Taking a Different Tack
I usually write the first draft of the novel through to the end. With Threads & Ties, I’m taking a different tack. Why? This time I have someone providing feedback as I go, and, at the halfway point, I’ve had a number of legitimate flaws pointed out to me. I need some serious characterization work–Nikki has problems.
Well, we knew Nikki had problems, but I also have had problems writing her effectively. On one hand, I’ve done a wonderful job of writing a view completely opposite to one I personally hold. Unfortunately, I haven’t written a position I personally hold worth a darn. I have to fix that, so the reader cannot tell which position is mine. (Added later: And something reads wrong with that statement, since the book isn’t really about my opinions or positions…)
Now that NaNo is completed, I’m reworking from the beginning, and trying to learn to write more effectively.
And I’m doing so with a wonderful new handicap. Natasha, a gorgeous four-year-old Siamese seems to have adopted me last night. I was hoping she would. At the moment, she’s working diligently to push my keyboard away from me in favor of me giving her attention. What a kitty!
Hi Jean 🙂
First, let me say that I love cats and I think that despite them pushing the keyboard, sitting on it, or simply blocking the monitor because that’s where they happen to like standing when you work, well, despite all that, they’re great!
Second, very interesting. I usually do the same thing and try not to go back in the middle of writing a novel. I found that if I go back I tend to get stuck because my mind is still racing forward while I’m working backwards, so I totally understand you. Hope it works for you and that you manage to rework the character a bit. It’s hard to separate author and character sometimes. They do say that each character contains a bit of the author, don’t they?
Congrats on finding a new cat. I like her nam. Natasha. 🙂 Good luck with the novel. 🙂
Because my nano novel was so short in first draft that completing nano and completing the draft were nearly synonymous, I didn’t take the time to re-work my female main character. My MMC came to life pretty well, problems and idiosyncracies and all, but the FMC was too nice and things were a little too easy. I’m going to have to do a lot of thinking when this resurfaces from the bottom of my revision file. I really don’t quite know what to do with her. Kudos for tackling Nikki straight off. Hopefully she will be a much stronger character for it, problems and all.