Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Another Big Change.

No, I'm not moving across the country again.  :P

However, as that blog entry shows, I'm a big fan of making big changes when a story isn't going the way it should.  As a plotter, this is often how I figure out how things are supposed to go.  Granted, it still boggles my mind that stories tend to feel like I'm figuring them out rather than making them up, but I can't explain that and don't care to try.

Anyway.

As important as changes are, there are times when I don't expect to make them.  Like when I think a book is close to done and I'm moving toward trying to find an agent.  When I know the word count and I'm struggling with putting together a good query, when I'm waiting to hear back from betas and fix whatever needs fixing, that's not the time to consider huge changes to a book, right?

Oh ye of little faith.  Or rather, oh me of little faith.  As per usual, things have not gone quite as planned.

Here's the thing: I know I'm not great at writing antagonists.  It's a long-standing weakness of mine - hell, I dropped The Accidental Warlock in part because I felt the book pretty much didn't have an antagonist.  But I thought I'd conquered that issue with The Book of Lost Runes.  I was wrong.

One of my betas is one of my best friends; we've known each other since 2000 and have shared a ton over the years.  She's read more of my books than anyone else.  And one of her chief complaints about BoLR was that the bad guy was weak, didn't seem threatening, stuff like that.  So after my usual bout of "I am a horrible writer" that comes after most criticism (I only felt like that for an hour or so, so I'm clearly getting better), I started thinking, and I realized that she was right.

Frantic planning ensued.

It's a weird thing, sitting down to edit a story and knowing that chunks of it will remain mostly the same while other chunks need massive revisions.  Replacing a minotaur with a politician involves significant work.  Go figure.  :P  But I created a villain who has a much more personal stake in all that's happening and a more interesting reason for starting it, who's a lot more devious and has prepared multiple backup plans, and who interacts better with my main characters.  He's also more fun to write, which is always a plus.

The whole process has been more than a little nerve-wracking.  While I of course saved a version of the book so I wouldn't lose anything if Operation Antagonist Replacement failed, it's still a massive undertaking for a book I thought was nigh-ready for submission.  I plowed through the whole thing in eight days, and went back and added more tonight, in preparation for another run-through over this coming week.  I think everything works, but all praise to my beta readers, who will surely let me know if it doesn't.  ^_^

In the end, just about anything's worth it if it leads to a better book.  And I really do think I've made the story better now.  Which is all that matters in the end.

On another note, in regards to that other blog entry: I've been in Washington for a little over six months.  I've met new people and I get together with my friends regularly.  I'm close to family and see them pretty often.  And I'm nearly done with five weeks of training at my brand-new job, which is already the best place I've ever worked and pays me better than any job I've ever had.

Making that change was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

14 comments:

  1. Yay for making the story better! I had to do major revisions like that in the past. Yeah, it sucks, but like you said--anything to make the story stronger. I hope your story works out as well as your move did!

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    1. I think it's worked out well so far; I finished the last go-through tonight and just have some checks to make before sending it out to beta readers again. So here's hoping. ^_^

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  2. Great that your friend caught that before you sent it out! I've run into changes like that too, and yeah, it's frustrating. But it's better to notice the weaknesses and get them worked out than just send the stuff off as is. Glad you're settling in nicely.

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    1. It's not so much something she caught as that her feedback got me thinking. But yeah, I'm glad she said what she did.

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  3. I'm a huge fan of large changes, especially when they make the story that much better. Suppose that's why I love my editors who are super brutal, but so, so intuitive.

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    1. This isn't the first time I've had to make major changes like this - I even did some to this book's plot before I started writing it. Which is why this round of changes came as a surprise. Oi.

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  4. The most insightful criticisms always hurt. You feel shock, disbelief, insulted -- but mostly you just feel "aaarrrrgggghhhh" because you know they're right.

    Some of the critiques that have hurt me the most are the ones that caused me to make the most important revisions ever.

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    1. Yeah, it's never easy. >_< And because the antagonist thing was what got me to trunk my last book, I really didn't want to think about having more antagonist issues in this one. I think I've worked it out, though.

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  5. Awesome you are enjoying your job.
    And although it was tough to hear, it sounds like your new villain will be even better. I don't really write villains either. I've written some ornery characters and warring races, but never an actual villain.

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    1. This villain thinks he's the hero of his own story, which I've heard is a good way to portray a villain. He's kind of fun to write, and I'm looking forward to doing more with him in a still-theoretical second book.

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  6. Glad the new job is up to snuff, and you're absolutely right: "Just about anything's worth it if it leads to a better book." Better to fix things now, pre-agent, right?

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    1. Assuming there will ever be an agent, yes, you're right. :P But I'd hate to have not made these changes and hear back from a potential agent that they thought the antagonist was weak.

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  7. There's an old saying that goes something like, "No matter how far you've gone in the wrong direction, go back!" I think of that when I'm writing. It sucks to have to delete a large number of pages because that's your own hard work. But if you were on a road trip and you took a wrong turn, you wouldn't just keep going in that direction!

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    1. Very true. On the plus side, I didn't actually have to delete anything - I added over 4000 words to the book with these changes. Which I'm glad for, as it always felt too short. ^_^

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