Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Perchance to Dream Again

“A thousand dreams within me softly burn.”  --Arthur Rimbaud

A few nights ago, I finished rereading the crazy dream book.  This is something I wrote because I knew I had to - because if I didn't, it would become one of those things I'd always think about and wonder if I could have made it work.  And now that I've reread the whole thing, I'm left with more questions than when I started.

These aren't bad questions, though they leave me wondering if it's worth it to spend more time working on this book.  In general, I like it.  There are some repetitive parts; the main character continues to reflect on how weird things are even after she's come to accept that she's inside someone else's dream.  Of the eleven characters who make up the cast, only three or four of them get any significant development, and too much of it is right before they leave the story forever.  Also, the structure of a series of duels leading to the grand finale leads to the story feeling like it's deliberately stalling between the duels, even though we learn most of the important plot points during that time.

And I hate to say it, but my biggest fear about this book did in fact come to pass: it's just not weird enough.

On the plus side, the weird parts work really well.  Much of it feels like we're seeing a tiny piece of an unexplained mythology.  One of the characters, her bizarre nature is never truly explained, but she comes off as damaged and sympathetic.  Another character who loves being in the dream because he can be exactly who he wants to be has a particularly difficult scene when he's forced to wake up.  And the ending, warped and surreal as it is, really works.

So there's potential here.  It will need work to be a book worth reading, and I think I'll need to switch it to first person perspective, to really delve into the main character's head.  (Which will lead to some serious problems with the ending, but I'm getting ahead of myself.)  But there are a lot of things about the story I'm just not sure about, things I don't know if I can fix.

As cynical as it sounds, I'm also wondering if I should invest more time and effort in a story that, odds are good, would never sell.

I know I'm at the stage where I should be writing whatever I want, because I don't have any deadlines or obligations or anything of the sort, and it's impossible to know what's going to work out.  I'm sure there are more than a few authors who've been in this same place and the book they thought would never sell turned out to be the one that started their career.  But this book has always felt like the sort of thing that would just be too damn odd for any publisher to pick up, and knowing I'll have to make it weirder to make it work right doesn't help.

Fortunately, I don't have to make this decision right away.  I've taken down some notes on possible changes, and I'm going to see if I can figure out how to make this thing work the way I think it should.  I keep hoping to have some sudden flash of inspiration and somehow know exactly what to change and how.  If I can figure it out, cool.  If not, no worries; at least I gave it a shot and won't have to wonder how it would have turned out.

If I do decide to rewrite it, I'm thinking about doing that for NaNoWriMo this year, both since I've never actually participated in NaNo and because I know a NaNo project isn't something I'd take seriously as a potential book to sell.

Or I could write this ridiculous idea I had on Monday, which is easily one of the stupidest concepts I've ever come up with but the pitch line alone would probably sell it.  >_<

21 comments:

  1. As for writing for publishing:

    Don't

    Not ever. Do not pretend to know what publishing wants as publishing is some crazy amalgam, part business man, part conservative, part crazy hippy seeking inner peace, part fart jokes, and part existential literary snob.

    Nothing in publishing is as it seems.

    The only thing to concern yourself with for writing (at this point) is passion. You will learn more by writing a weird book with no potential that you love and cannot stop thinking about, than you ever will by writing a book that you think will sell like hotcakes because it seems to have a good pitch.

    There is no money in publishing for 90% of the writers. Which means, even if you make it, you'll still need a day job. So for the love of words, write the things that you are passionate about. Nothing else matters in writing.

    Commercialism is just what we call it after someone has gambled and the rest of the world fell for the marketing machine. Don't trick yourself into writing something you don't love.

    Also, it's good work to try to "fix" something you don't think will get published. It allows you to take chances.

    Good luck.

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    1. ^ what she said with bells on :D

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    2. Thank you; I needed to hear this, even though it's something I should know. >_< And I'm going to have to take chances to make this book what it needs to be, so yeah, NaNo might be the best place for it.

