tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post6038004757760756056..comments2024-03-27T10:02:56.747-04:00Comments on Fiction University: Hey, Still with Me? Poking Dead Scenes With a Stick, Part OneJanice Hardyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-30971477614936572322012-01-19T07:37:49.118-05:002012-01-19T07:37:49.118-05:00Anne, good tip. I keep several files for notes, sa...Anne, good tip. I keep several files for notes, saved scenes, world building, etc. That way I always have a spot to save something for later :)<br /><br />Heather, that's a great idea. The adage is you can learn just as much from a bad book as a good book, and you just provided a great reason why. That's one reason critiquing others is also helpful. Same thing happens there.Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-77982073514391493312012-01-16T15:05:42.546-05:002012-01-16T15:05:42.546-05:00Thanks for the advice and encouragement. It is pai...Thanks for the advice and encouragement. It is painful to make revisions like this. To help motivate me, I keep a few books I've read that needed a good dose of editing but didn't get it. I recall the instances when I thought, "This did nothing for me," or "This chapter didn't accomplish anything," and then ask myself if I'm making the same mistakes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-15108622819796866342012-01-16T14:31:52.692-05:002012-01-16T14:31:52.692-05:00Such great advice. The thing to do is save those g...Such great advice. The thing to do is save those great bon mots and backstory bits to put in somewhere else. They may not even fit in this book. They may end up in a short story sometime. But pulling the scene and looking at the book without it can do so much for the flow of the novel, tough as it feels to do.Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-52131985499451061792012-01-13T15:04:06.591-05:002012-01-13T15:04:06.591-05:00C0, character introduction is rough sometimes. Act...C0, character introduction is rough sometimes. Actually, I should do a post on that. (thanks for the idea) Look for it next week :)<br /><br />SBibb, sounds like a plan :) And you might find a spot later that needs groundwork, and that scene is perfect for it.<br /><br />Amy, I feel your pain. I go through a love/hate cycle with every book. It starts off feeling good, then I see all the holes and start my rewrites. I like revising, but there are moments where I feel the work will never get done. It always does though :) You gotta make yourself happy first.<br /><br />Heather, it just might. Or you might find a way to work it back in after revisions. Or, it can work as a great but of character work to provide the mental backstory for a scene, and deepen that character because you remember this scene when you write him. (did any of that make sense? lol)<br /><br />Jordan, grats! Great story. And good advice.<br /><br />Jen, happy to help!Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-86073107448671337582012-01-11T16:00:50.457-05:002012-01-11T16:00:50.457-05:00Thanks for these pointers! I'm always looking ...Thanks for these pointers! I'm always looking for ways to make editing less painful :D<br /><br />Cheers,<br />JenJenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06683486631901017529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-89523405856056325412012-01-11T15:42:41.794-05:002012-01-11T15:42:41.794-05:00I guess we've all faced this problem! One exam...I guess we've all faced this problem! One example that stands out in my mind is a scene that was very fun and funny. An evaluator for a publisher I submitted the MS to listed that scene as a specific example of a fun, funny, interesting scene.<br /><br />And I cut it.<br /><br />I cut it because it focused in the wrong place. The MS was romantic suspense and this scene was more toward the romance and kind of low tension. So I replaced it with a scene hitting on the suspense angle.<br /><br />I don't know how much of a difference that one scene made (it was one of dozens of similar changes I made), but when I resubmitted it to the same publisher, the MS was accepted!<br /><br />Oh, another thing that I look for to save when I'm cutting a scene: any clues or other foreshadowing. I can usually find another place to work in those things, but if I can't, sometimes the scene stays (trimmed down to just the right length to match—and mask—the significance of the clue).<br /><br />Great post!Jordan McCollumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16523599384793856702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-90132263596586438142012-01-11T11:21:46.064-05:002012-01-11T11:21:46.064-05:00I had to do this last weekend with my WIP. I love ...I had to do this last weekend with my WIP. I love the scene and the character it introduces (he's wonderfully wicked), but it's not really necessary for the story overall. I'm saving it, though, as you suggest. Maybe it'll work in another story sometime.Heathernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-18973251358117842102012-01-11T11:11:40.315-05:002012-01-11T11:11:40.315-05:00Revisions ARE hard. I'm always excited to get ...Revisions ARE hard. I'm always excited to get there at the end of a draft then about one day in, I'm always wondering what I was all excited about. This is where you have to be brave...and