Edits...not so bad
Anyone remember The Starving Years? (I think a few of you have read it!) I'm a couple weeks into the edits now and I'm surprised at the depth of my feelings for Tim.
Preliminary voting determined that "nerd" would be one of his primary characteristics. I remember initially hashing out his character and wondering how I was ever gonna come up with a nerdy guy who 1. was attractive, and 2. wasn't your typical guy-with-glasses. Because, c'mon. If there's one trope that has always been lame and overdone, it's that all nerds wear glasses and wearing glasses means you're smart.
I remember trying to figure out how else I might go with him--I was really intrigued by the idea of Euro-nerd, sort of like Steve Martin's Wild and Crazy Guy, but with Javier also being foreign, I knew that wouldn't work. (Plus, there'd be the likelihood of non-American readers either not getting it, or feeling mocked.) So I ended up going with indeterminate-beard-nerd.
In the end, I was so pleased with him, his awkwardness and his social activism, his earnestness and his vulnerability. Now what I'm working on is to make the story's backstory make sense. To make all the cause and effect airtight. A lot of the heavy rewrites are taking place in Tim's apartment, and they involve the unfolding of his rather hideous past relationships--because of all the main characters, he's the one who's a serial monogamist. There's a part where he recalls what it was like when his ex used to kiss him (this was in the first draft too) and I swear I want to hurl when I read it.
Last week I read through and did some journaling on every chapter in longhand. Then I wrote key points on a chalkboard, since moving my whole arm seemed to help me figure out what I was stuck on. Then I put a few words on post-its and stuck them all over the door. I guess it always comes down to post-its on a door no matter what else I try!
I'm in a "needs a lot of rewrites" part at the moment, about a quarter into the story. I'm itching for those chapters that are nearly good to go as they are!
I'd hoped to finish by the end of the year, but that's not looking realistic anymore, not to have it edited and proofed the way I would want.
Preliminary voting determined that "nerd" would be one of his primary characteristics. I remember initially hashing out his character and wondering how I was ever gonna come up with a nerdy guy who 1. was attractive, and 2. wasn't your typical guy-with-glasses. Because, c'mon. If there's one trope that has always been lame and overdone, it's that all nerds wear glasses and wearing glasses means you're smart.
I remember trying to figure out how else I might go with him--I was really intrigued by the idea of Euro-nerd, sort of like Steve Martin's Wild and Crazy Guy, but with Javier also being foreign, I knew that wouldn't work. (Plus, there'd be the likelihood of non-American readers either not getting it, or feeling mocked.) So I ended up going with indeterminate-beard-nerd.
In the end, I was so pleased with him, his awkwardness and his social activism, his earnestness and his vulnerability. Now what I'm working on is to make the story's backstory make sense. To make all the cause and effect airtight. A lot of the heavy rewrites are taking place in Tim's apartment, and they involve the unfolding of his rather hideous past relationships--because of all the main characters, he's the one who's a serial monogamist. There's a part where he recalls what it was like when his ex used to kiss him (this was in the first draft too) and I swear I want to hurl when I read it.
Last week I read through and did some journaling on every chapter in longhand. Then I wrote key points on a chalkboard, since moving my whole arm seemed to help me figure out what I was stuck on. Then I put a few words on post-its and stuck them all over the door. I guess it always comes down to post-its on a door no matter what else I try!
I'm in a "needs a lot of rewrites" part at the moment, about a quarter into the story. I'm itching for those chapters that are nearly good to go as they are!
I'd hoped to finish by the end of the year, but that's not looking realistic anymore, not to have it edited and proofed the way I would want.
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