students on the quantity of their pots, and another group on the quality of their pots? In the results, the highest quality pots were made by the students graded on quantity, because they got more practice in making the pots and they learned from their mistakes. The moral of the story, was to not be so perfectionist, or we would hamper our learning from our lack of practice. Yet…I would also say to not go to the opposite extreme like I did, where I focused so much on quantity, that I skimped on the quality. Yes, I got a lot of practice in writing, but hardly any practice in editing. So I was shooting myself in the foot in the opposite direction. I’m determined to start a rewrite soon, though. Better late than never, right? XD<br /><br />Thanks for your generous offer! Would you like to be beta readers? I don’t have any work that’s presentable just yet, haha, but I’d be more than happy to beta read for you if you’d like some extra feedback on your stories!<br />Sieran Lanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14564956156787108845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-6025212053704420912021-07-16T21:46:43.571-07:002021-07-16T21:46:43.571-07:00Thanks for your answer, Chris! I hadn’t realized ...Thanks for your answer, Chris! I hadn’t realized that I had bought into the “you must go through the whole writing process to be a real writer” belief. But yes, I felt pretty embarrassed, even ashamed, that I hadn’t gone through the complete process for anything I wrote! But you’re right. I do believe that if one writes, one is a real writer, so I should extend the same understanding towards myself. Perhaps we are (usually) our worst critic. A friend of mine published several short stories and poems in a university magazine, but since he hadn’t written anything in ages, he didn’t think of himself as a writer. While I respect his humility, he truly was being too hard on himself!<br /><br />As for feeling daunted by the thought of rewrites, I believe my fear stems partly from how unfamiliar I am with the territory. Once I get more used to the rewrite process, it should become less scary over time. Another reason for my fear, is that I’m thinking about too much at once. It would be more manageable if I do it step by step, rather than thinking too far ahead. After reading your post, I looked through the books I’ve written (they absolutely are rough drafts, haha), and decided to focus on this particular book. I’ll do the first rewrite of this story, and then think about my next steps after. I’m figuring out strategies to get myself started on this task, rather than to keep panicking and avoiding the issue! But I feel quite invigorated by this new course of action.<br /><br />Yeah, I know what you mean about people tempering their expectations, where they make themselves believe that they never wanted anything more. I thought about this question a lot, actually. Am I just too afraid of hurt and rejection, and thus I’m stifling my hopes? After much self-reflection, I realize that I’m more concerned about the quality of my work than about how many readers I have! While it would be cool if, for instance, several hundred readers bought my book, I feel less stirred by these reader numbers than by the thought of my book being actually good in quality (in my eyes). I’m not implying that my opinion matters more than other people’s, but I find that when I get positive feedback from readers, it makes me happy, but I still don’t think my work is good enough. Even when I got some incredibly flattering compliments (one reader compared my writing style to Roald Dahl’s!!), I know, deep in my heart, that there are countless weaknesses in my story that I need to fix. So…while I can see some strengths in my writing, I’m also aware enough to see many, many issues in my work.<br /><br />In a way, you could say I care more about the effort than about the achievements, that I’m more about the journey than the destination. I’m more excited about doing the writing, and making the book as beautiful as I can, than I am about how many sales or reviews I get. Come to think of it, I think I would enjoy rewrites. It could be one of those things I want to do, but still haven’t done because of some psychological barrier, usually anxiety. But I’m optimistic that I will overcome this barrier soon! Thanks again for your advice and encouragement!<br />Sieran Lanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14564956156787108845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-9541422549909642112021-07-16T15:33:39.592-07:002021-07-16T15:33:39.592-07:00Lovely answer, Chris.
Personally, I have one boo...Lovely answer, Chris. <br /><br />Personally, I have one book, barely started, but I have "completed" several short stories of varying lengths. I say "completed" because they *were* completed when I wrote them. <br /><br />Now, when I look back at a story I wrote a few years ago, I can see things with which I'm not happy, even though I was happy enough at the time.<br /><br />Naturally, I have changed as a person over the years which can affect how I see some of my work. For the most part, however, it's not the viewpoint - the story is as I meant it to be. It's that my writing skills have slowly, (Oh, so slowly!) improved and now I can see how to do needed rewrites that weren't made at the time of "completion".<br /><br />I try to view this with a deserved sense of satisfaction that I have evidence of my improvement. I *actually* get very depressed for a bit, then bite the bullet and accept that if I want to publish, I'm going to have to revisit everything. <br /><br />Again.<br /><br />And again.Davesrsahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06784361649230000138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-21121689360324490232021-07-16T08:51:49.094-07:002021-07-16T08:51:49.094-07:00Sieran. Bruh. I have written exactly zero books an...Sieran. Bruh. I have written exactly zero books and published exactly nothing. I have the opposite problem, actually. I probably have single sentences that I have revised 84,789,372 times. <br /><br />Most of my writing is still inside of me. You have managed to word-vomit yours out! <br /><br />I am utterly impressed and envious because, while I may have about 150 pages of perfectly-polished prose that was mostly part of my MFA thesis, you have book after book to play with! Oh, if only I could get all of these books out of my head and onto the page in ANY form, bud, any form at all!<br /><br />The point is, even with my unbelievably low word count after years of writing... I AM a writer. You are DEFINITELY a writer. Hell, feel free to reach out if you want some help with editing. Since I am NOT WRITING ANYTHING - I have creative time on my hands. LyndsayKatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04014755690162936593noreply@blogger.com