Robyn Bradley
Short answer: A beast!
Long answer: I've been working on a novel for over two years now, since May 2012. From May 2012 to May 2013, I wrote 60,000 very messy words, but I had a story I believed in. I ditched ALL 60,000 words and started over from scratch.
From May 2013 to the end of February 2014, I wrote 100,000 polished words. The story had an arc. The characters felt real. Yay! My manuscript was complete. Or so I thought.
I gave it to nine beta readers and requested feedback by the beginning of April. As of early June, only four people had provided feedback (and it was mixed at best). An important lesson: no feedback IS feedback.
During this time, I did not ONCE look at the manuscript. I threw it in a virtual drawer and let it be. I returned to it in early June, read the whole thing, cried and ate chocolate and drank wine for a few days, and realized that I'd fallen victim to Beautiful Prose Syndrome.
See, the writing in this manuscript was the strongest I'd ever done. Sentence-to-sentence, the prose was strong. Problem was, the story suffered as a result. That's the main symptom of Beautiful Prose Syndrome. I'd suffered from this sickness before, which is why I recognized the symptoms this time around.
The remedy? Starting over. Again. BOO.
An important point: I don't think all writers are at risk of developing this syndrome. I just know that when I focus too much on trying to be "literary" or in developing flawless prose, my stories tend to fall apart. It's a balancing act, for sure.
Anyhow, after much soul-searching, brooding, and sketching, I *think* I've figured out how to revive this story. It involves turning it completely upside down and shaking it out. So far, so good.
No ETA as of right now. No working title either. (The working title on the complete manuscript was The Morning Circle, but I've abandoned it.)
Long answer: I've been working on a novel for over two years now, since May 2012. From May 2012 to May 2013, I wrote 60,000 very messy words, but I had a story I believed in. I ditched ALL 60,000 words and started over from scratch.
From May 2013 to the end of February 2014, I wrote 100,000 polished words. The story had an arc. The characters felt real. Yay! My manuscript was complete. Or so I thought.
I gave it to nine beta readers and requested feedback by the beginning of April. As of early June, only four people had provided feedback (and it was mixed at best). An important lesson: no feedback IS feedback.
During this time, I did not ONCE look at the manuscript. I threw it in a virtual drawer and let it be. I returned to it in early June, read the whole thing, cried and ate chocolate and drank wine for a few days, and realized that I'd fallen victim to Beautiful Prose Syndrome.
See, the writing in this manuscript was the strongest I'd ever done. Sentence-to-sentence, the prose was strong. Problem was, the story suffered as a result. That's the main symptom of Beautiful Prose Syndrome. I'd suffered from this sickness before, which is why I recognized the symptoms this time around.
The remedy? Starting over. Again. BOO.
An important point: I don't think all writers are at risk of developing this syndrome. I just know that when I focus too much on trying to be "literary" or in developing flawless prose, my stories tend to fall apart. It's a balancing act, for sure.
Anyhow, after much soul-searching, brooding, and sketching, I *think* I've figured out how to revive this story. It involves turning it completely upside down and shaking it out. So far, so good.
No ETA as of right now. No working title either. (The working title on the complete manuscript was The Morning Circle, but I've abandoned it.)
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