Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Rewrites/Edits

I've been working on rewriting/editing Virtuoso this month. Yes, if you've followed this blog, I've said many times my plan was to edit/rewrite my two novels (Virtuoso and The Phoenix Prophetess). Every month, I had good intentions, but I never got around to it. Or when I did, I worked on the first chapter or two and stopped.

I don't know why I dread editing so much. Maybe once I spent so much time writing it, I just want it done and other with. I know it isn't perfect, though, so I must edit, but I drag my feet.

Now, I want it done, though, so I set out to rewriting Virtuoso. I'm changing it from third person to first, so rewriting is the easiest thing.

So far, I'm up to chapter four, and I realized something. I forgot that I really did enjoy this book. It's so heartbreaking, though, since it deals with grief and overcoming obstacles. It's much harder to write this book in first person. I'm feeling the protagonist's pain much more closely than I did when I wrote it in third. It's a good thing. Nadia is writing the book more than I am now. It's how it should be, if that makes any sense. I do wish her problems with her left hand wouldn't affect me so much, though. It makes it very hard to type. *laughs*

I hope I can finish this edit by the end of October, so I can send it to my critique buddies. Come January, I want to do a very intense edit on it and try my best to make it agent ready. It's the goal. I'll have to see how it works out.

The main thing I'm learning is this edit thing isn't too bad. It can even be a bit fun. Well, maybe. *grins*

Side note and completely unrelated to this post: Romeo jumped in the toilet today. It was so "EWWWWW!" Let's just say he got a bath when mommy took her shower this morning. Silly kitty!

4 comments:

Nicole Zoltack said...

Editing is so hard, at least it is for me. I wrote clean as far as grammar, but there are other weaknesses in my writings - telling versus showing, not enough details, repetition. It's all a matter of figuring out your problem areas and smashing them to smithereens. lol Good luck with the editing!

And that is definitely ewwww, jumping in the toilet. Definitely a great reason to give Romeo a bath!

Cherie Reich said...

Yeah, I do pretty well when grammar is concerned. I just have some other things I need to work on. For VIRTUOSO, I'm having to change it from third to first person, so it's really changing how the protag talks in the novel some. I like it, though. It feels more like the character, less like me. More authentic.

And, yeah, totally gross! Romeo was a naughty kitty. Maybe the bath taught him not to run and leap without knowing what he's leaping into.

Aubrie said...

That's interesting that you feel the protagonists pain more in first person. Edits are the hardest thing. I hate editing. Sometimes after you read it and give it back to me with comments, it seems easier, though.

Cherie Reich said...

Edits are hard. It's going better than I thought it would. I'm on chapter five. I still would like to finish doing a quick rewrite by the end of this month. *crosses fingers*