a little ruthless. I probably either throw out or rewrite a third of the scenes I've written because they either didn't do their job well enough or because they didn't hit the mark at all. I've started to realize that they needed to be written for me, not everyone else so I could get to the real story- my practice throws at the dart board if you will before I actually hit the bull's eye. And no one is interested in knowing how close you get to a target without actually hitting it if you are in fact capable of better accuracy.Amy Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14868528114764185084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-65298936260911255552012-01-11T10:10:53.630-05:002012-01-11T10:10:53.630-05:00This is a problem I'm facing with a scene in m...This is a problem I'm facing with a scene in my novel. But it deals largely with motivation of characters. Part of me wants to cut the scene, because it feels so out of place with the rest of the novel, but I'm worried that doing so will cut some character tension between the MC and a newly-introduced antagonist, as well as make later references confusing.<br /><br />On one hand, I've considered doing what you've said: eliminating the scene and placing vital information elsewhere (and maybe having a couple paragraphs to give the gist of the scene, so it isn't totally missed).<br /><br />On the other hand, I'm considering trying to force it to pull double-duty, and give the MC more problems to deal with within the scene itself. Problem is, that'll raise word count where it needs to be lower, not higher.<br /><br />So yeah. My decision? Finish edits to the other chapters, then come back to it and reevaluate the scene as a whole.SBibbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03118463527236055307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-31145780713166796872012-01-11T08:04:16.020-05:002012-01-11T08:04:16.020-05:00Timely. I'm rewriting the first act of my stor...Timely. I'm rewriting the first act of my story and I'm wondering which scenes are really needed.<br /><br />One main problem is how to introduce characters. Another one is how to establish the narrator and the co-protagonist.chihuahuazerohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15677672177353350936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-31724215072343262582010-08-22T10:08:46.088-04:002010-08-22T10:08:46.088-04:00Good luck with your revisions! I'm going to be...Good luck with your revisions! I'm going to be going back to that post soon myself, LOL. Shifter 3 is coming in waaaaaay too long and I'll need to trim it back 10K I think.Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-79511821378230704072010-08-19T13:20:07.236-04:002010-08-19T13:20:07.236-04:00Great post and very timely. I decided I need to cu...Great post and very timely. I decided I need to cut 8000 words. I'm going through scenes to cut my darlings that don't move the plot along enough. I'm being brutal, but it needs to be done. BTW, your redundancy list helped me cut a lot of words in a prior revision. Hopefully this will be one of my last ones.Natalie Aguirrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03756087804171246660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-3312622375260771742010-08-18T15:31:01.921-04:002010-08-18T15:31:01.921-04:00When I've had to do this in my urban fantasy W...When I've had to do this in my urban fantasy WiP, my beta's told me the salvaged pieces actually fit better where I've ended up working them in than in the scenes I originally designed for them.Carradeehttp://mistiwolanski.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-33785885553674919172010-08-18T12:45:19.556-04:002010-08-18T12:45:19.556-04:00That's a good way to think about it. Thanks fo...That's a good way to think about it. Thanks for your input. :)Angiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12526875813399934443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-53595690080612927582010-08-18T11:16:21.854-04:002010-08-18T11:16:21.854-04:00There are no always in writing :) If you feel the ...There are no always in writing :) If you feel the scene makes the book better, keep it. Having a great story is what matters most, and if that scene helps do that, there's no reason to get rid of it.Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-46982128559113647512010-08-18T10:17:49.217-04:002010-08-18T10:17:49.217-04:00I'm dealing with this problem right now. I'...I'm dealing with this problem right now. I'm working on a scene that could probably be cut, but it has three really cool things in it that are referred to further down the road and it gives a good reason for two characters' actions later in the story. Could I rearrange those things and find another reason for the characters' actions? Probably, but at the same time there is a lot about that scene that I love. There are probably other, more efficient ways to move the story along, but that scene is just FUN - and my BETA readers loved it too. So it leaves me wondering, is it always necessary to cut something that's not necessary? If the rest of the book is solid, would you ever just leave a scene like that in and say to yourself, well I'll see what an agent (or editor) says?Angiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12526875813399934443noreply@blogger.com