The pain of editing is leaving

I had been stuck on editing the early chapters of this novel for weeks now. There are a number of reasons I was stuck. The road trip I blogged about and other life related things didn’t help me have a lot of time to write. Then there was the pain of tearing apart my words and stitching them back together in a new order.

Add in the fact that I had to write whole new sections that had never seen the light of day, the pain and challenge seemed overwhelming. So I put it off, well on the road trip I realized that if I let it slide to long I would risk never finishing it. I decided in the last 1000 miles I would have to start writing again soon.

When I got home the plot bunnies were not bouncing or giving me any ideas, I tried anyway. I started in on a new novel I hope will become a sequel to one I am editing.

A few days later inspiration struck in a hospital waiting room with my husband. He was having corrective eye surgery. I started in on the fresh material even though I had no idea how to weave it into the current chapters. You don’t want a thriller that starts out boring, or the pages just wont get turned.

Finally the right way to get everything stitched together nicely came to me. So as I watched my husband begin to heal the pain of editing was leaving me was well.

I was totally relieved. Today I began stitching the new material in with the old material. The pain of editing has left my body. The plot bunnies are bouncing around again, and I am finally getting some inspiration.

I will make it work!

Editing is painful

After much angst and many struggles I decided I need to rewrite some of the early chapters of my manuscript. It was painful for me to have to tear apart the words I had written and polished several times over, but it was necessary.

After some chocolate to strengthen my resolve to cut and splice my work sat down at the keyboard….

What happened?

I just couldn’t change it that much. So what I did was start something else. Yep I tinkered with another writing project. This got the plot bunnies bouncing. After toying with the outline for what will hopefully be a sequel to the first one. Still I could do nothing towards the editing.

Life went on and my husband had corrective eye surgery, so writing took a back seat. I was in the waiting room with him when it struck. A flashback was the answer to my issue.

Creative use of a flashback would give much needed backstory while at the same time allow me to move the novel forward.

It’s a compromise between totally rewriting the beginning of my novel and ignoring the advice of a professional in the publishing industry.

well back to stitching it all together…

Stitching together the old and the new.

My Pinterest

I am challenging all of my followers to pin what inspires you to my new pinterest page. Writers and non writers alike we are all inspired by something.

Writing the new chapters

After being informally asked by an agent to have a peak at my manuscript just for fun it was brought to my attention that a bit more setup was needed. So some new chapters had to be added as well as a few plot line changes.

I have been working hard on accomplishing this. I have finished the first of the new chapters and am more than half way through the second new chapter.

I will be sending them off to Dad in a few days. The new chapters are short but contain valuable information that the reader will need to fully understand the plot line in the novel. I am thankful for this agents input.

Well back to writing.

A special Saturday at ASOM

This morning was not the Saturday to sleep in, despite the late night writing session last night. My husband David and I were due at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum in a few hours. First on the agenda was coffee, running out of coffee in our house is a crime. After completing a number of the normal household type chores we changed and headed off to the museum for their Medal of Honor Day. We were both assigned biographies and tables in separate areas of the museum. I was given two biographies from Somalia. I was stationed in the lobby near a permanent display about the Medal of Honor. While I was there I was able to read the stories of other recipients on the monitors behind me. A second monitor was interviews with those who earned the Medal of Honor and lived to tell their own story. Shortly after starting the interview with Colonel George Day, who earned the medal as a Major. Day was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and managed to escape, he was recaptured and spent five more torturous years in the Hanoi Hilton, sharing a cell with Senator John McCain. After interview with Day ended I found that there was a small group standing next to me.
A retired soldier standing next to me started up a conversation about the museum and the various exhibits. His eyes filled with tears when I mentioned to him that our next temporary exhibit would cover the story of Mogadishu. I found out that he had been there and in fact personally knew the two men who earned the Medal of Honor for their acts of heroism during that siege. After a bit more conversation he told me part of his story from that horrific day.

I would like to challenge all of my followers to read at least one of the stories of a Medal of Honor recipient.