PLOT PROBLEMS + EDITING WOES

Welcome to Storytime With Katie, where I will proceed to ramble and describe this week's editing events.

Enjoy.

It's hard to love your story. Sometimes, it's hard to like or even tolerate it, especially when it's basically the very definition of disaster in novel form. I've been there for the past several months. I've pushed through the doubts and the worries and continued to work on my "horrible, terrible, no-good" manuscript. The thought of sending it to beta readers sent me into denial. 

I knew there was some (though it was small) potential in this story, but the potential refused to show on the page. Which then left me despairing each time I tried to attack it with my editing skills. (this problem definitely didn't help with my annoyance for editing xD) I basically turned into gollum and screamed, "WE HATESSS THE PRECIOUSSS," with every attempt at editing.

So, finally, after hours and hours of editing and not seeing much progress... I realized it was time to do something about this catastrophe. Throughout my time in the writing world, I've heard the idea of other writers making a list of reasons why they love their story. Why not give it a try?

I knew that my list might be rather small... but I went for it anyways. (spoiler alert: the list was indeed very small). I mean, why not try to create some love for my novel? But as I sat down to do this exercise, I came up with only three, simple bullet points of love. (and they all had to do with characters or things I already established in the first novel.)

*cries*

BUT THIS WASN'T GOING TO STOP ME. I was going to make this story work.

So I crossed out the tiny list of things I loved about my story, and instead titled a new list: what I hate about my story.

(yes, this was harsh, and looking back I could've alternatively titled it, "what needs to be worked on" or "what I can fix," but I was a frustrated writer and had enough of keeping up the optimism. xD)

These points (unfortunately) came a lot easier to me. At first this only further discouraged me, but as I studied the "list of hate," all the points had one thing in common: they dealt with the plot. The lack of intrigue, weak middle, boring filler scenes...

So I finally understood what the problem was! My plot! It was stupid! Wahoo! I could now edit with freedom! But after my small celebration...

...I realized that fixing these plot problems meant I had to rewrite my entire book. *screams into the endless void forever*

If you've been around this blog for awhile, you may remember me mentioning at one point in time or another, that rewrites are my least favorite type of edits. *shudders* 

It's been tough accepting that I'll have to go through this novel again... but it has also proven to be a good experience for myself. I've learned that even though I'm improving with writing everyday, the obstacles and challenges won't stop coming. I'm never going to write a perfect first draft. I will always need to edit multiple times, and the process of writing is always. going. to. be. tough. It's gonna be a lot easier to accept that and start working hard rather than continually trying to go the "easy route."

I've also learned that in order to move forward and make progress... sometimes its necessary to first take a step back. Though it won't be "fun" rewriting this novel, I can already see how it's going to improve my story for the better. Just... so... much... rewriting... *dies* :P

Also, if you're currently having a hard time with your story... I recommend reading Nadine Brandes' article on "How to Keep Writing Even When You Hate Your Story." It could definitely help pinpoint your problem if you've been struggling with the same thing.

<3,
katie grace

how was your week? did editing/writing go well?

what do you do when you "hate your story?"