I feel like my first novel is done.
Yay!
Except for the cover pic.
So anything I do now is making it better.
To tweak it!
Sometimes rewriting can involve Major Overhauls,
(All the fans of “How I Met Your Mother” salute and say: “Major Overhaul!”)
which, as the name implies, requires lots of work.
Major Overhauls aren’t always fun,
unless you come with something totally cool!
Like in my screenplay “Some Body to Love” (a.k.a. “Exit Strategies”),
there’s a scene with two guys fighting; and a gun goes off.
Originally, no big deal; no one got hurt.
But then I thought, what if someone got shot?
Taking place about two-thirds into the story,
that only required a Semi-Overhaul.
(All the fans of “Ice Road Truckers” slide on the ice and say: “Semi-Overhaul!”)
But still, that improved the story immensely.
Another rewrite maneuver is known as: Kill the Widows!
Sounds pretty violent; doesn’t it?
It’s not. Usually not.
When a lone word sits there taking up a whole line,
you edit down that paragraph until that word gets taken up to the line above it.
I only bothered with that when a chapter was “full”!
Meaning an extra line would need an extra page.
Or when I liked the way the page looked.
I worry more about widows with screenwriting
where the wording needs to be more succinct.
Another violent rewriting phrase is: Kill Your Darlings!
That means; and this is a truly tough lesson to learn:
You delete your favorite jokes and lines and scenes and such.
All for the sake of pacing, or spacing, or to remain true to the story.
I removed some hilarious jokes,
because they didn’t fit the story or they bogged down the pacing and such.
That’s when you know you’re a real writer,
when you can delete the part you love the most,
because you know that doing so will enhance the whole.
A rewriting chore that’s as tedious as it sounds is: Wordsmithing.
Once you have the story, characters, pacing, and such in good order,
fix the phrasings and word usage.
Craft each word!
Perhaps that too is a form of Tweaking.
However, I feel that Tweaking is after you’ve finished everything else,
you think of something that will enhance the story
and that fits without clogging the pacing,
adds a laugh or a thrill,
or just improves the story in one way or another.
And that, my friends, is my favorite part.
A joke pops into my head and makes me laugh.
And then I think of where that could fit in the story.
That’s my favorite part.
If at first you don’t succeed,
don’t juggle knives.
Best to you with whatever you endeavor.
Blessings & Joy,
Dean Burkey
Yay!
Except for the cover pic.
So anything I do now is making it better.
To tweak it!
Major Overhaul
Sometimes rewriting can involve Major Overhauls,
(All the fans of “How I Met Your Mother” salute and say: “Major Overhaul!”)
which, as the name implies, requires lots of work.
Major Overhauls aren’t always fun,
unless you come with something totally cool!
Like in my screenplay “Some Body to Love” (a.k.a. “Exit Strategies”),
there’s a scene with two guys fighting; and a gun goes off.
Originally, no big deal; no one got hurt.
But then I thought, what if someone got shot?
Taking place about two-thirds into the story,
that only required a Semi-Overhaul.
(All the fans of “Ice Road Truckers” slide on the ice and say: “Semi-Overhaul!”)
But still, that improved the story immensely.
Kill the Widows!
Another rewrite maneuver is known as: Kill the Widows!
Sounds pretty violent; doesn’t it?
It’s not. Usually not.
When a lone word sits there taking up a whole line,
you edit down that paragraph until that word gets taken up to the line above it.
I only bothered with that when a chapter was “full”!
Meaning an extra line would need an extra page.
Or when I liked the way the page looked.
I worry more about widows with screenwriting
where the wording needs to be more succinct.
Kill Your Darlings!
Another violent rewriting phrase is: Kill Your Darlings!
That means; and this is a truly tough lesson to learn:
You delete your favorite jokes and lines and scenes and such.
All for the sake of pacing, or spacing, or to remain true to the story.
I removed some hilarious jokes,
because they didn’t fit the story or they bogged down the pacing and such.
That’s when you know you’re a real writer,
when you can delete the part you love the most,
because you know that doing so will enhance the whole.
Wordsmithing
A rewriting chore that’s as tedious as it sounds is: Wordsmithing.
Once you have the story, characters, pacing, and such in good order,
fix the phrasings and word usage.
Craft each word!
Perhaps that too is a form of Tweaking.
Tweaking
However, I feel that Tweaking is after you’ve finished everything else,
you think of something that will enhance the story
and that fits without clogging the pacing,
adds a laugh or a thrill,
or just improves the story in one way or another.
And that, my friends, is my favorite part.
A joke pops into my head and makes me laugh.
And then I think of where that could fit in the story.
That’s my favorite part.
If at first you don’t succeed,
don’t juggle knives.
Best to you with whatever you endeavor.
Blessings & Joy,
Dean Burkey
No comments:
Post a Comment