I admit it. I can no longer see the wood for the trees. Or the manuscript for the words if you like.
I am on what feels like the hundredth revision and re-edit of a manuscript. It probably isn't the hundredth, but it's definitely up there. I finished the first (admittedly badly written) draft three years ago and I'm pretty sure there is no longer a paragraph remaining from the original. Maybe a sentence here and there, but that's about it.
And for the most part that's a good thing. It's shed a (much needed to lose) 40,000 words, the characters are more relatable, the dialogue snappier, the tension upped, the writing (hopefully) improved ten fold and, for the most part, I've remained true to my voice. The only thing I've really hated having to do is change the location from New Zealand to the USA, but that had to be done to give it even a remote chance of ever being read by anyone other than my sister and other long suffering crash test guinea pigs.
Pretty much in everything I've done I've known that the manuscript was the better for it. Yes, even losing that brilliant witty scene because it functioned like the comedy act at half-time that didn't actually do anything to move the show forward.
But now? I honestly don't know. I've had my head in this thing for so long that I can no longer tell if the changes I'm making are making the writing better, if they're just change for change sake, or if (gulp) they're changes they're making it weaker.
So if you're a fellow writer - any hints on how I can tell? And if you're a reader - what is it that tells you when a writer has lost their way and is now trying too hard?
1 comments:
beta readers/critique partners. also, just taking a step back from the manuscript and working on something else for a bit helps. if you're no longer objective about your ms, then it's harder to give your best. that's just my two-cents though--hope it helps. good luck! ;)
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