Writers' Bloc

Atavachron wrote: Dean wrote: Atavachron wrote: I have found editing to be an integral part of finished work;  when writing my book, it was when I'd change or, more often, remove whole sentences or paragraphs that the manuscript would tighten-up and come together, focusing the text, staying on topic and eliminating extraneous material.   On the other hand, during the initial act of writing I do enjoy letting go and seeing what happens.   How much do you value editing?--  especially the serious kind where you remove or alter whole passages that simply don't work or don't relate to the thesis? Because everything I've written so far has been published on the internet in serial form pretty much as soon as I've finished writing each episode I don't have the luxury of being able to go back to older chapters to edit and revise them so all my editing is done within the confines of the current chapter. Mostly it's the normal stuff like spelling and grammar corrections, then it's fixing plot-holes, ensuring the characters have remained in character, checking continuity with previous scenes and the like. This is where I find 'story boarding' the entire story at the beginning to be of most use, so if I find that I've wandered off-script I can then decide whether the new direction is a keeper and needs to be worked into the story-line, or is extraneous to the plot and needs to be removed. Therefore culling of extraneous material is the next thing, however, if I really like the content of that and don't want to lose it I may try and work it into a later chapter or simply add it as a footnote¹ or addendum, which I guess comes under the next category of 'failure to edit'.  My editing failings are (and I suspect this happens with a lot of self-editors), the reluctance to remove any material; the addition of extra material; and (more often) the complete rewrite of whole chunks of text during the editing stage. I think this is the major difference between a writer who has a publisher and editor working for them and someone who does all of that themselves. I touched on this in my 2-star rated 'Please Self-Release Me' self-release blog - it's having the discipline to be honest with yourself over the quality of what you are producing. You frequently hear people say "Oh, I'm my harshest critic", but when that self-deprecation isn't false modesty it is often used as an excuse for not judiciously editing stuff they know doesn't pass muster. ¹I do like sparse use of footnotes in novels. I get what you mean about being married to a good bit of writing even if it's not fitting the rest of the piece, I had to become much more disciplined about removal.   One does become attached;  your words are like children. But the level of improvement I found through elimination of passages not directly pertinent to the thesis was a revelation.   It wasn't just about being a disciplined editor, the whole piece would suddenly become much cleaner and readable.   And when finished, if I couldn't find a place for the extra material I'd removed, I left it out.   And am I glad I can do that now without much regret.

I know a very talented pianist who writes incredible melodies, but his songs are way too long. It drives me crazy, because if he'd just simplify his arrangements, his CD would be a thing of beauty. I won't name him, of course, but just look at this song arrangement: A) Melody (Intro) A) Melody (Repeated) B) Chorus (simple version) C) Bridge A) Melody B) Chorus (simple version) C) Bridge A) Melody D) Change Up B) Chorus (complex version) C) Bridge (with embellishment) D) Change Up (with much embellishment, turns into a vamp) B) Chorus (with much embellishment) A) Melody B) Chorus (simple version) C) Bridge A) Melody (to end) The song runs at six and a half minutes. While the song has one of the most beautiful melodies I've ever heard, the artist plays it into the ground. By the time you're five minutes into the song, you're really wishing it was over. Keep it simple.

Here's the pattern: A) Melody established (Intro) B) Chorus C) Bridge A) Melody (Octave lower with embellishment) B) Chorus C) Bridge D) Change Up B) Chorus to End and there you have a 3 minute song. Notice how simple the structure is?