Prologues and Starting Over
I have rewritten the story summary to encompass a back story / premise that is much more realistic for the times than I originally wrote. In so doing, though, I will pretty much have to start my story over from scratch. The mid-section will not change, but the beginning will need to be rewritten.
And what about prologues? I’ve read in many places that prologues are mostly fluff, that editors will often delete them, and that readers many times skip them. That leads me to wonder if I should keep my prologue. Is there anything so critically important in there that I couldn’t do without it? Do I show anything so unique that it can’t be shown elsewhere in the story? Could a simple sentence such as, “Luke remembered when Susanna was knee high to a grasshopper and riding bareback, rebelling even then against society by refusing to ride with a saddle.” Does that one reflection, that one remembrance, serve the same purpose as a lengthy prologue? It just might.
A Hierarchy of Files
Stories come to me in streams of thought. They consume my every moment, making me think endlessly through their twists and turns. This is the first step to a story. I sit down at my computer and type up everything running through my mind. I love computers for this; I can cut, paste, and edit to my heart’s content.
When it’s time to write that particular story, I typically have five running files: Characters, Summary, Research Notes, Story, and Forget Me Not. These files all have a “ – r # ” after them to denote the revision number of the file. I never know when an old idea (a previous version of the file) might be useful to me and I’d hate to lose them.
The Characters file lists all of my characters and a description of them. My primary characters have a much more in-depth discussion of their personality traits than my secondary and tertiary characters. I also list how my characters know/relate to one another and the major changes they go through in the story.
The Summary file is a synopsis of the story plus all the backstory. It lists all major plot points, how the story progresses relative to the timeline of the story, all major character interactions, and the main story turning points. It also details the backstory which may or may even show up in the novel, but is information that I need to know to write the story. Lastly, anything that I may or may not include in the story is put in
italics, a reminder to me that that piece of plot is still being thought out.
The Research Notes file details all of the research I’ve done on any part of the story that requires research. For this book, this includes historical notes about 1790’s England, title hierarchy and land ownership, a typical voyage across the Atlantic, traveling across the new world, and interactions between white people and Native Americans.
The Story file is where I write the story. This has the most revision levels by far as I’m constantly rethinking what I’m doing and how I’m doing it, yet I’m leery of just deleting the scenes I’ve written. Sometimes I add them back in later. Sometimes I just look back to see how I originally dealt with a situation.
The Forget Me Not file contains all the little tidbits I’m afraid I might forget such as foreshadowing elements, elements I introduced early in the story that I need to refer to later, etc. It also contains questions I still have about the story that I don't want to forget to check on (such as whether an aunt who was a Dutchess would be addressed in a familiar way, "aunt," or in a more respectful way, "your grace"). Lastly, this file contains things that need to be changed in the final revision such as names that are too similar and might confuse the reader.
At the moment, I need to update my Synopsis file with my current storyline so that I can start rewriting the beginning of my novel to incorporate those changes and eliminate the incorrect backstory that is currently plaguing the first part of my novel.
Going Back on My Word
My original intention was to write this book from beginning to end. Beginning to end. And half way though, when I realized that one of my premises was incorrect, I decided to finish it anyway and rewrite the beginning as an edit. I didn’t think anything could sway me from this persuasion; however, something has.
I’ve joined a small group of serious writers. One of the ways we will use our time is to critique each other’s work. The best way to do this is to start which Chapter 1 and go forward. But right now, my Chapter 1 is incorrect as it stands. One member of the group pointed out that, even though the story needs to be rewritten, some benefit could be gained by me in the others making comments about my style of writing. This is true; however, I think I will do myself a greater disservice by sticking with my “beginning to end” concept than I will by rewriting the beginning now and running it by this group. As a part of this group, we will be accountable to one another. Each of us will be up once a month to show what progress we have made. This in and of itself will motivate me to keep moving forward on the story.
In essence, whether I do it now or later, the rewriting needs to be done. Therefore, I’ve decided to take advantage of this group and have them help me see this book through from beginning to end. Beginning to end.
Patience, Persistence, and Passion
Many times people have said to me, “You’re writing a novel? That must take a lot of patience.” “Not patience,” I say, “Persistence.”
Persistence is the key to writing. For me, persistence in writing is the easy part. Writing is my passion. If I’m not working on my novel, I’m writing a short story, or some poetry. And when I’m not writing, my mind constantly wanders to my writing. I think, “Oh, this would be a good idea for a story,” or “look at that beautiful rose,” and suddenly I’m reciting poetry in my mind.
Persistence in sticking with ONE story, now that is my problem. Since my mind is always running off on tangents, creating new stories, delving into the lives of newly forming characters, I tend to stray from my purpose from time to time. I’m already writing novels two and three in my head, when novel one isn’t even finished.
In the end, though, I will finish my novel. And this time that I spend away from it, working on other writing projects, I remind myself that every word I write hones my craft and makes me a better writer. And, after all, isn’t that what writing is all about?
