Re-Write Purgatory

As I type this I am in the middle of re-writing my WIP#1 and am knee-deep in choices. What scenes are strong enough to keep versus those that are weak and don’t help the story along? Which dialogue is essential or that dialogue that can be edited out?

Many, many, many times I allow myself to stew on these choices and let them sit in my head for a few days. That way I can go through the various scenarios and endings and decide from there where I would like the story to go. Sometimes I can cut one line of a scene and it suddenly just clicks and I know where I am headed again. Other times it is a whole page or two and I still don’t care for the scene.

At this point I absolutely adore my characters and their story, but I am going to have to make a tough choice on which way the story goes. I had written it to end one way and the more I think about it, the more I don’t care for the ending. So I’ve decided to re-write the entire ending and see if that is more palatable to me.
Re-writes can be both exhilarating and tedious. When a scene clicks the ideas, words and thoughts just seem to flow out of my fingers and onto the screen. Other times it is a slow wade through the muck and mire to get where I need to be. I am great at writing the big picture but details tend to bore me to write. Not a great quality I know. It’s something I’m working on and getting better at. Heck, what can I say, I have to force myself not to read the last chapter of my books for the ending when I get antsy about the way the story is going. I have yet to do that, but the idea is always tempting me.

Re-writes can tend to be overwhelming at times. There are so many ideas, thoughts and scenarios that jumble around in my head and not enough space to utilize them all. When this happens, I open another file that I have labeled IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE and put them in there. I find this to be a great resource for me. Currently I have about five works in progress and I review my written notes and IDEAS folder regularly for inspiration if I feel stuck.

For me re-writes are an opportunity to throw those great memories into a story. Those little details that might stick with a reader. I love when a writer makes a character compatible to me in some way. It could be a gesture such as turning their wedding ring on their finger when impatient, or their quick tongue that unleashes sarcastic clips of speech. I add those details on my re-writes more times than not.

So I’m back to the details today…..Julia, Clint, Sarie, Amie, Cam, Micah and Danjal, here I come!