I’m sooo excited because I won Lorelei Bell’s book, Vampire’s Trill. How cool is that?
Also, I will be hosting another Hot Men of Blogs this month, December 30, 2011. His magical name will be posted along with his blog address. Just think wands and fairy dust. I do when I read his posts.
As you can see, I’m still trying to figure out how to make pics with special announcements. I’ve got Picasso but does anyone have advice on how to REALLY use it?
Anyway….
Last night, I baked a Death By Chocolate cake and had to throw the darned thing out. The whole thing! It irked me after spending the money for the ingredients and then putting in the time to mix it up and bake it.
Which brings me to this thought. DID YOU EVER HAVE TO THROW A REALLY GOOD PART OF YOUR NOVEL OUT? Especially, after you toiled over it to get it right. Well, that’s what I’m doing now with mine. Tossing out or condensing some really great back story. Too much takes away from certain moments in your story so I’ve been told by the all-wise and knowing beta readers.
And it’s not that I’m tossing it out. Actually, I’m cutting and pasting it all into another doc for possible future use and/or shortening them up.
What do you all do with yours?
And….
I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas, Yule, and Hanukah!
Shelly
See you next, on December 30th.
Yah! You're back! I get really frustrated when I take the time to bake something and it doesn't turn out. GRRR.
ReplyDeletePicasso - I'm so mad at Google over it I refuse to use it, so I can't help you there.
I have had to trim parts out that I felt were really good. Like you, I put them in a file for future use, and sometimes I find they belong somewhere else in the story. Gret blog and great to have you back!
Death by chocolate cake ... met its death by oven. And lo, there came a day when there was much weeping throughout the land and the house, for the people did so very much adore the sacred Death By Chocolate food group.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, and Happy Hanukah!
I hate to spend the money and time on something that doesn't turn out!
ReplyDeleteWith writing... it happens. Just remember to save those tid-bits, just in case.
I'd hate to tell you how many chapters which may have found the cutting floor in the past. But yeah, the original first chapter of Vampire Ascending was cut completely out, and what you have is action in the first chapter, instead. There were also two or three chapters in the middle and at least one character GONE!
Hope you have a good/happy everything. We'll be talkin'
Yum...Death By Chocolate!
ReplyDeleteI never throw anything out. If it doesn't work in one book, it might in another--especially in the case of a series. I've been revising Chasing the Wind, switching to multiple first-person POVs, and I've found material that would work better in the second book.
Too bad you couldn't paste the cake into another one! LOL I guess when I hit delete it's gone and I forget about it --but I do things the hard way.
ReplyDeleteI've had to throw fav scenes out several times. It never gets easier.
ReplyDeleteSame as you. I cut/paste to another document. Still, I might as well have thrown those bits away, since I never do bring any of it back.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that you had to throw your cake out.
@Donna: Why are you mad at Google? And, thank you. I'm glad to be back even though I won't post again until Dec. 30th.
ReplyDelete@ Sir Wills: Actually it was rancid Canola oil that killed it. It smelled like butt when it was baking and stunk up the house. I checked the date on the oil bottle after the fact. Didn't want to kill any relatives for the holiday. Well, not this way anyway.
@Lorelei: Thank and yes, we'll talkin.
@Eve: Smiles to you!
@ Jolene: It's soooo hard to have to say good-bye to them. Right?
ReplyDelete@Misha: This morning I got up early and baked another one.
@Norma: It could've been Death by Chocolate Cake. Really.
OH, I feel your pain...on both counts of the chocolate cake and the writing. I've hit points in my novel where I realise I can't properly move forward unless I go back and take things out and move things around. That has to be my least favorite part of novel writing.
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays!
Congratulations! It's always great to win books. I have another contest going on too--maybe you'll win another one there. heehee.
ReplyDeleteI've definitely thrown out some favorite scenes in favor of a shorter word count. :D
Have the Happiest of Holidays!
nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Congratulations on winning a copy of the book!
ReplyDeleteI cut/paste as well. I've got many documents titled something like "Scene from Chapter X_Novel #_Conversation" hanging around.
Happy Holidays! :)
Like you, if I'm doing major renovations I cut and paste it elsewhere. For my current novel, I have a file in the Scrivener workbook for the novel that I stick any major cuts in. It has really come in handy, as sometimes a scene works better elsewhere or gives me an idea for something else. Good luck with those hard cuts.
ReplyDeleteArrgg! I hate it when baked goods have to be tossed. I hate tossing scenes too. When it must be done I tell myself the scene, though not used, is not a waste. The work put into it has improved my technique. Perhaps that is so with baking too!
ReplyDeleteHappy Hanukkah!
@Christina: I'm sure you understand the bake-goods-that-don't-make-it thing.
ReplyDelete@Nut: Happy Holidays to you! I need to check out your contest.
@Golden: Happy Holidays to you, too!
@Shannon: Thank you!
@Lynn: Yeah. Tossing out things isn't always fun.
I did have to throw a really good scene out. And it was a kissing scene, too. But I needed to put that reconciliation in a different part of the book where it didn't play out the same. I kept trying to keep at least part of that first scene, but this week I finally just took it all. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
Thank you, Donna.
ReplyDeleteI've cut large portions of novels out many times, but I never totally throw them away. Who knows, they might fit well into another novel or as an independent short story.
ReplyDeleteJoyce
http://joycelansky.blogspot.com/
Dang, that cake sounds delicious! Sorry it had to go, and same with the novel. I'm almost finished with the first draft, so once editing starts we'll see how much needs chopped.
ReplyDeleteSarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
Don't toss out. Recycle, re-purpose, re-use.
ReplyDelete@Joyce, Lucy, and Sarah: Chopping is hard to do but the cake....?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your win. I hope you had a great Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sylvia.
ReplyDeleteHey are using Wordpress for your site platform? I'm new to the blog world but I'm trying to get started
ReplyDeleteand create my own. Do you require any html coding expertise to make your own blog?
Any help would be really appreciated!
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