This one is for everyone who's written a piece and posted it here,
but always had a nagging feeling that it didn't come out quite right.
The challenge is to take an old piece of yours -- one you've already posted --
and rewrite it until it works the way you like.
Notice that I said "rewrite it until it works":
one pass might not fix it. You might have to go in there
with the knife and the hatchet and the needle and thread
several times until it's as smooth and tasty outside
as it is inside.
Just one word of caution -- DON'T blow away the original piece as you work.
When you're done, leave a reply here or let us know somehow.
A while back...
... I posted a blog asking if I should "fix" my first novel... Responses were UNIVERSALLY that I NOT do this. *sighs* Now you challenge folks to do just such a thing. What's a girl to do.
(My take-away from that was that folks considered the story helpless... At least without significant external editors. But don't tell folks, okay?)
Annette
It's what YOU think that matters
Besides, if you see my last recommendation (that you DON'T destroy the work as it is now), what have you got to lose?
Nothing but time...
... The time spent "fixing" what was broken (AND I Assure you my first post has a LOT of rough edges!!!) is time that I'd have to take away from work on current project(s). Not a bad thing, from what I might learn through the effort (I actually did start back in May...). However, my newer efforts would surely languish. This was one reason I asked the question... and seemed to be the biggest reason folks were AGAINST my doing so. I dunno. Maybe some time, if I run out of ideas. The story could do with a BUNCH of fixing... (I had no intention of deleting the old story. I value the old comments, which were so nice and supportive.)
No, Annette...
By no means do I consider your novel to be hopeless. Rather, I enjoyed it very much, and I would rather see you spend your valuable time writing something completely new.
"There comes a time in the life of every project when you have to shoot the engineers and begin production." The same goes for any creative endeavor where perfectionists are involved. (I should know, since I tend to be a perfectionist.)
Ray Drouillard
Thanks Ray.
For now HG will get most of my attention... Unless something else comes along and grabs it...
Annette
P.S. When I first saw your "No Annette" my first reaction was "No, no, Nannette"... :-)
Annette, Take It From Me.
Your first story is fine as is. Please don't fret about it. Concentrate on your current stories. If you must redo your first story, do so after you've worked on current stories.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Which one?
If I were to re-write a story of mine, it would either be.
MAU- Volunteers
or
MAU- Could I have this dance? Part II
Another candidate would be A Great Shift- For Daniel. The story has some problems, but I don't have the heart to go in and fix them. That was the tale I wrote in memory of my late son. It took me two years to write it in the first place because of the emotional drain it was for me.
CIHTD got a great deal of criticism. Some of it directed at the repetiveness in part II. I'd go back and re-write some of the letters the main character writes.
Volunteers I always thought the motive Greg had for using the machine was weak. Only after publishing the story, did I come up with a better idea. Greg liked helping people, his girlfriend Rosa who worked as a mid-wife needed assistance as did a mother who was in labor. Greg would use the machine to become female, only so she could be there to help with the birth. A mother wouldn't want a total male stranger with her at childbirth, but a female stranger who was a friend of the mid-wife would be plausible.
Actually I've started re-writing Volunteers. The changes would only consist of re-writing about 2-3 pages. Or 5-6 if I tone down some of the changes done to the other Peace Corps volunteer who uses the MAU. I just have so much else on my plate right now.
Einstein described insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the result to change. Was Albert a reader of TG fiction then?
Daniel, author of maid, whore, bimbo, and sissy free TG fiction since 2000
What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.- Oscar Levant