Monday, October 18, 2010

Get It Right

So I rewrote a whole book. Yeah yeah, you've heard that from me. But what you don't know about this book is that before then I'd rewritten the ending about four times.

I just could not get it right! First it was too fast. Then it was too slow. Then it was too freaking complicated. THEN is was down right lame. I kept messing with it, but I was never, ever completely happy with it. I knew, deep in my gut, that it still wasn't right.

And then came the rewrite. My chance to finally get this ending down perfectly! I had it all planned out, and it finally made sense and seemed to work. Except for when I got there and it absolutely, totally DIDN'T work. So I tried something else.

Which, you guessed it, didn't work either!

So here I am, at least a dozen drafts in, and I'm about to rewrite my blasted ending AGAIN. Hopefully it will be closer, but at this point I certainly don't trust that I really have it in the bag! Maybe? We'll see.

Yeah, sometimes it's frustrating, but that's how it goes. You rewrite until you get it right. Sometimes that's on the second pass, sometimes it's the fourteenth. I really hope it's not on the thirtieth draft, but at the same time I'm willing to keeping working until it's right.

That's what you do as a writer. You have to get the story right. Sometimes (okay, always) that's the hardest part, but it's the best feeling in the world when you know you finally got it.

21 comments:

  1. I'm dealing with this right now - my ending just isn't working and I'm really not sure what to do about it except keep working on it. Luckily, I am at the point of sending out to betas, so hopefully they'll have some helpful feedback!

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  2. I have a story like that. I still haven't written my newest ending idea (I think I'm at about 10), but I'm convinced this will be 'the one'.

    Best of luck to you :-D

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  3. I know how you feel. Right now, I'm rewriting my first chapter, my last chapter, and adding another one in the middle. Fun stuff.

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  4. I know what you mean. I'm still a long way from getting the whole thing right, but there are parts that I think are getting close.

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  5. Good luck!!! Some stories come easily and just flow from start to finish...others...give me more trouble.

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  6. Good luck! I admit, I've only gotten to "the end" twice so far, and only one time did it feel right. Lucky #3 is coming up soon, though! :)

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  7. Don't be frustrated! At least you've finished a manuscript! I've got five begging for endings.

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  8. There's really no other choice, is there? I mean, you COULD leave it as is, but you'd always have that sinking feeling in your gut that it isn't as awesome as it could be. Even if you've rewritten it from every direction and had dozens of CPs crit it and let it "simmer" and given it space...the perfect ending is still worth fighting for, because you've already put SO much into it. It'd be silly to just give up on it, simply because it's a little more difficult than other people's books...

    We're still talking about books, right? Ahem. *cough* Yes. Books. Sure.

    I needed to hear this. Thank you :)

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  9. I'm almost at the end of mine! I bet mine will need rewrites as well. You'll get it soon, and it'll be wonderful!

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  10. You are very, very determined :) Good luck!

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  11. Wow! Way to go for not giving up! That is a lot of rewriting! I did rewrite my ending three times, so I know a little about this!
    I had a crit partner force me to dig deeper on one scene I thought I had right, but when I redid it, I was SO happy for her push. Sometimes, the end result is so worth the extra effort! Keep at it!

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  12. Natalie, have you tried your faithful beta readers, asking them to vote on ending A,B,or C? Might give some additional insight on what's working and what isn't.

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  13. Oh, my dear crit partners have read them, Michelle. The poor things. They agree with me:)

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  14. Thanks for this post, Natalie. I'm going through something similar, and you just made me feel better.

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  15. Eeesh, good luck! Endings are so important, you really have to get it right!

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  16. This post came at the perfect time for me. I just jumped into my first rewrite of my WIP. I say first, because I'm betting this is going to take multiple rewrites...

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  17. I've rewritten my current WIP more times than I can count. Good luck!

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  18. I know how you feel. I went through twenty rewrites with "Vampire Brats" before I was happy with the ending.
    Good luck!

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  19. I am in similar torture... but I think, after about 20 drafts, I finally have the problem figured out.

    But it means changing all to present tense and telling the story in first person, which means I am pretty much rewriting it.

    I'm on page 58, but a page takes almost an hour (especially with my numerous distractions). MANY more hours to go...

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  20. For this reason, WIP2 doesn't really have an ending.

    You've given me a new slogan though, "Write til it's right!"

    :)

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