Where has this comm been all my life?

[hickumu]

Hey there, folks! I'm Hicku. I write both fanfiction and original works, whatever comes to mind. I play video games, I watch cool shows, I volunteer, and I'm studying Cybersecurities in college. I'm trying to get into running, I'm trying to get good at knitting, I'm trying to learn how to make clothes, and I'm trying to at least pick up drawing as a hobby again, but on top of school stuff, it's all slow going. As I mentioned in the subject line, this seems like one of those comms I didn't even know I wanted at first, but now I'm wondering how I ever did without.

I'll do my best to offer support to anyone who needs it, even if I might not be the greatest on advice! Group support got me jogging - group support can get us all clacking away at the keys! Heck yeah! *fist pump*

So, I'd like to warm up the comm a bit with some bemoaning. And that bemoaning is this - it's the editing that's the hardest part.

How do you guys do it? I have two manuscripts - two manuscripts with the potential to be something great, I know it, I can feel it - but they can't be that something special without some polishing. It's been a couple of years, now.

For one, I know basically how I want the plot to go, but...where do I start? That's always what I find myself wondering. How do I do it? Do I delete and retype a scene? Isn't that just starting me over again? Do I just change words that don't sound right? Is that enough?

And for the other...urgh. The plot hinges on time travel, but it turns out I suck at writing it. I need to figure out a way to explain things better, but I can't figure out what sort of explanations or buildup is needed. Have any of you guys ever gotten yourselves in over your head like that? And, if so, how did you get yourselves out?

For a couple of my other lingering works, one I just keep getting bogged down in minor details. The other...I know the characters, I know all the characters, but I can never settle on a plot! They've been damn near everything by this point, but it's never right, and by now I hesitate to even try something new because I know I'll probably just wind up scrapping the idea fifty pages in.

Commiserate with me, guys. I can't be the only one here. If you have any advice, excellent. My personal goal is to get one of these suckers done and submitted somewhere by the end of the semester...but it's looking like quite a daunting slog.

Comments

[kalloway]

I've gotten into a bad habit of sitting on stories for indefinite amounts of time... For a few of my NaNo novels, it's just been that by the end of November I'm so sick of the story that I can't deal with it and then I never get back to it (alas, even one that I think is good and needs only minor work to be awesome)...

I'm currently posting up a fanfic novella that I wrote in, oh, August of 2011 and then promptly decided no one would ever read so there was no point but then someone asked about it and I'm just now editing it. Slowly.

When editing, I have to sort of peel myself from being attached to the story as far as 'I wrote this awesome thiiiiiiing!' and be more 'I have this rough thing that needs to be shaped into an awesome thing.' and go kinda slowly at it. Recognize that wow, I can overuse words, just started three sentences in a row with 'And then' and generally make sure there's a proper amount of description and personality and not just a lump of story because it was coming out of my head so quickly it was all I could do to get the gist down without my fingers ending up in knots.

[hickumu]

Oh my god kindred spirit. These are both, in fact, NaNo novels I'm referring to - my only two successful ones, which is to say the only two I've stayed motivated enough to finish.

I am sounding like I'm too attached, aren't I? *le sigh* Well, I kind of suspected I might be - this is why it helps to get an outside opinion, after all! I'm just too worried about going forward, in case I spectacularly mess something up and can't go back.

My writing style has changed a lot in the last few years, so at least I'm in a good position to pick out strange word choices. I definitely need to work on description and personality - weirdly, that seems to be one of those things that NaNo trains you out of.

[kalloway]

I've done (and won) every NaNo since 2003 including both 2011/2012 Camp NaNos. I think I've gone back and properly edited... er, I might be working on my third one. A couple others I posted as rough drafts, and the rest have just been lingering in my WiP folder.

I had a friend tell me during a phone call that I needed to work on description. She'd thought it all along but didn't want to leave a comment because she wouldn't be able to immediately clarify/have vocal inflection on her side. And she was totally right and I love and appreciate her criticism and encouragement. I know I'm far from perfect so I sometimes feel awkward when no one is mentioning anything I could improve on.

I think with NaNo, there's that whole 'gotta get this word count in, no time to sit for five minutes and think about what color their curtains are and if they match the rest of the furniture, whatever it looks like - it'll be something to fill in later!' mindset. Which is, indeed, what Editing Time is for. ^^;;

[hickumu]

O_O That...is a very impressive track record. Even "only" editing three. *applause* You have my admiration.

That's definitely the trend with NaNo - get the word count down, get it done around everything else you have to do on any given day, edit later. The writing and the story is the thing. Which is not a bad philosophy, because it does get you, well, writing. Or at least, that's what I rely on it for.

But it does make Editing Time especially important ^-^;;.

[kalloway]

Thanks. ^_^; I guess part of my frustration is that the two that I think are amongst the 'best' are two of the ones lingering. And another that could be spectacular but it needs about 150,000 words more to really be complete. (I generally fuck around during Camp NaNo, so maybe I'll just work on it this year?)

I definitely think I'd rather have the words out of my head to polish later than not have them out at all and keep thinking about 'i should write...' So yay for NaNo for that.

[hickumu]

Yay to NaNo for that!

I generally fuck around during Camp Nano, too, which is a shame. Two extra months, and theoretically an additional 100,000 words, can only be a good thing, right? Maybe it's because it's during the summer months, so I have even less structure to my time.

Definitely planning on giving it another go this year, though! o7 Best of luck to you! Always worth it to at least try, right?

[kalloway]

Looks like this year's first Camp NaNo is April! I suppose I can come up with something, but I might just work my way through some of my plotbunny list~

[sapphoatsunset]

For me, I always run something by someone else. Betas are awesome, not JUST for fan fiction. :) a beta can point out where you have knowledge in your head that hasn't been communicated yet. Where things have jumped to much. Where language is confusing. All the things we struggle to catch on our own.

And, I find a good way to catch issues with the flow of words is to read it out loud to myself as if I'm going to podfic it.

Personally, I love the nitpicky editing process and have to remind myself to not overdo it. To know when to quit. That, and actually getting things written (short attention span XD).

*hug* you can do it!

[hickumu]

And, I find a good way to catch issues with the flow of words is to read it out loud to myself as if I'm going to podfic it.

*_* Dude, idea! I actually do the occasional podfic, when I've got a working microphone! And I just recently got a working microphone! Reading it out loud and playing it out loud! That should help with something.

And I confess, I have had some bad experiences with betas in the past. Of a series I co-write, our readers pretty much always like the only beta'd one the least. But I suppose that might have been a case of too many cooks, since my co-writer and I kind of beta'd each other. Do you have any advice on where to look for one? I've got a lot of writer friends, but beyond a few glaring examples, they aren't the sorts to point out flaws.

[sapphoatsunset]

^____^

Haha, we've been talking/meta-ing about betas here recently. But, beyond that, there's a comm: betaplease.

It's hard to find betas that work for you. I like to drop a note out to my flist and see what happens. (This really sounds like we need an addme comm around betas, instead of doing things the other way around...)

[hickumu]

:) An addme comm around betas sounds awesome, since it's not really something you can just jump into - at the least, they need to be interested in your genre.

Until then, though, I'll poke around betaplease instead - much obliged for the link! \o/ I'll start looking as soon as I reconstruct a few more scenes.