I've taken up the idea of finishing another short story before completing this one here. That one is a 250 word piece I wrote some months ago, which at that length, was way too complicated and difficult to understand.
I understood it ah too well, because I had it in my head, but appearantly none of the readers did.
I'm planning to ue this as an exercise to do some planning and USE my plans as well.
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Question number 1.
Do you often totally re-write your stories? OR: Do you oftern turn a short story into a long one?
Does it often happen to you? Why?
How does it affect you? And your relation to the story?
Question number 2.
If you understand the flow of events and motives for actions in the story, do you still re-write it? What would be the force to make you re-write a story completely?
Monday, November 19, 2007
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13 comments:
I revise a lot, but that's not quite the same thing as you're asking.
But t'hell with that.
Congtatulations, Girl, for your place in Jason's contest!
I think there is reasonable revision and stupid revision, too.
If the writer understands his/her work, but knows that the readers cant understand it just as much as s/he does, s/he must revise it. That's about what I do with Halo.
Thank you Bernita!
It's too bad you did not enter this time!
I hardly write short stories or essays and I do it for school. I have never rewritten any. Do you know the Dictates of the Pope from 1075? One of its point says The church has never been wrong and it is not going to be (of course Gregory VII couched in a nicer way but he had some advantages). So I don't think I make a mistake when I write a short story so I don't write it again.
Ropi, your opinion mathces your avatar, heehee.
I know, I am like that.
I very seldom would completely rewrite a story. I might make subtle changes, such as changing a non-vampire character into a vampire one for a particular market, but not usually much more than that. If I felt a story needed to be completely rewritten, I'd probably put it aside and try to write a "different" story on the theme I want.
Ropi,
:)
Charles,
yes, you're probably right about that. Too much stiching makes the fabric disappear. (It's just a saying I created in this very moment. Perhaps it's not THAT lame, after all...)
Not rewrite, but revise. I often wonder what some people mean when they say they are "rewriting" a short story, or even a novel. I could maybe rewrite some fragments, or just leave them outside and replace them with others.
I liked very much your story in Jason's contest. Well done! Congratulations!
Thank you Vesper.
Well, a total re-writing might result in a completely different story. I re-write it, but keep the original nevertheless.
Answer to question 1 -- not as often as I should. Dismantling a completed work is not unlike having to have a bone that didn't set right rebroken to get it set right. It needs to be done, but hurts like hell.
Answer to 2 - I rewrite if enough people are confused by the motivating factors. In other words, if a character moves to Moscow because I need the next action set in Moscow, and not because he/she wants to be in Moscow, I have to rewrite.
And when I "rewrite," I usually revise. But I am undergoing a full rewrite (from blank page) of a screenplay right now. A new experience. I'll let you know how it goes.
Posolxstvo,
I like your simile about revising. I will stay tuned for the details about your complete revision.
This is almost exactly what I do with my short story called Halo.
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