It is amazing! Four months post NaNo and my story looks totally different! Two of the characters are now brother and sister, the main character has totally changed her love interest, everyone's school/job status has changed, and I can't even begin to describe all the characteristic changes in every character! Even character names have changed!
But it is a blast to be working on it!
Anyone else amazed by the changes in their story?
~~Sasha
http://www.wanderingwriters.org/
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0 / 50,000
Mar 19, 2008 - 19 38
I've always been worried about having to make such drastic changes. Is it doable? If you change the character then I would think you'd pretty much have to change every scene where they talk since they'd be saying different things. Then if you change the love interest too, you're probably cutting out a ton, and adding a whole lot. How did you do it?
23,200 / 50,000
Mar 20, 2008 - 08 07
What you just did was write an entire new story. lol
After receiving my first novel back from an editor of an online publisher, I was advised to drop first 5 chapters and work them into the rest of the story as flashbacks. (I don't care much for flashbacks. One paragraph, 2-3 sentences long, is okay, but if the thing needs more than that the full scene should be included. So I just went ahead and included the full scene while I was introducing the characters. Sidney Sheldon does this and it works. I digress.
So here I'm faced with deciding whether or not to follow the editor's suggeston. I must also consider her statement that I've put too much info in the story along with making my FMC too dependent upon others.
As I considered my options and advice received from other authors, I began to rewrite my story. I kept the characters, added others, took away some, and the whole story changed. It's going to be an entirely new story about the same characters.
It hasn't be done yet. I became overwhelmed with the changes this story has made throughout every rewrite I've done on it and frankly I'm tired of trying to make it perfect. Every time I start to change anything, the changes contemplated will always change my entire story. So I put it aside and it's been about 2 years since that editor has given her advice.
In NaNo 2007 I decided to rewrite the whole story beginning the rewrite with the 6th chapter. From my first sentence which had to be totally new, the whole story changed, but I wrote about 28,000 plus words (if I remember correctly) on this for NaNo. Well, not just this story. After about 10,000 words for this story, I began to write scenes for another book I have in progress. lol Perhaps the first book is always the hardest to write.
Lucille
23,200 / 50,000
Mar 20, 2008 - 08 08
Sorry, I put down too many words for NaNo 2007. But you'll see how many to the left of my post. lol Lucille
52,051 / 50,000
Mar 24, 2008 - 10 29
LOL I am still in the process of doing it. I have went back and am currently doing a more thorough character profile on each character. Names have changed. Some relationships have too. The thing is, in the end, it will be a better story. Knocking out a novel in one month causes a writer to at times "just write anything!" in order to get the goal accomplished. Though I plotted and outlined before NaNo, I know have the opportunity to see what worked and what needs reworked. Already, the story looks stronger, the characters more well rounded and 3D, the story line more believeable and interesting...the list goes on and on.
I am having fun doing it too! The whole process of writing is 1) getting the story out 2) edit like crazy! 3) Be willing to change to make the story better.
~~Sasha
http://wanderingwriters.org