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  2. I hate having to make a decision on what story deserves me spending time on it because of its marketability. I've had some rejections lately (that I don't talk about on my blog) and my confidence has been squashed. I know I had a high concept pitch with my "secret day of the week" premise, but I don't know yet if the publisher will continue the series (still waiting on that decision) -- and having had a brilliant idea in the past cuts no ice with publishers looking at my new ideas. I have to come up with *another* unique high concept pitch, and I wonder if I have one in me?

    Do I keep on writing the non-chronologically told Hollywood YA mystery (even though my YA historicals haven't been selling)? Pursue my "Dark Shadows for Kids" gothic tale? Or how about my Boy Stuck in his Best-Selling Author Mom's Science Fiction Story, which has some humorous potential except I can't think of a non-corny way to end it? Or none of the above? Erg.

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    1. Gah. >_< That's a lot to think about, and I don't envy you. I'm always one for coming up with new ideas, so my first suggestion would be to come up with something completely different, but I've no idea if that would work for you. Hope you can figure it out, though I like that last one and hope you can figure out an ending that works.

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  3. Not weird enough? It actually might be just weird enough for me.
    Don't worry about marketability. Focus on the story and enjoy creating it.

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    1. I don't know what your weirdness tolerance is, so... :P

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  4. I'm echoing Alex. "Not weird enough?!?" I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that about one of their stories. Yikes! So I'm saying, go with it. It will probably turn out amazing.

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    1. I hope so, and thanks. ^_^ And I know it's an odd thing to say about a story, but trust me, it fits this one.

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  5. Hey, if you're jumping on for NaNo, might as well give the dream book a try. Or work on the idea you had on Monday. :D

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    1. It's a bloody coin toss at this point. >_< I want to do the crazy dream book a lot more, though.

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  6. Trying to figure out what is marketable is almost as bad as gazing into a crystal ball. Even the publishing industry shocks itself at times. If you feel you want to write it, then do. If you don't think it's weird enough, then make it weirder. I don't even want to admit what a writer's block I've given myself because of this stupid market question because it starts to feel as if nothing's marketable (which can't be true either.) Good luck!

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    1. That's very true; there's probably no such thing as a truly unmarketable book. But I really shouldn't be worrying about that right now. Oi.

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  7. OMG If you do decide to have a crack at NanoWriMo look me up as a writing buddy!! I'm Tambaloneus on there too :D *happy kermit the frog style flailing of arms*

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    1. Heh! If I do, I don't know that I'll join the site or what-have-you. I'm not usually one for sharing the actual writing process while it's in progress. But who knows, I might go for the whole experience. We shall see.

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  8. I was thinking about doing Nano this year! Not sure if I'll do it since there's a good chance that I won't stick with the project, but we'll see. Maybe I'll do it in secret and just see what happens. And I'm cosigning Rena 100%. Like, seriously. Write what you're passionate about because you never know what will hit, so to speak. Sounds like you're in a pretty good place with this novel. With a few tweaks, it might even be weird enough for you:)

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    1. I've been working away at a new version of the plot - less tweaking, more going back to my original notes and trying to make something closer to that. Not sure if I'll officially make this a NaNo book or not, that's likely going to depend on if I can hammer out a workable plot by the 31st.

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  9. I think once you get the basic story down, making even major changes is easier because you have the characters fleshed out. It's all about identifying where you can up the ante a little and then diving in and doing the work.

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    1. In general, I agree. In specific, for this book it's kind of the opposite - the basic story was too far removed from what made the story really weird and interesting. This might be better classified as a reimagining than a rewrite, but I think it's kind of pretentious to use that term for my own work. >_<

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  10. Inside someone else's dream? Now there's an interesting concept. You might have something there! :)

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    1. Thank you. ^_^ I still don't know if any version of this will become something I'll let someone else read, but we shall see.

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